WPP Media has retained L’Oreal’s media planning, buying, advocacy and influence account following a competitive review.
WPP Media beat Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Media to the account, while Dentsu bowed out in earlier rounds of the process.
“Following a thorough and highly competitive review process, L’Oréal Australia & New Zealand has finalised its media agency tender. We are pleased to work with WPP as our media partner. We would like to thank all the participating agencies for their exceptional energy, strategic thinking and professionalism throughout this process,” a L’Oréal spokesperson told B&T.
L’Oreal produces some of the leading brands in cosmetics, including CeraVe, La Roche-Posay, L’Oréal Paris, Kiehl’s, YSL, Lancôme, NYX, Maybelline and Redken.
Wavemaker has held media buying and planning duties for the cosmetics giant since 2021, when it won it from Carat. Last year, WPP created Beauty Tech Labs—a bespoke team that includes talent from Wavemaker, WPP Media and Ogilvy PR—to handle advocacy and influencer marketing. Social creative agency The Content Works is also in L’Oreal’s agency village.
This new bespoke team brings together these capabilities and is a similar model to Suncorp’s Open Era. The combined billings for the media, influence and advocacy account are estimated to be worth north of $190 million, B&T understands.
“This win is a strong reflection of WPP Media and how we bring our capabilities together in new ways to help clients unlock truly limitless growth,” WPP Media ANZ chief executive Aimee Buchanan said.
“What’s most exciting is the model we’ve built together with L’Oréal, designed not for where the business is today, but for where it’s going next. It brings together the best of our people, data, technology and specialist capabilities across the group, and shows how we can shape the future of marketing in partnership with our clients.”
Wavemaker CEO Peter Vogel added: “L’Oréal has been an incredible partner, and this continued partnership is something we’re extremely proud of. The process challenged us to evolve how we work together, and what came through strongly was the depth of collaboration, trust and ambition on both sides.
“We have an incredible team working on L’Oreal – it’s a relationship built on delivering results and innovation day in, and day out. We’re excited to continue that relationship and keep pushing forward and unlocking new opportunities for growth.”
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