WPP Media has retained L'Oreal's media, influence and advocacy account worth north of $190 million, beating Publicis and Omnicom. It won by assembling a bespoke cross-discipline unit rather than pitching business as usual.
The account did not stay put because the incumbent was cheapest. It stayed because the incumbent reshaped itself around the client.
WPP Media has held on to L'Oreal's media planning, buying, advocacy and influence account after a competitive review, beating Publicis Groupe and Omnicom Media. Dentsu bowed out in earlier rounds. The combined billings are estimated to be worth north of $190 million.
The interesting part is how WPP won. Rather than defend the account with the same structure, it built a bespoke unit called Beauty Tech Labs, pulling talent from Wavemaker, WPP Media and Ogilvy PR to handle advocacy and influencer work in one place. The pitch was not business as usual. It was a purpose-built team for where L'Oreal wants to go.
Why it matters
Media and influence are collapsing into the same brief, and this account proves it. L'Oreal did not buy media and influencer marketing as two separate things. It bought them as one integrated capability. For Australian marketers and the agencies that serve them, the signal is clear. The old lines between paid media, creator marketing and PR are dissolving, and the buyers are rewarding the partners who structure themselves for that reality rather than against it.
The estimated combined billings of the L'Oreal media, influence and advocacy account WPP retained
What to do about it
The biggest accounts are going to the partners who rebuild themselves around the brief, and that is a discipline any business can borrow.