MediaCom has usurped two-years-in-a-row winner Carat and attained the lofty status of Agency of the Year.
In a closely fought final round that saw OMD UK close to winning the title and Carat to retaining it, the judges were most impressed by MediaCom, not least by the company attaining £1bn in billings, the first media agency to achieve this benchmark.
This figure was reached through £137m in new billings, with wins including Dell, TUI, E.ON, Homeform and Sportingbet.
During the period under consideration, MediaCom expanded 7.53%, against a backdrop of 1.63% average growth among the top 20 agencies. This buoyancy was bolstered by MediaCom’s regional growth, notably in Scotland, which expanded 43% in the last year. The agency also tapped into the inexorable rise of digital by adding VW’s digital media to its existing account and expanded its search division by 34%.
Other innovations included a consultancy partnership with Thinkbox, MediaCom’s continuing bid to become more environ-mentally sound through its Carbon Neutral Project, and a voluntary community project that has involved work with Age Concern and Tower Bridge School, among others.
In an age where brands can be affected as much by what people say about them as by their marketing activity, MediaCom launched a division called Word of Mouth, which offers clients the means to engage in dialogue with brand influencers.
Other new initiatives include SponsorCom Branded Content, which has developed high-profile advertiser-funded programming including Green Room for Nokia and Dog Rescue for Pedigree, a dedicated mobile division, and the Value Guardians scheme, whereby one MediaCom senior executive ensures there is cohesion across all media activity on an account.
MediaCom has achieved its £1bn billings while continuing to develop innovative projects and business divisions. This would be impressive with a few losses to boot, but MediaCom had a client churn rate of just 0.37% last year and successfully repitched for its Norwich and Peterborough, Navman and Scottish Executive accounts.
Shortlist
Carat
OMD