Publicis Media's Starcom wins Novartis' global media review

Pharmaceutical giant Novartis has selected incumbent Starcom as its global media planning and buying agency.

The Publicis Media agency pitched for the business with data marketing company Epsilon, which Publicis Groupe completed acquiring last month for $3.95bn (£3.13bn), equivalent to 8.2 times Epsilon’s Ebitda from 2018. This is the first time Publicis has integrated Epsilon into a big review.

In a bid to deliver data-driven marketing strategy and accelerate business transformation, Starcom and Epsilon created a bespoke solution: NovartisONE2.

"Just as Novartis seeks to reimagine medicine, we too seek to reimagine and transform how we deliver data-driven marketing strategies for our clients," said John Sheehy, global brand president, Starcom Worldwide.

"Rooted in a data-led, digital-first approach, NovartisONE2 unites Starcom and Epsilon to deliver capability that is agile, collaborative and relentlessly focused driving business outcomes, along with delivering personalized experiences at scale for Novartis' complex and evolving consumers."

Billings on the Novartis media business are about $550 million globally, with the account covering 50 markets around the world. Campaign US believes Starcom and Epsilon will begin working on the business in 2020.

Novartis' creative is handled by different agencies in various markets. VCCP won the UK business in 2018, while McCann Worldgroup Europe won Novartis' Spanish account in the same year.