Maxus wins L’Oreal’s US$59.6 million media business in Thailand

L'Oreal sent out an RFP in Thailand at the end of September, followed by the first round of pitches. Carat and Initiative are also believed to have taken part in the pitch.

Maxus will manage the bulk of L'Oreal Thailand's media activities, effective February 2011.

Jean-Francois Couvé, MD of L’Oréal Thailand  stated, “We have had a great four years with Zenith Optimedia in Thailand. However, as our business continues to grow at a considerable rate we need to bring fresh thinking and new ideas to really maximize the use of our communication budgets. Groupm/Maxus were very impressive and demonstrated well their ability to partner with us for our future needs.”

The pitch was part of a regional media review that saw Maxus clinch agency-of-record in India during July and Mindshare consolidate the business in China, with incumbent ZenithOptimedia again losing out.

In Australia, the cosmetics giant initiated a review of its US$45 million account, with Universal McCann picking up the entire business that was originally shared with ZenithOptimedia.

Universal McCann was also reappointed to the business following a review in Japan during June last year.In the US, L'Oreal's US$70 million media buying account is handled by Universal McCann.

August 2010 saw former GroupM CEO Stephanie Bell appointed as head of media for L'Oreal in Thailand. L'Oreal began its operations there in 1992 and has since grown to distribute 19 cosmetic brands via four distribution channels and employs more than 500 staff.