The Biggest Account Shifts of 2018

Even as holding companies continue toward an uncertain future, it was the "big six" over the somewhat seemingly more stable independent agencies (in the U.S., anyway) that prevailed in some of the most significant account reviews of 2018. "A number of large global creative and media businesses that left independent operating agencies were won by holding company agencies," Jay Pattisall, principal analyst at Forrester, said. "It's a signal of the type of integration clients are asking for: a combination of data, tech, media and creative." On accounts where clients sought to consolidate services, the holding company model seemed to have held an advantage over smaller, more dedicated agencies, as different networks with various skills could be paired to form a tailor-made supergroup for one client. Here are some of the more significant wins for the holding companies: Omnicom In November, Omnicom prevailed in the highly contested review for the Army’s $4 billion marketing contract after the U.S. government denied a bid protest filed by incumbent McCann Worldgroup upon its elimination from the review. The elimination came after a personal relationship was discovered between a top executive at the Army Marketing and Research Group and a leader of the account at McCann, while an internal audit found millions of dollars in ineffective spending. Ford reworked its long-term relationship with WPP in October, sending its $3 billion (according to R3) global creative account to BBDO. Omnicom-owned digital experience agency Organic and TLGG Consulting were also awarded certain parts of the business. Daimler AG, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, awarded its $950 million (estimated by COMvergence) global media planning and buying business to Omnicom in October. The shift resulted in Publicis losing business in Europe and the APAC region and WPP losing work for South Asia and the Middle East. In March, GSD&M retained the U.S. Air Force account, with a $747 million contract set to expire in September 2027. HSBC sent its $400 million global media business to PHD in May, ending its relationship with WPP. Goodby Silverstein & Partners picked up BMW's U.S. creative business in March following a review. The move ended the company's 12-year AOR relationship with MDC Partners’ KBS. According to Kantar Media, BMW spends about $275 million in the U.S. on measured media annually. GSD&M won the $227 million Pizza Hut creative account in June from independent creative shop Droga5, which picked the business up in May of 2016 and was the brand’s fifth agency of record in six years at the time. Boston Beer Co., whose properties include iconic craft beer brand Samuel Adams as well as Angry Orchard and Twisted Tea, named Hearts & Science its media AOR in June. Publicis-owned Zenith was the incumbent. Kantar estimated Boston Beer spent $52 million on paid media in the U.S. last year. Additionally, Jack Link's sent its lead creative responsibilities to GSD&M in April, ending a 13-year creative AOR relationship with Carmichael Lynch. The company awarded its media account to Cincinnati-based independent agency Empower in March. Jack Link's spent $11 million on measured media in the U.S., according to Kantar. Below is the 2017 “White Hats Wanted” campaign from the U.S. Army's incumbent agency, McCann, that garnered four Effies: [kickout id="1"] WPP In November, WPP won the North Amercian part of Volkswagen's $1.7 billion global business following a review. (Omnicom retained its Volkswagen business in South America and Europe, where adam&eveDDB is its lead agency, and Samsung's Cheil Worldwide will remain lead agency in China.) CPG conglomerate Mars consolidated its roughly $1.4 billion global media business with WPP in August. The new arrangement that will see Mediacom, a part of the GroupM network, retain its AOR title goes into effect on Jan. 1. Before the review, Mars worked with WPP and several other agency networks, including Publicis Groupe’s Starcom and OMD. In August, Mondelez, which spends about $1 billion on paid media globally (according to R3), sent a large portion of its AMEA and MEU regional work to GroupM's Wavemaker and Mindshare. In January, Bose awarded its $150 million global account to a dedicated WPP team comprised of Grey, Wunderman (which will become Wunderman Thompson through its merger with JWT in 2019), Hogarth Worldwide and MediaCom. On Tuesday, Newell Brands consolidated its global business with WPP. The holding company will service the consumer brand through dedicated unit Team Newell comprised of Wunderman Thompson, VMLY&R, Mindshare, Geometry and Eicoff. According to R3, Newell spends about $80 million on paid media globally. On Monday, Carnival Cruise Line sent CRM duties to Wunderman. R3 estimated that Carnival spends about $20 million in CRM globally. Office Depot sent its creative and media business to Y&R (before it merged with VML) and Mediacom in February following a review. Omnicom's Zimmerman was the incumbent. Grey New York picked up the creative accounts of McCormick & Co., the Baltimore-based