Campaign has learned that after a two-month pitch process, Middle East Communications Network agency Initiative Middle East has won GCC media duties for one one of the region’s bigger clients: US beauty company Coty. Dentsu Aegis Network’s Vizeum has won the media contract for Iran.
Coty had been represented by Havas Media Middle East since that agency was formed as MPG Middle East in 2005. Havas also handled Coty in the Levant, through its Beirut office. The contract with Havas was last renewed after a competitive pitch in 2013.
The Coty account is worth more than $30m in monitored advertising spend in the region.
In September 2016, Coty appointed Publicis Media’s Zenith as its lead media agency globally. Zenith said at the time that it would handle both Coty’s current brands and the P&G Speciality Beauty Business that Coty was buying at the time.
Zenith, Havas, Mediacom and Carat all pitched for the regional contract, according to sources Campaign’ spoke to.
Coty’s brands include cosmetics brands Rimmel and Sally Hansen, and fragrance brands Calvin Klein, Marc Jacobs, and Davidoff. It bought the Bourjois cosmetics brand from Chanel in 2015. The P&G merger brought in cosmetics brands Covergirl and Max Factor, fragrance brands including Hugo Boss and Gucci, and haircare brands such as Wella and Clairol. In September, Campaign estimated global spend on advertising and promotions by Coty would exceed $1bn this year.
Initiative will handle integrated media services, including strategy, planning and buying, across Coty’s three main divisions: Coty Consumer Beauty, Coty Luxury and Coty Professional Beauty. Campaign believes the media duties were awarded on a two-year contract.
Initiative would not confirm it had won the account, but Ramzy Abou Chacra, regional managing director ,said: “Such a win would be a testament to our solid position in the market, our data-led understanding of consumers in MENA and, above all, our team’s passion. Our aim is to bring a balanced approach to our clients that combines short-term performance with long-term strategic outcomes.”
