Media agency m2m has won the Hyundai media buying and planning account following a competitive pitch, AdNews can reveal.
The Omnicom Media Group agency beat incumbent Initiative and Havas to the $51 million account, in a pitch process managed by Innocean Australia.
Hyundai is one of the largest automotive media clients in Australia in terms of billings. The Korean car giant is also one of the largest sponsors of sport in Australia, supporting AFL clubs Carlton and Brisbane Lions, as well as being the naming rights sponsor of the A-League and sponsors of the Socceroos and Matildas.
For m2m, Hyundai becomes one of the largest accounts in a client book that includes Sony Pictures, Hoyts and more.
In 2016, Hyundai sold 4.1 million units sold globally, making it the sixth largest manufacturer by sales. In Australia, Hyundai was the third-highest selling car maker in 2017, selling 97,013 units, behind Toyota (216,566) and Mazda (116,349).
In November 2017, Hyundai appointed Sydney independent Orchard as its digital agency of record.
Initiative won the business ten years ago from MediaCom and wished Hyundai the best of luck.
A spokesperson told AdNews: “We've told our people we are no longer involved in the Hyundai pitch and we wish Hyundai the best of luck after a highly successful 10-year partnership.”
Last year, AdNews revealed that Kia Motors, also a part of Hyundai Motor Group, had moved to Havas Media following a competitive review that was also managed by Innocean, the in-house global ad agency of Hyundai worldwide.
M2m declined AdNews requests to comment on the move, while Innocean Australia was unable to respond to requests for comment prior to publication.
This year, and in particular the past few months, has seen a flurry of media review activity after a relatively quiet 2017.
The media accounts of Mercedes, Ford, GlaxoSmithKline, Nestle, Mars, Revlon, Shell and Football Federation Australia are all currently under review.
Hyundai is the latest in a spate of account review conclusions, including Microsoft, Belong, Jaguar Land Rover, The Warehouse Group, NIB and the Federal Government.
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