Adidas is reportedly on its way from WPP’s EssenceMediacom to Omnicom’s PHD in one of this year’s flagship media pitches. Publicis Media also pitched.
At this stage none of the principals are saying anything, a further sign of the all-encompassing secrecy infecting the corporate sector. Is Adidas changing media agency vital intelligence for Nike and Puma?
Anyway it’s a big win for Omnicom, ($512m) a further sign that boss John Wren’s big deal to acquire IPG is going relatively smoothly. Omnicom is winning and, mostly, retaining business even as Wren prunes his senior ranks like a keen gardener dead-heading the roses.
PHD is an interesting one: a media agency with a rather cerebral air. One of the first London-based media independents it came into being with backing from John Ayling Associates, also still with us. Happily the three partners were named Pattison, Horswill and Durden so we ended with PHD, which for years reflected its position as a thinking media agency. It was bought by Abbott Mead Vickers (later AMV BBDO) and hence became part of Omnicom. This year it won the Media Grand Prix at Cannes for Uber Eats so maybe the old DNA is alive and kicking.
Did clever tech/AI have anything to do with the win? We haven’t been told. More likely, though, it was price and service as usual.
