GroupM has won the Tesco media business as part of a Tesco international consolidation of all business into GroupM under the MediaCom and Mindshare brands across multiple markets. It means that as well as retaining the business in the UK and Thailand, GroupM also adds the account in Ireland, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Malaysia.
GroupM CEO Bill Kinlay (above) said the business will be housed in a specifically designed unit known as Team Tesco and Powered by GroupM. The business will move to the WPP group from Initiative in April. “Obviously, for every win, somebody has to lose out and I would like to pay tribute to the team at Initiative, which has done a superb job,” Kinlay said.
“I really wish that our gain did not mean their loss but unfortunately, that’s the way it has to be. We acknowledge that this is a huge loss for them and wish them all the very best with managing it. We will be working closely with Eamon (Fitzpatrick) and his team to manage the transition and make it as smooth as possible on all sides,” Kinlay added.
Tesco creative is handled by Rothco, the agency recently acquired by Accenture.
