• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, June 17, 2022

Nationwide insurance has appointed GroupM’s Essence as its new media agency, replacing long-time incumbent UM. 

The company spent $110 million on measured media last year, $66 million of which was earmarked for digital, according to agency research firm COMvergence. 

With the appointment Nationwide is consolidating most of its ad duties with WPP which has created a new dedicated unit to service the insurance company’s account called Team Nationwide. Ogilvy is the insurer’s lead creative agency. 

The new integrated structure brings creative, media and advanced data and analytics under the Team Nationwide unit.   

“Essence has the right mix of flexibility, efficiency and industry expertise to help Nationwide engage with our agents, financial professionals and consumers,” stated Ramon Jones, Nationwide’s Chief Marketing Officer. “Partnering with Essence allows us to consolidate and streamline our paid media strategy with the creative work we do with Ogilvy, and we look forward to this expanded relationship.”