• by December 16, 2004

ALL IN THE FAMILY -- Media agency operating units within the big holding companies boast of their collegiality when pitching, or defending business, but that mutual admiration society apparently dissipates once the business is won, or lost, as winners and losers spin the spoils of media services account reviews. That was apparent this week by the official announcements in two high-profile media reviews: Nestle's global media consolidation, and General Motors' $700 million media consolidation in Europe.

In the first instance, ZenithOptimedia officially announced what had been speculated on for some time, that it had won the U.S. portion of Nestle's worldwide media account, while Group M had won it in much of the rest of the world. The incumbent, Universal McCann, was out of the running.

But there appears to be more to the outcome of that review than met the eye of ZenithOptimedia's press release, according to a report released Thursday by RECMA. As it turns out, the beneficiary was mostly Optimedia, and a little bit of Zenith. The analysis shows that Optimedia USA picked up the biggest piece of Nestle's media business, worth $550 million in media billings. Optimedia also retained a $60 million chunk of Nestle business Down Under (Australia and New Zealand), while ZenithOptimedia retained $60 million and $30 million Nestle media accounts, respectively, in Germany and Canada. ZenithOptimedia's joint venture with Dentsu also retained a $50 million chunk in Japan, though Nestle has yet to determine the outcome of its $80 media account in Russia, which is currently handled by the Publicis media network.

As for WPP's Group M units, MindShare picked up the $120 million U.K. assignment, the $40 million Netherlands account, and the $15 million Mexican duties, while sister shop BBS (soon to be Maxus) won the massive $130 million account in Italy. Of course, Universal wasn't left completely out of the money. The French office of Universal Comcord retained that market's $250 million Nestle account, for 2005, anyway.

Universal, meanwhile, got to lick its wounds announcing on Wednesday that it had won the $700 million General Motors media consolidation in Europe. By Thursday morning, however, sources inside Interpublic sister shop Initiative were amending that announcement, claiming it was really a joint pitch and that Initiative will get reap a sizeable chunk of those billings.

According to these executives, Initiative will handle the U.K. portion of the account, valued at about $164 million. Moreover, a joint media operation known as Initiative Universal Media will handle GM's Nordic/Scandinavian business.

But somehow, that all got left out of Universal's version of the announcement.