Manning Gottlieb OMD wins Sony BMG account

by MediaWeek, Media Week 29-Apr-05, 14:12

Sony BMG, the newly created music giant, has awarded its £30m UK media planning and buying account to Omnicom agency Manning Gottlieb OMD.

The review was called last year after the merger of Sony with the Bertelsmann-owned BMG, with the incumbents from each part of the business – Manning Gottlieb OMD and Aegis-owned Vizeum respectively – squaring up for the last round of the pitch.

The new company has some of the world’s biggest music artists on its books, including ageing rocker Bruce Springsteen, Britney Spears, Kasabian and Outkast.

Despite the setback for Vizeum, operations director Chris Boothby said the agency believed the final round would always be against the Sony incumbent.

But he added: “It will not have a huge commercial impact on us; it was a close run thing between two agencies.

“The impact from the agency point of view will not be dramatic. It’s more disappointing for the team who’ve done a magnificent job, but we’re not in deep mourning at all.”

It is believed an initial shortlist of nine agencies had been created by Sony BMG, before Manning Gottlieb OMD and Vizeum were selected for the final round.

By Kevin May