Sky reviews giant media account at WPP’s EssenceMediacom

WPP’s EssenceMediacom is facing another big challenge: Sky is reviewing its European media account, worth an estimated £470m, £250m in the UK alone.

EssenceMediacom won the business in 2017 and has since added more digital work. Last time round Publicis Media and Dentsu pitched and this time all the big ad holding companies are likely to be involved it what seems sure to be a protracted pitch.

EssenceMediacom, the product of an internal merger between tech specialist Essence and the previously all-conquering Mediacom, has lost a number of big accounts recently and is currently repitching for another cornerstone account, Unilever.

Publicis Media has been the strongest performer among the ad holding groups recently, especially in the US. Omnicom’s OMG has also been a strong performer. Both ad holding groups boast strong data-based elements and it remains to be seen if these will resonate with Sky.

The Sky accounts under review include UK, Ireland, Italy and Germany, Austria and Switzerland.