• by Steve McClellan , February 19, 2013

Staples has begun a comprehensive review of its agency roster that is said to include both creative and media, as well as other disciplines, such as digital and PR. "It's everything," said a source familiar with the situation. The media agency incumbent is MediaCom, a unit of WPP's GroupM.

The agency declined to comment, referring calls to the client, as did other shops on the client's roster.  

Interpublic's McCann Erickson and Publicis Groupe's Razorfish are among the agencies working for the office supply retailer. Staples did not immediately respond to a query seeking details on the review. The company spent more than $115 million on ads in 2011, according to Kantar.

Per sources, the review will be led internally by Steven Fund, who joined Staples two-and-a-half years ago as senior vice president, global brand marketing. Agency search consultant SRI has been tapped to help manage the review process. Sources said the client had not circulated an RFP as of Tuesday afternoon, but said they expected Staples to issue one by the end of the week.

There was speculation that Staples intends to put all of its agency business under one holding company roof, although it was unclear whether Staples was holding a formal holding company review. "Without the RFP, it’s hard to know," said one source.

The last media agency review held by the client was in 2007, when MediaCom prevailed. Over the last few years, the retailer is said to have had on-again-off-again talks with various creative shops about the company's evolving brand needs.