maker of spices, seasoning mixes, condiments and other flavor-based products, and Frank’s RedHot, the classic sauce known primarily for its key role in the first batch of Buffalo wings, in October. Y&R created the below 2010 spot for Office Depot in which it depicted how saving money on office supplies saved a barbershop. [kickout id="2"] Publicis Groupe GlaxoSmithKline sent its $1.58 billion (according to R3) global media account to a custom Publicis Media team known as platformGSK. The group said the unit would lean on the holding company's PeopleCloud and pull talent from across healthcare, consumer strategy and digital business transformation. Spark Foundry added work in China and Southeast Asia in August while retaining much of its existing Mondelez business in the Middle East and Latin America. Starcom succeeded in winning Fiat Chrysler's North American media account from incumbent IPG's UM last week, which held onto the business for 10 years prior. The auto company spent $970 million on paid media in the U.S. last year, according to Kantar. Publicis was awarded Marriott International's global media business in March, ending the company's partnership with MEC. Publicis created a dedicated unit for the client called Marriott One Media that includes SapientRazorfish and Spark Foundry. Marriott spends about $233 million on measured media domestically each year, Kantar estimated. In June, Publicis picked up the U.S. media account of Dunkin', which Kantar estimated spends about $150 million on paid media domestically. The holding company pulled resources from Digitas and Blue 449 to create a custom unit for the chain. Incumbent IPG’s Trilia, a full-service media agency launched from Hill Holliday and Erwin Penland, also participated in the media review process. When Dunkin' sent its creative account to BBDO and Arc Worldwide a few months earlier, incumbent Hill Holliday declined to defend. Saatchi & Saatchi picked up global strategy and creative duties for Siemens Home Appliances. Interpublic Group UM picked up the $409 million (according to Kantar) media Quicken Loans account in September. American Express consolidated its global media business with UM, ending its relationship with longtime incumbent Mindshare. According to R3, AmEx spends just under $400 million on paid media globally. UM successfully defended its media AOR title for Charles Schwab in September. The banking and brokerage firm spent $107 million on paid media in 2017, per Kantar's estimates. In October, Bloomin' Brands, the restaurant chain behind Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill and Bonefish Grill, sent its U.S. media account to Mediahub, the media arm of IPG's MullenLowe from Publicis-owned Spark Foundry, which opted not to participate in the recent review. Kantar reported Blooming' Brands spent $97 million on paid media in the U.S. last year. SharkNinja, which Kantar estimated spent nearly $59 million on measured media domestically in 2017, also selected UM to handle a large share of its U.S. media account in April. In October, Mediahub also also beat out Starcom for Dropbox's media account. Starcom previously handled some media duties for the San Francisco-based provider of cloud storage and client software, which spent $28.2 million on measured media domestically last year, according to Kantar. FCB Chicago scooped up the GE Appliances creative account across advertising, digital, social and shopper marketing in March. Initiative, a part of IPG Mediabrands, picked up the $10 million Converse account in June following a review, winning the business away from incumbent PHD. Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, the parent company for collectible card game Magic: The Gathering, sent its account to The Martin Agency in August. Wizards of the Coast spent $547,000 on measured marketing in the U.S. last year, according to Kantar Media. McCann Worldgroup picked up the global Columbia Sportswear account in September. Dentsu Aegis Network In October, Intel sent its estimated $400 million (according to R3) global media account to a Dentsu unit called Team Intel, which is comprised of agencies Carat, Merkle and Amnet. The move consolidated all of Intel’s media including digital, social, programmatic, search, offline and analytics with one network and ended its 11-year AOR relationship with Omnicom’s OMD. LVMH, the Paris-based conglomerate that includes several top fashion, beverage and cosmetics brands, moved its North American business to Dentsu from Havas in August. Kantar estimated that the company spent $386.1 million on paid media in the U.S. last year. United Airlines expanded its partnership with Dentsu Aegis Network in October, handing the holding company lead global media and social duties following a review. Carat was awarded media planning and buying duties, Merkle now handles targeted marketing and 360i handles social media. WPP’s Wunderman (in Chicago and Buenos Aires), which was the incumbent, retained production and CRM work. R3 estimated United Airlines spends about $80 million on paid media globally. W.L. Gore & Associates