EssenceMediacom and Havas Media are in the final round of pitching for the Subaru media account, alongside incumbent Starcom, Mediaweek can reveal.
Starcom has held the Japanese car manufacturer’s media account for a number of years, managing its media buying and planning.
GroupM, Havas Media, and Subaru Australia declined to comment.
The Publicis Groupe media agency had a successful 2023 which saw it retain $80 million of business and secure $51 million in new business, according to the 2023 COMvergence New Business Barometer.
Subaru’s creative agency is The Works, part of Capgemini. They delivered the 2021 Generations of Love brand campaign and the 2022 A Whole Lot of History campaign for the car brand’s 25th Anniversary.
News of Subaru’s media account pitch comes after Toyota Australia recently handed its retail and value chain communications portfolio to Publicis-owned full-service agency, Saatchi & Saatchi.
The move marked the end of its long-standing relationship with Dentsu Creative, which began in 2015 when the holdco acquired the local independent agency Oddfellows, Toyota’s retail creative agency at the time.
Despite previous reports the win for Saatchi & Saatchi was driven by a global consolidation with Publicis, brought about from the US, both Publicis and Toyota have since confirmed to Mediaweek this was a local decision only.
At the time, Toyota Australia told Mediaweek that under the new arrangement, Saatchis will be responsible for brand, retail, value chain and select product communications.
A Toyota spokesperson said: “This decision has been made following an extensive, standard agency review process, which aims to support Toyota Australia’s future marketing priorities. We look forward to developing innovative customer-focused solutions in the value chain and retail space.”
See also: Toyota hands retail creative account to Saatchi & Saatchi
See also: Starcom and Sloane Media team up with Subaru for a new season of Great Australian Detour