Wal-Mart hands multicultural-media account to Starcom MediaVest’s 42 Degrees

By Jack Neff
AdAge.com
(June 12, 2007) Wal-Mart Stores has ended perhaps the most storied agency-review process ever by giving its $60 million-plus account for multicultural media planning and buying to Starcom MediaVest Group's 42 Degrees, New York, consolidating duties that had been with the retailer's multicultural creative shops, according to people familiar with the matter.  
Wal-Mart's multicultural-media assignment is the final piece of a comprehensive agency review begun in May 2006.  
 
No conflicts at shop
The move by Publicis Groupe's SMG earlier this year to break up its industry-leading multicultural media shop Tapestry into two units appears to have paved the way for the win. Tapestry, aligned with SMG's Starcom unit and with offices in Chicago and Miami, handles Wal-Mart rivals Walgreens and Best Buy, but 42 Degrees doesn't have such conflicts. Though the shop is owned by SMG, it's part of the MediaVest unit and works separately from Tapestry.  
 
One person familiar with the matter said the consolidation was an obvious choice for Wal-Mart, given the retailer's predilection for power buying. MediaVest won the rest of Wal-Mart's $500 million-plus media account in January.  
 
Wal-Mart spent $60.7 million on Spanish-language television, magazines and newspapers last year, according to TNS Media Intelligence; the chain spent $515 million overall.  
 
The multicultural-media assignment is the final piece of a comprehensive agency review begun in May 2006 by since-ousted Wal-Mart marketing executive Julie Roehm.  
 
Alleged ethics violations
Wal-Mart reversed its original November selections of Interpublic Group of Cos.' DraftFCB and Aegis Group's Carat in December after firing Ms. Roehm for alleged violations of its ethics code. Ms. Roehm has denied any ethics breaches and sued Wal-Mart for wrongful termination and breach of contract. That case was returned by the U.S. District Court for Eastern Michigan last week to the local court in Oakland County, Mich., where it was originally filed.  
 
The multicultural portion of the review -- though not otherwise caught up in the scandal -- was put on hold pending a re-pitch of the general-market account.  
 
Wal-Mart in January named Interpublic's Martin Agency, Richmond, Va., and SMG's MediaVest as its general-market creative and media shops following the re-pitch. It also named as its multicultural creative shops Lopez Negrete Communications, Houston, for Hispanic; GlobalHue, Southfield, Mich., for African-American; and IW Group, Los Angeles, for Asian-American consumers. Lopez Negrete, an independent shop, has been Wal-Mart's Hispanic agency for a decade and is the only agency -- creative, media or multicultural -- to survive the review and remain on Wal-Mart's roster. The new Asian shop, IW, is 49% owned by Interpublic and GlobalHue, now independent, was previously partly owned by Interpublic.  
 
Decision made a month ago
Soon after those decisions, Wal-Mart commenced a pitch for the multicultural media account. The multicultural creative assignments are unaffected by the media decision, which apparently was made last month, about a year after the comprehensive review began.  
 
Wal-Mart declined to comment by press time. Spokespeople for SMG and MediaVest couldn't be reached or didn't return calls for comment.  


Go to Target Market News homepage

 

  Just Three Weeks Away! 


 13th Edition Now Available 
New Buying Power report shows more spending by black consumers on 'necessities'

Thanks to economic gains in the past two years, black households across the U.S., especially middle-class families, are increasing their purchases of lifestyle and leisure items.

According to the newest edition of “The Buying Power of Black America,” there are indications that black households are feeling more confident about making purchases that...
Story continued...

_________________________________________________________________________________________

ATTENTION BOOK CLUBS
AND BOOK LOVERS!
    
Black Issues Book Review presents the National Book Club Conference - Chicago to be held on Friday and Saturday, August 24 and 25, 2007, in downtown Chicago at the InterContinental Hotel .

Hundreds of book club members will be engaged in dialogue with some of the nation's leading African American authors, including Tina McElroy Ansa, Mary Morrison, Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant.

Click here for more information and to register

________________________

The African-American
Book Publishing Authority

Now in its eighth year of publication, Black Issues Book Review is the only nationally distributed magazine devoted exclusively to covering the latest news and reviews on black books. BIBR also provides up-to-date news on forthcoming author signings, book fairs and book clubs.
Want this issue? Get it with your new subscription.
Click Here

A TARGET MARKET NEWS PUBLICATION
_________________________



Click here to read more

________________________

  SUBSCRIBE TODAY! 


The trade publication for
in-depth coverage of Black
Consumer Marketing
and Media news