Industry sources report that Starcom MediaVest has won the du account. Earlier this month, OMD pulled out of the review.

However, an official press statement is yet to be released by either the agency or du.

UPDATE: On December 22, