EXCLUSIVE: Mars has consolidated its entire media account with just one agency across Australia and New Zealand, after a three-way tussle.
Mars has shifted its whole account to Starcom MediaVest, which was the incumbent on largest portion of the business, including Mars Petcare, Mars Food and Mars Chocolate.
OMD, the incumbent on the Mars-owned Wrigley business, has been dropped from the account, which has also moved over to Starcom.
OMD has lost the business despite its work on the highly awarded 5X Mutant Gum campaign.
The third player in the pitch was MediaCom, which did not win any business. MediaCom had been placed on the pitch list because it is a partner with Mars in other markets.
While Mars could not be reached for comment at the time of writing, multiple sources confirmed the account move.
In 2008, Mars had acquired Wrigley globally in a deal worth US$23 billion. The consolidation of the media account in Australia has come largely in the wake of this acquisition.
One source suggested Starcom had always been the most likely winner of the business, because it was the incumbent media agency for the acquiring entity Mars, while OMD was the incumbent on the acquired entity Wrigley.
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