Footwear company Skechers has completed a multinational media review, and Horizon Global, the Horizon Media-Havas joint venture, won the single biggest piece of the portion in play, including parts of Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. WPP Media was awarded four new countries and retained the UK. There were some smaller assignments as well.  

The U.S., currently handled in-house by Sketchers, was not part of the review. 

Horizon Global was awarded Latin America, Scandinavia, Japan, the Philippines, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and 14 Central and Eastern European markets. The incumbents in those markets could not be immediately identified.  

In addition to retaining the UK, WPP media was awarded the China and India regions as well as France and Italy.

Skechers’s global media spending is estimated at $400 million, according to agency research firm COMvergence. By region, the estimates are: EMEA, $80 million; Asia Pacific, $50; LATAM, $20 million; and North America, $250. 

Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers, stated, "As the third largest footwear brand in the world, we continue to invest in our operations and enhance the technologies and innovation that support our strong global growth. Our international media agency review reflects our determination to build a more disciplined, connected, and future-ready media model that strengthens our brand and supports both our global priorities and the unique needs of our local markets.”  

Bob Lord, CEO, Horizon Global, asserted that the win was a “strong validation” of Horizon’s and Havas’ joint venture model.  “By combining our collective strengths, we have built an approach that prioritizes platform transparency and open ecosystem innovation while also delivering seamless collaboration, market-level expertise, and modern capabilities at scale,” he said.  

Initial campaigns under the new assignments will start later this year.  

This story has been updated with additional input from Skechers.