Carat retains Woolworths’s $240m dollar media account after lengthy pitch process

Carat has retained Woolworths’s $240m dollar media buying account in a controversial decision.

MEDIA agency Carat has retained Woolworths’s $240m dollar media buying account following an eight month pitch process in a controversial decision that will spark a fall out.

Agency sources said the retail giant informed senior executives at Aegis Media’s Carat, Omnicom’s OMD, and WPP’s MediaCom late yesterday afternoon.

Carat was tipped to hold onto to Australia’s biggest media expenditure in May by The Australian.

The decision has been postponed on several occasions amid deep disagreement among various Woolworths’s stakeholders, and a change of chief marketing officer.

Sources close to the pitch process have claimed individual agency running costs for participating are as high as $500,000, raising questions about the integrity of the pitch process after the original brief suggested the retailer was looking to shake-up its media buying duties.

It’s understood the majority of the stakeholders wanted to appoint a new agency to the business, but Woolworths CMO Tony Phillips, who has the most powerful vote in the discussions, found himself at odds with other stakeholders.

The pitch was led by Phillips who joined the supermarket in March after the pitch was called in February.

The coveted account, which will gives Carat enormous billings and leverage in negotiations with media owners, includes the main supermarket business in addition to a number of subsidiary liquor brands including BWS and Dan Murphys.

The size of the business meant the pitch was closely watched by media companies and their sales functions, including the main commercial TV networks and newspaper publishers.