In the UK, incumbent Brand Connection has lost a chunk of Michelin's £4m overall marketing spend as a result of the switch, which was decided by the tyre manufacturer's French headquarters.
From January 1 2006, Mediaedge:cia will lead the business throughout Europe, except in France. French media, as well as international coordination, will be handled by Paris-based KR Media.
Previously, Michelin used several media agencies across Europe, which were managed by Belgium-based consultancy PII.
KR Media was launched in September 2004 by former Aegis Media Europe chief executives Bruno Kemoun and Eryck Rebbouh. WPP has taken a stake, which is believed to be less than 20%, in the agency and provides KR Media with research and buying services.
Michelin recently hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, when seven Formula 1 teams pulled out of the US Grand Prix on the warm-up lap because of problems with Michelin tyres, leaving only six cars to start the race. The tyre company could not reassure the teams involved that its tyre were safe to use in a high-speed banked corner, after two serious crashes in practice.
Michelin has since offered to refund the tickets of fans in attendance at the race in Indianapolis and has bought 20,000 tickets for the 2006 US GP to be given to fans who were present at the 2005 event.
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