Updated: Visa picks Starcom to run global media account

The financial services giant held a global pitch earlier this year, with Publicis Groupe's Starcom winning against Omnicom's OMD, the incumbent on the business for seven years.

Its account is worth an estimated $200 million (£127 million), with just over half of that media spend in the US.

It should be noted that Visa Europe operates as a separate business with its own stable of agencies and was not part of this review or assignment. MEC will continue to hold this part of the Visa account. 

Starcom's win therefore includes the US, Latin Americas, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Middle East, Russia and Eastern Europe. 

This account move is a blow for Omnicom because, despite Visa's relatively small global spend with the agency of less than US$500 million, it was a critcial Omnicom aligned assignment with creative, digital and PR within the holding group, commented Greg Paull, principal, R3. "Visa’s spending is usually themed around big events (Olympics, World Cup) so 2016 should be a big year for them."

Last week Campaign revealed that Visa Europe had launched a global search for a creative agency ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, for which the company is sponsoring.

Starcom appears to be on a bit of a winning streak. In July, the group picked up the global account for Etihad Airways Partners. 

Starcom Mediavest Group did not return a request to comment.

This story first ran on Campaign UK but has been updated by Campaign Asia with additional comments from R3