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MarketingVOX: Interpublic Group's Draft FCB and Aegis Group's Carat have been tapped to handle creative and media duties, respectively, for Wal-Mart's $580 million account, according to executives familiar with the decision.
Wal-Mart claims a decision has not yet been made but may come by the first week of November. The win would be a huge coup for Draft FCB, which was only recently constituted as a merged entity, AdAge writes (via MediaBuyerPlanner). Wal-Mart intends for its ad campaigns to encourage shoppers to spend more, and on a more broad array of items, particularly higher-margin products.
DraftFCB and Carat pitched as a team, along with FCBi, DraftFCB's interactive arm, but some sources expect IPG's R/GA to pick up interactive duties, writes AdWeek. R/GA was part of a different pitch team, led by IPG's The Martin Agency.
Incumbent Bernstein-Rein, which had worked with Wal-Mart for 32 years, was cut from the review in August. Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi, which had been considered a favorite as Saatchi X had been named agency of record for shopper, in-store and employee communications, dropped out of the review after having won competitor JC Penney away from Omnicom's DDB.
Final presentations for Wal-Mart's multicultural review will take place in mid-November, with four Hispanic, three African-American and three Asian American shops participating. Wal-Mart is one of the largest accounts in the Hispanic market, spending $55 million a year through independent agency Lopez Negrete Communications.
Wal-Mart has also recently paired with gay-marketing agency Witeck-Combs Communications, and has formed a partnership with the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
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