The Lego Group has appointed Publicis One, powered by Starcom, as its global media buying and planning agency following an 18-month competitive pitch process.
This remit includes Australia, AdNews can confirm.
IPG's Initiative was the incumbent, holding the global business since winning it in 2017 from UM.
But in Australia UM retained the account locally in 2017. After holding the account for 16 years, the Lego ANZ account was quietly transferred to Initiative in May-June of 2019.
The Danish toy company is one of the most sought after media and creative accounts in this market due to the award-winning work it consistently produces.
The media campaign LEGO City Goes NITRO! by Initiative Australia was nominated for a series of industry awards including finalist at AdNews' agency of the year and winner of the 2023 MFA Grand Prix Award.
Locally Lego spent $7.5USD million (or $11.2AUD million) in ANZ in 2023, and about $417USD million (or $626AUD million) on media globally, according to figures from COMvergence.
Bigdatr estimates digital and offline channels for Lego at $25AUD million for the past 12 months in Australia.
Publicis One will commence onboarding from the beginning of July, working with Initiative over a three-month period to ensure a seamless transition and continued strong presence for the LEGO brand.
Lego Group Australia & New Zealand got a new senior director, head of marketing seeing Justine McKenny step into the role earlier this year.
Lego chief product and marketing officer Julia Goldin said the brand was impressed with Publicis One’s depth and breadth of expertise – as well as their aligned cultural values.
"We look forward to working together to further enhance our ecosystem, leveraging their insights and capabilities to create engaging and meaningful experiences for our audiences," Goldin said.
"Together, we aim to inspire children and families globally, nurturing creativity and fostering learning through play.
"We would like to thank the team at Initiative/IPG for a great seven years. They have been with us every step of the way as we significantly grew the business, launched our first global brand campaign, and reached more children than ever before.
"We are grateful for their support and collaboration.”
Publicis and IPG gave no comment.
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