France’s Publicis loses P&G contracts in US

As reviewageddon winds down, one of the larger deals has been settled with P&G making Omnicom Media Group its North American lead to oversee P&G’s $2 billion annual media spend.

P&G is shifting the bulk of the account to Omnicom as part of a broader effort to consolidate its relationships with advertising agencies.

Omnicom will be joined by Dentsu Aegis’ Carat, expected to handle about a third of the business, and Starcom Mediavest Group, which will retain its business with a number of P&G brands the global conglomerate is expected to sell off in the near future.

After months of deliberating, Procter & Gamble has chosen its North American media agencies. “This is something that happens in this type of business”.

The P&G North America media account represented roughly 0.6% to 0.7% of Publicis’ revenue, according to a person familiar with the matter.

A few years back, Etienne noted, the company lost a bigger piece of business-media for General Motors-and the company managed to survive.

P&G officials wouldn’t specify which agency will get what brands, but they said Omnicom Media will be the primary agency with a majority of the company’s product categories, while Carat will play a supporting role.

The loss of P&G’s USA media account, however, comes just days after Publicis unveiled a companywide reorganization aimed at improving sluggish growth and helping it win more business.

Billings up for review this year were more than the past three years combined; the P&G account has been one of the most heavily watched pitches, as the company is the world’s biggest ad spender.

Before the P&G loss, Publicis was net positive on new business in this year’s media reviews, Etienne said.

“The reorganization that’s in place gives us new opportunities and I’m pretty sure we’ll have a different picture soon”, he added.