APAC media spotlight: UM retains Australian Government brief for the second time

Asia-Pacific saw a drastic decline in media new-business activity in Q3, but key moves in Australia led it to be the most active country in the region.

The Australian Government was the biggest local pitch in the region and largely the reason the country is the most active. The account worth $135.2 million in media billings was retained by UM for a second time after winning it from Dentsu X in 2018.

Pernod Ricard was another key pitch, moving its $45 million business in China from WPP’s Wavemaker to Dentsu’s Carat. 

Meanwhile, optical group Specsavers selected WPP’s EssenceMediacom to manage its media planning and buying in Australia. The $31.2 million account was previously with Interpublic’s Initiative.

This is a consolidation of agencies as EssenceMediacom already holds the Specsavers business in New Zealand, and retained the $10.3 million account here. 

Elsewhere, WPP’s Wavemaker won a $5 million brief for personal care giant Wipro Unza in Vietnam. 

The biggest move in Q3 2024 was not a local pitch but rather Amazon’s global business. The online retailer allocated a large sum of its global media billings to Asia-Pacific. The online retailer will spend $316.6 million in the region, representing 13.2% of the global $2.4 billion budget. 

The global account was split between Omnicom Media Group and WPP’s GroupM. The latter will handle the account in Asia-Pacific. By country, it was India that will get the biggest chunk—$250 million in billings. 

Ongoing reviews

Kenvue, owner of Listerine and Aveeno, is currently reviewing its media account in India and South East Asia, with WPP’s UM potentially on the chopping block. Tata Motors is on the hunt for a media partner in India, with Lodestar UM as the incumbent.

Globally, bank Santander is on the look-out, as is biotechnology company Amgen and chocolate brand Lindt.