• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 23, 2018

Well it’s certainly been active on the new business front over the past week. First candy giant Mars put its media in review, followed a few days later by Quicken Loans. That’s nearly $2 billion in media spend right there. 

At the same time, a couple of other clients completed reviews including Perdue and Bose.

Now, Royal Dutch Shell, one of the world’s biggest oil and gas companies, has launched a global review of its creative and media agency assignments, sources confirm.

The firm spends and estimated $200 million annually on measured media.

WPP’s JWT and MediaCom are the current creative and media incumbents respectively and are expected to defend.

In addition to Shell gasoline, company brands include Pennzoil, Quaker State and Jiffy Lube.

Consultant R3 has been retained by the client to assist with the review process.

A Shell rep, reached after hours in Europe Tuesday had no information on the review. She said to check in with the U.S. Shell media team to see what if anything they had on the development. So far, nada. Or to check back with her in the a.m. I'll do that. And if Shell adds anything insightful as to why they're conducting this review, I'll be sure to update to this item. 

In any event, the year is starting off with a bang on the pitch front. If this keeps up, fasten your seat belts biz dev people and be ready for a wild ride in 2018!