Amazon has split its global media account between WPP and Omnicom Media Group after a more than six-month review. 

The company is one of the largest advertisers in the world, with global media expenditures of $5 billion, according to agency research firm COMvergence.   

Incumbent IPG Mediabrands handled about half of that figure globally while Amazon handled the other half in-house. About $2.4 billion of the total is earmarked for the US and of that figure Mediabrands handles about $1.3 billion with $1.1 billion activated in-house, per the COMvergence breakdown.   

Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan issued a statement:  

“After a comprehensive advertising agency review for our consumer business, we’ve chosen to partner with OMG and WPP. We appreciate the discussions with of all the world-class agencies we met during our search. We particularly want to thank IPG, who has been a fantastic partner over the last 10+ years, and we’re grateful for all their work and continued partnership for the other significant areas of our advertising business, including AWS, Amazon Ads and Amazon Business.” 

Under the new arrangement, OMG will handle the Americas and WPP will manage Europe, the Middle East & Africa and Asia Pacific. 

During the review Amazon examined each agency’s marketplace expertise, media planning experience at all levels, media pricing, measurement abilities, and account management in all geographic regions.  

Consultant MediaSense was retained to assist with the review.