Coty to launch global review of its £180m media business

The shock decision to instigate a global pitch process comes amid a series of local market reviews, including one taking place in its domestic market, France, and another in the US, which was responsible for £70m worth of media spend last year.

The 105-year-old cosmetics giant is home to many of the most popular brands, including Calvin Klein, Cerruti and Marc Jacobs in its Coty Prestige portfolio, and Adidas, David and Victoria Beckham, and Kate Moss in its Coty Beauty range.

The review will include the media business across both portfolios operating in 90 countries and is being led by Coty's senior vice-president, corporate media, Sigrun Graeff.
According to local market figures tracked by The Nielsen Company, ad spend has dropped about 20% across the group since the global economic downturn began in 2008.

Despite the tough climate, Coty's chief executive Bernd Beetz is hoping to achieve annual sales of $5bn in 2010, up from $4bn in 2008.

One agency leader called the move "symbolic of the current climate", but warned the constant drilling down of media value is not a sustainable model for the industry.

The decision to run a global media review in spite of a series of local market reviews either recently completed or still underway draws parallels with Vodafone. The UK telecoms incumbent OMD, which snatched the account from Carat after less than a year in August, will be hoping for a similar result with Coty.

Coty declined to comment.