Volkswagen selected Omnicom’s PHD as its brand-new worldwide media company of record, bringing its relationship with WPP’s MediaCom to the end after nearly twenty years. The news marks PHD’s biggest win to this day, and the relocation likewise ranks amongst the biggest media consolidations in any market.
PHD won the $3 billion account in a pitch that ends a yearlong series of reviews informally called “Mediapalooza.” It will now manage method and media buying tasks for Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Bentley, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, which belong to the bigger Volkswagen business worldwide.
The firm has a pre-existing relationship with the Volkswagen. In 2010, it beat out MediaCom along with Starcom MediaVest Group and MPG (Now Havas) to win worldwide media duties for Porsche prior to Volkswagen finished its acquisition of the high-end brand in 2012.
MediaCom had managed the vast bulk of the Volkswagen company from the year of 1998. As just recently as 2014, the client broadened and extended its relationship with WPP by signing that store to a three-year agreement that would have lasted till 2017.
It should be noted that Omnicom will deal with the U.S. part of the business by means of an unit devoted to Volkswagen. The network had formerly handled the Porsche account in the same way.