• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 15, 2008

Mediaedege:cia, which won the plumb account of 2007 - AT&T's multibillion media services consolidation - ranked as the most competitive media shop in new business pitches over the past year, according to findings of the Compitches Report, released this morning by Paris-based RECMA. The report, which awards a point system to agencies based on how competitive they were on media account reviews, assigned Mediaedge:cia 365 points for the year, just ahead of WPP sister shop MediaCom's 356 points. Overall, WPP, whose MindShare ranked 10th with 245 points, and Maxus unit ranked 14th with 146 points, was the most successful of the major agency holding companies in terms of new media business records over the past year.

Publicis Group's ZenithOptimedia unit ranked third with 341 points, while sister unit Starcom MediaVest ranked 7th with 282 points.

Omnicom's OMD unit ranked fourth with 302 points, while sister unit PHD ranked 13th with 180 points.

Havas' MPG unit ranked 5th with 302 points, while the fledgling Havas Media brand - which is starting to emerge within the U.S. marketplace - ranked 6th with 283 points. Arena, which Havas bolstered this week with the acquisition and merger with the U.K.'s BLM Holdings, ranked a distant 15th with 35 points.

Aegis Group's Carat unit ranked 8th with 277 points, while its Vizeum unit ranked 12th with 196 points.

"In 2007, RECMA has analysed 2,179 pitches and moves, including retentions and extensions of accounts from 205 agencies in 15 countries," RECMA said, adding that its methodology focuses on a "quali-quanti analysis" of the departures and wins classified between 12 possible reasons. The agency evaluation is distributed between five grades from A+ to C.

Media Agency New Business Competitiveness: 2007
1 - Mediaedge:cia: 365 points
2 - MediaCom: 356 points
3 - ZenithOptimedia: 341 points
4 - OMD: 302 points
5 - MPG: 302 points
6 - Havas Media: 283 points
7 - Starcom MediaVest: 282 points
8 - Carat: 277 points
9 - Universal McCann: 275 points
10 - Initiative: 252 points
11 - MindShare: 245 points
12 - Vizeum: 196 points
13 - PHD: 180 points
14 - Maxus: 146 points
15 - Arena: 35 points
Source: RECMA 2007 Compitches Report.