Omnicom Media Group (OMG) is transitioning its m2m agency over to Hearts & Science in Australia.
Initially launched in the US in April 2016, Hearts & Science has been eyeing the Australian market since 2017, with CEO Scott Hagedorn telling AdNews it would set up locally once it secured a foundation client.
Now it's revealed that the agency will take over m2m by 2 April.
Refereed to in market as an Omnicom conflict agency, meaning the Sydney and Melbourne-based agency often pitched for work that its sibling agencies could not pitch for due to client conflicts, it counts clients such as Sony Pictures, Hoyts, Blackmores and Audible.
In May last year it won the $51 million Hyundai media account, taking it from Havas.
Hearts & Science describes itself as a data-focused marketing agency with media planning and buying capabilities. It also provides shopper marketing, marketing innovation and content activation.
It will sit alongside OMD and PHD as Omnicom's data-driven marketing agency.
Omnicom CEO Peter Horgan said the appointment of Jeremy Bolt, former joint CEO of Annalect, Resolution and OMG Programmatic, to CEO was a strong one.
“Under Jeremy’s joint leadership with Des Odell, Resolution and Annalect have grown from strength to strength in the Australian market,” Horgan says.
“With his combined expertise in analytics, data, and agency management, he is singularly capable of translating the Hearts & Science success to the Australian market.”
Bolt said while the agency is already servicing global clients in the local market, it's the right time to increase Hearts & Science in Australia.
“With the increasing focus and complexity in marketing data and technology, trusted agency partners are well positioned to not only help drive this journey but also to manage and drive growth,” Bolt says.
“It is time we moved from billings to ROI as the scorecard.”
Current m2m MD Wendy Gower becomes MD for Hearts & Science in Sydney.
“The needs of our clients are changing as are their requirements of their agency partner,” Gower said.
“Transitioning to Hearts equips us to continue this journey leveraging data and technology alongside new approaches to services and solutions.
This will enable us to meet the needs of our clients and their customers better and faster.”
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.