Disney has appointed Omnicom & Publicis as its global media agencies of record following a review that started back in May.
The account is believed to be globally worth $2.2 billion ($AU3.2b).
B&T understands across Australia and New Zealand, Dentsu Aegis Network’s (DAN’s) Carat has lost the $18.2 million AUNZ account, which it has held with Disney since 2009.
Commenting on Publicis’ win, Zenith Australia CEO Nickie Scriven said: “We’re thrilled with the win. It was an amazing team effort and I’m so proud of the work and contribution of our local team.”
DAN was unable to comment when B&T reached out for confirmation.
According to Adweek, the global review originally included six agencies from across four holding companies, including indie media agency Horizon.
Sources close to Adweek said WPP did not compete for the majority of the account due to a conflict of interest with its current client Comcast, but it did retain the buying and planning duties for Disney in India.
Disney handed OMG23, an entirely new unit created for the pitch, its North America movie studio accounts, which include Disney Studios, Marvel Studios and 20th Century Fox.
It also awarded the bespoke unit its North America media channels, including Disney Channel, ABC, FX, Freeform and Nat Geo.
According to an internal memo from Publicis CEO Arthur Sadoun obtained by B&T, Publicis Media won the entire global buying and planning business including in North America for Disney theme parks and Disney+.
The memo also said Publicis also won all of Disney’s media business in the EMEA, APAC and Latin America regions.
Sadoun said Publicis will be creating a bespoke unit for the Disney account called Publicis Imagine.
