OMD Australia has nabbed Sara Lee’s local $6m media planning and buying account from MediaCom, following an international pitch which has seen OMD win the business across Europe and Asia Pacific.
The pitch was spearheaded out of Europe, with the aim of consolidating disparate media accounts. OMD was the incumbent in Europe, however in the Australian market MediaCom handled the account.
Separate local market pitches occurred in markets like Australia, which formed part of the wider international pitch process. In the Asia Pacific region, Sara Lee appointed OMD in Australia, New Zealand and Thailand.
In Australia, the Sara Lee account is worth $6 million in billings. As a result of the win, OMD will oversee brands such as Moccona, Harris, Sara Lee, Piazza d’Oro and Pickwick Tea.
MediaCom won Sara Lee’s consolidated planning and buying account in 2008, after a pitch involving Carat, Starcom and Zenith Optimedia. Previously, MediaCom shared the account with Carat.
Sara Lee announced a global media review in March, which involved Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, but not the US.
Harm-Jan van Pelt, Sara Lee senior vice president and member of the Coffee and Tea Board, said: “With the creation of a stand-alone publicly listed company focused on coffee and tea, Sara Lee’s international businesses will undergo a significant change.
“We will invest behind our coffee and tea brands in the future, with modern, relevant and creative media campaigns. During the Media Consolidation Pitch process we focused on ensuring our media partner had not only the right competences and experience for our business today but also to support the needs of our future ‘Coffee Co’.”
OMD Sydney general manager Mark Jarrett said: “We look forward to building a long-term partnership with Sara Lee and helping to support their long term business growth”.
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