Vodafone has re-appointed Dentsu’s Carat to its EMEA media planning and buying account, following a competitive pitch.
Out of the 11 markets covered in the win, the Middle East will see Carat’s Egypt office oversee media planning and buying for the telecoms brand.
The contract will last for the next three years, starting on 1 January 2026.
Other markets included in the win are: the UK; Albania; Czechia; Germany; Greece; Ireland; Portugal; Romania; South Africa; and Turkey. In the UK, Carat will also handle media planning and buying for Vodafone’s Voxi brand.
Campaign UK reports that this is the first time the telecoms brand has renewed its media contract since merging with Three in 2023. Zenith currently handles the media planning and buying for the latter and will continue to do so.
Carat has handled the brand’s media planning and buying account since 2019. At that time, the global account covered 15 markets; the agency later retained the same markets in 2022.
Since then, Vodafone has sold off its business in Ghana, Hungary, Italy and Spain.
Anna Campbell, Global Managing Director and Global Client President at Carat, called it an “incredible milestone and a powerful endorsement of the results we have achieved together”.
She added: “This win reflects the strength of our long-standing relationship, our shared vision for media-led transformation, and the depth of talent across our global network. We look forward to continuing to innovate, leveraging our Media++ capabilities.”
Dentsu unveiled its “Media++” plan earlier this year, which focuses on selling media to clients “plus” extra services such as creative, CXM and/or other products and services.
Vodafone UK appointed Publicis shop Leo Burnett to its creative account in January last year, while WPP’s New Commercial Arts handles global and B2B creative duties for the brand.
A version of this article first appeared on Campaign UK.
