GM Consolidates $3B Media Spend With Carat

General Motors has consolidated its $3 billion global media spend with Carat, the media agency division of Aegis Group.

The multi-year contract spans search, social media, media planning and buying, as well as mobile. While the business will be managed by Carat's global team in the U.S., it covers the Americas, Asia Pacific, and EMEA.

"We wanted a media agency partner with the sophistication to leverage global marketing opportunities," said GM Global CMO Joel Ewanick in a statement. "Carat has an innovative approach to drive significant marketing value and their service model has been tailored to align well with our global and regional brands. They are uniquely positioned to help us form strong media partnerships and drive significant global efficiencies."

Publicis Groupe's Starcom MediaVest Group had handled the automaker's global media spend since 2005, prior to which it resided with GM Mediaworks, a division of Interpublic Group dedicated exclusively to the account. Starcom had its own GM Mediaworks branded unit, first created in 2000 to house the brand's U.S. ad buying activities.

Publicis issued this statement: "This Starcom partnership represents less than 0.5 percent of Publicis Groupe revenue on a full-year basis. We’re proud of the insight and high level of professionalism that Starcom has brought to its work on GM’s image over the years, and of the support that we’ve given to GM through many ups and downs."

SMG will continue to serve GM through June.

Carat's sister agencies at Aegis include Vizeum, Isobar, and search specialist iProspect. Aegis Media has been GM's media agency in Europe since January 2007.