also consolidated its global media account for its fabric division, behind Gore-Tex outerwear threads, in April with Dentsu. The company spent $1.5 million on paid media in the U.S. last year, according to Kantar. Havas Havas picked up the $300 million global Puma account in October. In August, Rite Aid also named Havas its AOR for creative and brand strategy, ending its longtime partnership with MARC USA. Kantar Media had Rite Aid spending just over $20 million on paid media in the U.S. last year. MDC Partners Booking.com named MDC-owned Anomaly as its U.S. creative agency of record in November following a review. The brand had previously been working primarily with Deutsch and Joan Creative on a project basis. Booking.com spent over $220 million on measured marketing in the U.S. last year, according to Kantar. 72andSunny scored the $68 million (according to Kantar) National Football League account in December, taking it away from longtime incumbent Grey. The agency also defended its creative AOR title on the $70 million Activision account in July. Petco handed its nearly $28.8 million (according to Kantar) creative account to Anomaly on Wednesday. The pet supplies retailer previously worked with another MDC-owned shop, Vitro. Trojan named 72andSunny New York its first agency of record in several years following a review, handing the shop lead creative duties in July on its roughly $17 million (according to Kantar) account. In June, Anomaly won the creative account of Ally Financial. (The financial services firm sent digital duties to IPG's R/GA.) 72andSunny New York also picked up lead creative duties for Marcus, the consumer lending platform launched two years ago by Goldman Sachs. Below is Grey New York's Super Bowl spot last year in which some New York Giants players paid tribute to Dirty Dancing: [kickout id="3"] The Indies KFC awarded Wieden + Kennedy, Adweek's 2018 U.S. Agency of the Year, its $234 million (according to Kantar) U.S. media account, consolidating its domestic creative and media duties with the independent Portland-based shop. That shift marked another loss for incumbent Spark Foundry. Nike also expanded its relationship with W+K in April, sending lead creative duties on its Converse account to the agency. Chili's named Chicago-based agency O’Keefe Reinhard & Paul its agency of record in May. The restaurant chain spent $105 million on measured media domestically in 2017, according to Kantar. Horizon Next, the direct marketing arm spun off from independent network Horizon Media, won the $52.9 million (according to Kantar) Northwestern Mutual account in August. Incumbent Spark Foundry declined to defend the account. TriHonda Dealer Group, comprised of more than 60 New York, New Jersey and Connecticut-area Honda dealerships, also chose Horizon Media in April as its lead media agency following a review that started the previous year. Incumbent Spark Foundry declined to defend the estimated $45 million account, but the agency will continue to work with certain other Honda dealerships across the U.S. Additionally, Horizon Media picked up business for Benjamin Moore last week after indie agency Fig, which was named creative AOR for the paint brand following a review, brought the network on to handle media as its partner. IPG's The Martin Agency previously handled media and creative duties. Tourism Australia awarded its $50 million global account to M&C Saatchi, the world's largest independent creative network, last week. Droga5 previously handled its U.S. business and was behind the Dundee fake movie trailer starring Danny McBride and Chris Hemsworth that ran in the 2018 Super Bowl. Droga5 did pick up lead creative and strategy duties for United Rentals in September. The agency also defended the Google Pixel phone creative business in July while adding G Suite, the tech giant's collection of cloud computing tools that includes Gmail, Google Docs and Google Calendar. Probably the most tumultuous of account shifts this year was that of Papa John's, which changed hands several time after its founder, John Schnatter, used the N-word and made other racially insensitive remarks on a May media training call. First, Laundry Service (the agency that conducted the training call) resigned the account following Schnatter's remarks. Publicis Groupe's Fallon then picked it up and resigned it a month later. Papa John's eventually landed on Endeavor Global Marketing in August following Schnatter's resignation as chairman in July. Zimmerman, Olson Engage and Initiative were also brought into the mix during the past year, though none of those agencies is still on the account. Texas beer brand Shiner sent lead creative duties to The Richards Group in December. And Lowe’s ended its 12-year relationship with BBDO and announced a new creative agency roster in March comprised of independent and holding company-owned agencies including Conill (owned by Saatchi & Saatchi) in Los Angeles, indie The VIA Agency of Maine and South Carolina’s IPG-owned EP+Co. Here is Droga5's fake Dundee movie trailer that appeared in last year's Super Bowl: [kickout id="4"]