MediaCom wins News Corp buying account

MEDIACOM has been awarded News Corp Australia’s $18.5 million media buying and planning business to the firm without a pitch.

Media buyers John Steedman, CEO of GroupM, left and Mark Pejic, CEO of MediaCom. Picture: Britta Campion

ADVERTISING agency MediaCom has bounced back from an audit controversy after News Corp Australia awarded its $18.5 million media buying and planning business to the firm without a pitch.

It’s a major blow to the incumbent UM as it lost one of the most sought-after media accounts in the Australian ad industry.

The move unites the publisher’s media account with other News Corp-related businesses under the umbrella of MediaCom’s media investment arm GroupM, owned by Martin Sorrell’s British giant WPP.

The win is a much-needed boost for GroupM chairman John Steedman and MediaCom chief executive Mark Pejic, who were under pressure after losing the Foxtel account to sister agency Mindshare.

News Corp Australia group marketing director Damian Eales said he shifted the business to MediaCom without putting it out to tender on the strength of a pitch made by Steedman and Pejic.

“John Steedman recently approached us with a compelling demonstration of the benefits associated with putting all our business under one account,” Mr Eales said.

“The deal John and Mark Pejic put on the table with MediaCom offers financial benefits and business synergies that we felt justified the change and made a lengthy pitch process an unnecessary encumbrance on the industry.”

UM held the account for just two and half years and worked on campaigns for The Daily Telegraph and The Australian.

“I am absolutely delighted that News Corp has decided to consolidate its business with GroupM,” Mr Pejic said.

UM recently unveiled a new positioning following several big account losses, including the ­federal government’s $137m media buying account, and buying duties for Microsoft, Mastercard and Brown Forman.

Last week, UM’s chairman Henry Tajer confirmed he was decamping to New York, having accepted a new role with parent company IPG Mediabrands, as first revealed by The Australian in December.

The timing of the win could not be better for MediaCom, which revealed the results of an eight-week audit on Friday. The investigation uncovered discrepancies in MediaCom’s billing practices in a further sign advertising agencies are under unbearable pressure from competitive procurement-driven pitch processes.

“We will be probably the most scrutinised firm in Australia in our industry and, going forward, across everything we do,” Mr Steedman said on Friday.