MediaCom on track for £64m global Wella brief

MediaCom is poised to win the £64m global Wella media account after the haircare company shifted its European business to the agency, from Omnicom-owned BBDO. The UK business is held by PHD.

A spokeswoman for Germany-based Wella confirms that MediaCom has been handed the company’s retail business in Europe. She refuses to comment on the position of the UK business, although a Wella UK spokesman admits that every part of the agency roster has been under review since the company was acquired by Procter & Gamble last summer.

MediaCom already handles some media duties for P&G’s haircare business in the UK, the rest being split between other roster agencies Starcom MediaVest and Zenith Optimedia. The media decision has been outstanding since Wella awarded its global advertising account to P&G roster agency Leo Burnett last year (MW November 20, 2003).

The company has also put the UK media account for its Wella System Professional business out to pitch. Wella has previously used smaller, non-roster agencies to handle advertising duties for the salon range.

P&G has still not made a decision on the fate of Wella’s marketing team. A Wella spokeswoman says the companies are studying how they can best co-operate on their retail businesses.