Home Depot Names OMD as US Media Agency of Record

The following article appeared on AdWeek on January 28, 2021.

Read the original here.

By Eric Oster

The appointment follows a review dating back to last June

Home Depot’s named OMD as its new U.S. media agency of record, ending a relationship with Dentsu agency Carat dating back a decade. The Omnicom Media Group shop will be tasked with handling both digital and traditional media buying and planning.…

“This is a case of total alignment between the needs of a modern marketer and the capabilities of a modern media agency,” OMD USA CEO John Osborn said in a statement.

The appointment concludes a media agency review launched by Home Depot last June, which was managed by consultancy Roth Ryan Hayes.Finalists in the review, which was first reported in September, included Dentsu agency Carat and IPG Mediabrands’ UM, according to sources with knowledge of the account. Other holding companies are believed to have participated in earlier stages of the process. Carat was incumbent on the account and was back in 2011.

The decision comes as Home Depot’s business is surging. Home Depot’s sales were up around 24% in the U.S. for 2020, as of the end of Q3, driven by an increase in home improvement and renovation projects during the pandemic. Home Depot spent around $382 million on media in the U.S. from July 2019 to June 2020, according to data consultancy COMvergence, of which an estimated $248 million was spent on traditional channels and $134 million on digital.

Home Depot is also in the midst of a creative review, which sources told Adweek last year is being managed by Roth Ryan Hayes as well.