Grocery giant Sainsbury’s has kicked off a closed review of its media planning and buying account, pitting incumbent agencies EssenceMediacomX and PHD against each other.
Covering the supermarket chain’s main business as well as Argos, Tu and Habitat, the review will however not involve its financial services proposition Sainsbury’s Bank.
Having worked with Sainsbury’s for close to three decades, Omnicom-owned PHD last retained the media planning and buying account after a gruelling review process in 2017.
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In 2020 however, PHD lost Sainsbury’s’ digital media accounts EssenceMediacom X, then known as Essence, which had also picked up Argos’ digital media account in 2019.
“Moving to a single agency group will mean we can deliver a more effective and efficient media buying operation with improved integration across our channels,” a Sainsbury’s spokesperson said.
Sainsbury’s’ creative account will remain unaffected by this process. It is currently held by New Commercial Arts, which secured the win early last year.
