OMG, Publicis Groupe Big Winners In Disney Global Media Review

The Walt Disney Co. has awarded the biggest pieces of its massive $2.2 billion global media assignment to Omnicom Media Group (OMG) and Publicis Groupe after a review that kicked off earlier this year, according to sources.

WPP is said to have retained India.

OMG will handle North America media planning and buying for Disney Studios – which includes Lucas Films, Marvel, Pixar, Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation, and the recently acquired 20th Century Fox brands (20th Century Fox Film Corp, Fox Searchlight and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment).

OMG also added Disney media channels--ABC, the Disney Channel, Freeform, FX and NatGeo. 

OMG is said to have made a strong case for the depth of its talent and the strength of its data capabilities. It will service its portion of the account via a dedicated new unit called OMG23, referring to the year Disney was founded (1923).  The group was an incumbent but the added work will dramatically grow the size of its Disney business in 20/20.

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Sources said that Publicis Groupe has been awarded Disney’s new streaming service Disney+, as well as its global theme parks division. It will also handle Disney's studio business in most markets outside of North America.

This win for Publicis is largely attributed to its data capabilities, particularly its recent $4 billion acquisition of data marketer Epsilon. Under this partnership with Disney, the Groupe will form a yet-to-be-named bespoke shop to service this account that will be focused on Epsilon's data.

Dentsu Aegis Group’s Carat was the incumbent on Parks, and Horizon had previously handled Disney media channels.

The agencies involved either declined comment or could not be reached by deadline. Disney officials weren’t immediately available for comment.

The review began in May and became controversial after reports from sources involved that Disney was looking for so-called “share shifts” from the winning contenders, meaning that they would encourage other clients to earmark a greater portion of their media spend to Disney outlets.

It's not clear how that "shift" request is spelled out in contract terms, if at all. 

This story has been updated.

 

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