Mindshare Takes the Discover Media Account From Spark Foundry and Dentsu Media

GroupM's Mindshare took the Discover Financial Services U.S. media account from Publicis Media's (PM) Spark Foundry and Dentsu Media following a competitive review that began approximately five months ago and concluded when agencies were notified of the results on Friday. Mindshare will manage audience and media strategy, planning, investment, measurement and data and analytics spanning Discover's entire customer journey, from awareness to account openings to customer retention. “We are thrilled to partner with Discover, a financial services powerhouse that always puts their customers first,” said Amanda Richman, North America CEO of Mindshare, in a statement. “Together, we will help Discover drive business transformation, by connecting brand to performance and purpose to deliver Good Growth.” Kantar estimates put Discover Financial Services' total media spend spend last year at nearly $239 million in the U.S. A majority of that spend—over $88 million of it according to Kantar—supports the Discover Card product specifically. Mercer Island Group managed the review process, whereas JLB+Partners led prior reviews. Spark and Dentsu defended Seven agency networks vied for the business, including Spark Foundry, Mindshare, Dentsu Media, Stagwell Media Network, Omnicom Media Group, IPG Mediabrands' Initiative and Havas Media Group, according to a source with knowledge of the review who declined to be named. Five agencies made it to the pitch's final round before Mindshare emerged as the winner. This week, the agency notified its key team members of the win. Spark Foundry and Dentsu Media both defended the account, according to the source. Spark Foundry declined to comment for this story, as did Dentsu Media except for confirming that 360i—now part of the newly-formed Dentsu Creative—handled search for the brand. The decision comes after Mindshare finalized its integration with the performance agency Neo earlier this year. Combined with Neo, Mindshare can deliver a stronger lower-funnel media offering. "A strong brand makes downstream conversion less costly for brands, and strong performance media can generate the first-party data that enables direct brand relationships. Understanding the trade-offs and opportunities for investment is where value can be unlocked," Richman told Adweek in an email. As part of GroupM, Mindshare will leverage the newly-formed GroupM Nexus and GroupM's technology practice, Choreograph. WPP and back again Over the years, Discover's media account has toggled back and forth between Publicis and WPP. In 2008, the account switched hands from Publicis' Starcom to WPP's MediaCom. Starcom declined to defend the account because of a conflict of interest with its Bank of America client, it told Adweek at the time. The business returned to Publicis when Starcom's sister agency Spark Foundry took the account from MediaCom about six years ago. Big structural changes enable networks to present something new to clients they used to work with. "Every major review ends up being its own having its own life, right? It's almost like a living creature, and that is almost unrelated to previous reviews," said Steve Boehler, founder of Mercer Island Group. The Bank of America conflict had no impact on Discover's decision to part ways with Publicis this time around, according to the anonymous source. Publicis Media (PM), however, still serves Bank of America and its GroupConnect team staffs that account. GroupM has no conflicts of interest with the brand, Richman told Adweek. As groups like Publicis, Dentsu and Omnicom Media Group break down the walls between their media agencies, the question of how to handle conflicts of interest is still a pertinent one. GroupM agencies do collaborate, although compared to its competitors, GroupM infrequently pitches at the group level. Richman confirmed that Mindshare is working with other GroupM entities to service the account. "The entire funnel and the entire customer journey is important. [Discover] needed a partner that could help them from stem to stern, right from start to hopefully a long-term relationship," said Boehler. Inside Recent Changes at WPP’s GroupM: What the EssenceMediacom Merger Means