Carat retains $600m Philips account

Carat has retained the $600m (£300m) global media planning and buying account for Philips following a final shootout against Mediaedge:cia. ZenithOptimedia and Omnicom Group were knocked out of the pitch earlier this year.

The Dutch electronics company called the review in October last year and is thought to be unhappy with the lack of impact in the some markets. It is understood that the company believes that its “Sense and Simplicity” strategy has been successful in the US, where Philips tried to “give back” to customers through initiatives such as buying all pre-film cinema advertising and not running any ad spots, but it has had less impact internationally.

Last September, Philips partnered with global broadcaster CNN to sponsor its new-media news services and microsite Briefing Room, a magazine-style digest offering a summary of the day’s international news and newspaper round-ups.

The creative account, which is held by Omnicom-owned DDB network, is unaffected.

Carat was unavailable for comment.