OMD beats MindShare to £200m Sony business

OMD Europe has beaten MindShare to clinch the &£200m pan-European business for Sony’s consumer electronics and music divisions.

OMD currently shares the business with Zenith Media, which was on the original pitch list in March, when the Japanese consumer electronics, entertainment and mobile phone giant began seeing media agencies.

Starcom Motive, Mediaedge:CIA and Optimedia are also understood to have pitched for the business. The list was whittled down to OMD, MindShare and Zenith in April, with Zenith being knocked out later.

Sony has already conducted a similar review in North America, which saw it award $600m (&£386m) worth of the media planning and buying business for Sony Electronics, Sony Music, Sony Pictures and Sony Canada to Interpublic’s Universal McCann, New York.

Buying for Sony Computer Entertainment, which markets the Sony PlayStation, stayed with OMD, because Universal handles Microsoft’s Xbox in the US.

Sony is also understood to be reviewing the pan-European creative account for its consumer electronics division, held by Saatchi & Saatchi.

Saatchi & Saatchi won the pan-European account in August 1999, when it was said to be worth &£70m: the current budget is unknown. It is believed that Barbara Haase, marketing manager at Sony Europe in Berlin, has met with Bartle Bogle Hegarty and Wieden & Kennedy, alongside the incumbent.