MasterCard Set To Select Ketchum As New PR Shop - Advertising Age

MasterCard is set to select Omnicom's Ketchum as its corporate PR agency in the U.S. following a competitive review, Ad Age has learned.

IPG incumbent Weber Shandwick competed with Ketchum in the final round. Initially, the brief went out to independents Ruder Finn, Edelman, Taylor Strategy and APCO, as well as Next Fifteen's Bite and WPP's Public Strategies and Cohn & Wolfe. After the initial briefing, at least a few of these agencies decided not to participate, according to people familiar with the matter.

Cohn & Wolfe has supported various digital and social efforts for the company, APCO has provided reputation and issues-management services and Taylor has worked on various consumer efforts. It's not immediately clear how the change will affect the PR shops still involved with the company, but the move is a blow to incumbent Weber Shandwick. The agency has worked with MasterCard for at least a few years and continues to work with the company in various global markets, including Asia and Europe.

Andrew Bowins, senior VP- and group head of external and worldwide communications at MasterCard, told Ad Age that Ketchum will support U.S. and corporate PR business. "This is part of a continued evolution of communications at MasterCard (corporate and U.S. Markets) to advance the business through consumer and customer-engagement models that allow MasterCard to integrate digital, social, online and traditional communication vehicles in a manner that engages people, merchants and governments in a more meaningful way," he said. "As we move into 2013 beyond, we will continue to energize our corporate and U.S. PR programs and leverage all channels to meet our goals while creating direct and high impact engagements that help the MasterCard value story come to life and be top of mind."

Mr. Bowins added that the company is focused on "...the public dialogue around the benefits of a world that is moving beyond cash and the merits of digital payment and card-based systems. It's a dialogue that moves beyond traditional B2B conversations and places business and consumers at the center of the discussions."

He didn't indicate specifically how the change will affect the incumbents but said, "Our incumbent agencies, Weber, APCO and Taylor, have been exceptional partners that have helped build our foundation today."

The move breaks the company's tight circle of IPG shops, created when the company in 2010 ended its decade-plus relationship with Omnicom Group's GSD&M to consolidate U.S. media-planning and -buying business with Interpublic Group of Cos.' Universal McCann. The selection had united MasterCard's creative, media, PR and digital accounts under the IPG umbrella, with McCann Erickson Worldwide handling creative, R/GA managing digital, Weber Shandwick running PR duties and Octagon handling sports marketing and partnerships.

Now MasterCard is going back to Omnicom after a decision that likely involved Seth Eisen, senior business leader of communication in the U.S. markets. According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr. Eisen worked at Ketchum early in his career. He also spent time at WPP's Cohn & Wolfe, Publicis Groupe's MSLGroup and independent Waggener Edstrom.

For Ketchum, it's also a return to the financial services big leagues, as the agency had worked with Visa for a number of years until 2006. It's an accomplishment at a time when there aren't many accounts with seven-figure PR budgets up for bid.

MasterCard spent $119 million on U.S. advertising in 2011, a 4.1% decrease from 2010, according to Kantar Media.

Source: http://adage.com/article/agency-news/mastercard-set-select-ketchum-pr-shop/238039/

st louis blues rueben randle mike trout ryan broyles jerel worthy alshon jeffery miami heat