NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Home-improvement retailer Lowe's said today it has awarded its $315 million advertising and media business to Omnicom Group's BBDO and OMD, according to executives familiar with the situation.
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The move follows a four-month review in which the agencies beat out Omnicom sibling TBWA Worldwide, which also pitched with media agency OMD; Interpublic Group of Cos.' Deutsch and its in-house media department; and the incumbents, McCann Erickson Worldwide and Universal McCann, also part of Interpublic. All agencies are in New York.
Lowe's said the transition begins immediately and is expected to be complete by 90 days.
Agency representatives either couldn't be reached or referred calls to Lowe's.
Interpublic loss
The decision marks another loss for Interpublic, which just two weeks ago saw one of its largest clients, Bank of America, take its $600 million account to Omnicom, where creative will be handled by BBDO. It extends an astounding new-business streak for BBDO of late. In addition to Bank of America, new clients include eBay, Mitsubishi, Levitra, E-Trade and Motorola.
In June, Dale Pond, senior vice president of merchandising and marketing, announced his retirement and was replaced with Senior Vice President of Operations Larry Stone. The review was managed by Hasan & Co., Raleigh, N.C.
No. 2 home-improvement chain Lowe?s, which trails category-leader Home Depot, operates more than 1,000 stores in 48 states. Both companies of late have been putting more emphasis on services such as carpet installation.
