Dive Brief:
- The Wall Street Journal reports that entertainment powerhouse Warner Bros. has moved its $250 million-plus digital media account to Merkle, an agency focused on customer relationship marketing that's majority-owned by Japanese firm Dentsu.
- Merkle is an unusual fit for the digital account of a massive entertainment company like Warner Bros. But the Journal noted the move could help Warner Bros. combine data from multiple digital sources to improve audience targeting and segmentation.
- Omnicom previously held the account and will continue to handle traditional media for Warner Bros.
Dive Insight:
The change of hands is indicative of how difficult it is for large, traditional media-buying agencies like Omnicom to deal with an increasingly fragmented digital landscape. Research from September by Smith & Beta found that only 7% of agency employees report exceeding client expectations for digital work, and 43% said they aren’t prepared for future advanced digital work within the industry.
Some big brands are taking digital account management out of agency hands altogether: PepsiCo put its agency on record, the Barbarian Group, under review, moving its entire social media program in-house just last month and allowing third parties to bid on its digital marketing activities.
For Warner Bros, if the potential merger between its parent and AT&T comes to pass, there could be more changes on the horizon as both corporations have ad budgets and agency relationships to sort out.
