Luxottica appoints Omnicom Media Group to global media

By Maisie McCabe, campaignlive.co.uk, Wednesday, 29 August 2012 09:15AM

Luxottica, the eyewear manufacturer of brands such as Ray-Ban and owner of the Sunglass Hut, has appointed Omnicom Media Group to its global media planning and buying business following a pitch.

Ray-Ban: parent company Luxottica appoints OMG

Sources close to Omnicom Media Group (OMG) confirmed it had won the business but could not clarify which of its media agency networks would be working with specific Luxottica brands in particular territories.

Luxottica's UK media planning and buying is currently handled by Aegis Media’s Carat, which also works with the group in other markets in Europe and North America.

It is understood that OMG's OMD worked with Luxottica in the US until the group appointed Starcom in 2005. Since 2010 Luxottica has had a wider relationship with Starcom’s parent Publicis Groupe in the US.

The business is estimated to be worth more than $100m (£63.2m) in billings in the US, of which Carat's portion is understood to be worth $15m.

It emerged in May that Luxottica wanted to appoint a single global agency, although a brief seen by Campaign suggested that Luxottica would appoint a roster if it could not find one network to fill its requirements.

A spokeswoman for OMG declined to comment. A spokesman for Luxottica had not responded to requests for comment by the time of publication.

Alongside Ray-Ban, Luxottica’s house brands include Oakley and Persol, while the company also manufactures eyewear on licence for Burberry, Prada, Chanel and Ralph Lauren and owns 7,100 shops, under different brands, across the world.

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk