Omnicom and WPP land Amazon's media account, Adweek reports

Adweek has exclusively revealed that e-commerce giant Amazon has concluded its global media review, awarding its accounts to Omnicom Media Group (OMG) and WPP. This decision marks a significant change for the company, which had previously worked with IPG Mediabrands for over a decade.

According to Adweek, Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan confirmed the outcome, stating, "After a comprehensive advertising agency review for our consumer business, we've chosen to partner with OMG and WPP."

The accounts will be divided geographically, with OMG handling operations in the Americas, whilst WPP will oversee the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) and APAC (Asia-Pacific) regions. Amazon characterised this split as a strategic move to leverage the strengths of both agencies.

The scale of this account shift is substantial. Adweek reports that, according to COMvergence, Amazon's global paid media spend amounted to approximately $4.8 billion in 2023, excluding Audible. Prior to the review, Initiative/Rufus was managing all brand-driven advertising, including programmatic, IO display, and online video, with a total billing of about $2.5 billion.

Notably, COMvergence added that Amazon handles search, social, and all performance-related advertising internally, accounting for over $2 billion of spend.

Callahan elaborated on the selection process, telling Adweek, "This decision was made after a careful and extensive review process. We investigated each agency's marketplace expertise, media planning experience at all levels, media pricing, measurement abilities, and account management in all geographic regions."

The review, which Amazon described as part of its "regular course of business", reportedly took more than six months to complete. It included an objective third-party assessment by MediaSense to validate the findings.

Despite this shift, IPG Mediabrands will continue to manage Amazon's global media for Amazon Web Services, Amazon Business, and Amazon Ads. The company emphasised that the decision to change agencies was not a reflection on IPG's past performance, but rather a choice focused on future needs.

Adweek notes that IPG Mediabrands had initially won Amazon's account in 2013 and successfully defended it in 2017. As recently as December, IPG Mediabrands became the first media holding company to partner with Amazon Ads in support of its newly launched Prime Video ad tier.

In acknowledging the transition, Callahan expressed gratitude to all agencies involved in the review process, particularly thanking IPG for its decade-long partnership and ongoing collaboration in other significant areas of Amazon's advertising business.

This move represents a major development in the advertising industry, with two of the world's largest agency holding companies now responsible for managing the media strategy of one of the globe's most valuable brands.