Omnicom creates conflict shop for Guinness

Kunal Dutta, Campaign, Friday, 09 November 2007, 12:00am,

Omnicom has bought an international digital network called Red Urban for an undisclosed sum, and set it up in London to service the Guinness global digital business that Tribal DDB won earlier in the year.

The London office of Red Urban has been created to manage conflict with Omnicom's international client Anheuser-Busch, which owns brands including Budweiser.

Diageo consolidated the global digital ad business for Guinness into Tribal DDB in July, after a pitch against Agency Republic, AKQA and Carlson Marketing. However, the decision is understood to have caused concern in the US, where a number of Omnicom agencies, including Goodby Silverstein & Partners and Martin/Williams, work on Anheuser-Busch.

Red Urban UK will run out of DDB London's office. Its remit on Guinness includes web development, online advertising and digital marketing to run in Great Britain, Ireland, Asia, Africa and the US.

Jonathan Nelson, a special advisor to Omnicom, confirmed the acquisition and said the search for a management team was underway.

This article was first published on Campaign