Starcom China races off with BMW for a second time

Publicis Media's Starcom has retained the media business of BMW Group in China after a review that started in October 2017.

The extended assignment covers online and offline media planning and buying, performance marketing in search, as well as content creation, sponsorships and partnerships on the BMW and Mini brand portfolio. 

Starcom has already been the client's media agency of record since October 2015, and the business will continue to be serviced out of Starcom’s office in Beijing.

According to a release, Starcom won the pitch by "presenting a strategic approach to deliver business results through data-driven insights, human-centric innovation as well as value-focused investment and activation".

Campaign China understands that Carat, OMD, and Havas Media were tipped to be in the same race for the BMW account, reportedly worth between RMB1.5 billion to RMB2 billion (US$218 million to US$291 million) in annual billings, according to industry sources close to the pitch.

In a separate pitch that concluded earlier this July, Juice Network, a newly launched unit under Omnicom Group Asia, was named leading creative agency for the BMW portfolio (but excluding the MINI brand) in China. At that time, TBWA's Sixun Wang was tasked to lead Juice Network China as managing partner.