• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, September 28, 2016

MullenLowe Mediahub, the media arm of Interpublic’s MullenLowe Group, has been appointed Global Media Agency of Record by Western Union, the iconic money transfer service, following a consolidation review that kicked off in May.  It has put together a new operation called Team Union to service the account.

The firm reported total advertising costs of $166.3 million in 2015. It buys close to $100 million worth of ad time and space each year according to people familiar with the numbers. In the U.S., it spent around $20 million on measured media last year according to Kantar Media. That was down from nearly $40 million in 2014. 

The scope of work includes online and offline communications planning, media planning and media buying. The win follows a competitive pitch against media planning incumbent Dentsu Aegis’ Vizeum and Publicis Groupe’s ZenithOptimedia.

MullenLowe Mediahub selected talent from across the agency and IPG Mediabrands networks to create Team Union – which will service the client across its global footprint. Team Union’s global headquarters will be based in London, with a further 16 regional hubs across APAC, EMEA and the Americas and local media buying in multiple other countries. 

MullenLowe Profero has been Western Union’s global digital media agency since 2006. Dentsu Aegis’ mcgarrybowen will continue to handle Western Union’s global creative duties alongside BarBar Shop, Western Union’s in-house global creative production unit.

Western Union is the first global account win for MullenLowe Mediahub since it absorbed Profero’s performance media capabilities which created an expanded global operation with over 400 people in 12 markets and backed by the buying power of IPG Mediabrands. 

Other MullenLowe Mediahub clients include Bose, Scotts Miracle-Gro, JetBlue, Royal Caribbean, Patrón, Netflix, Match.com, and Shinola.