• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, April 6, 2022

S4 Capital has confirmed that its agency Decoded has been awarded the North America media account for Estee Lauder.

The company spent an estimated $93 million on measured media in the region last year according to agency research firm COMvergence. More than 80% of the total is earmarked for digital.

Decoded was acquired by S4 in early 2021 and is aligned with its MediaMonks content division. It was founded seven years ago and gained initial traction in the direct-to-consumer space doing integrated campaigns for clients like Dollar Shave Club. But it has also worked on campaigns for big retail brands like SC Johnson and Visa.

The Estee appointment follows significant financial gains for the cosmetics category last year. NPD Group recently reported that in the U.S., sales of prestige beauty products jumped 30% to $22 billion in 2021.

Estee Lauder's last quarterly results, announced in February, set records. Revenues for the period (its fiscal second quarter) increased 14% to $5.54 billion, up from $4.85 billion in the prior-year period.

The award also comes amid some turmoil at S4 Capital, which last week, postponed releasing full-year 2021 results for a second time. The company said that its accountant PwC was still crunching numbers necessary to complete year-end tallies.

At deadline the company had not announced a new date for releasing full-year 2021 financials.