Less than a month after Labatt Breweries of Canada named OMD its strategic media planning and buying agency, Marketing has learned that the deal is not going through.
UM Canada, the beer company’s previous media AOR, has retained the business.
Sources familiar with the issue confirmed that OMD found the terms offered by Labatt to be unacceptable.
A Labatt spokesperson told Marketing, “Labatt and OMD have mutually agreed that because business terms could not reached, OMD will not become the media planning and buying agency for Labatt.
“We have since been in further discussions with our current media partner, Universal McCann Canada, and are pleased to announce that a renewed relationship has been confirmed with them, making UM our official strategic media buying and planning agency.”
Peter Mears, president at UM, said the agency is “delighted Labatt has decided to retain UM as their connections partner. We are looking forward to continuing to create market-leading connection plans for Labatt’s market-leading brands.”
Earlier this year, Labatt began a three-phase review of its media account. There were 14 agencies in the initial phase of the review. OMD, an Omnicom agency, won against fellow shortlisted agencies PHD, Mindshare and UM Canada.
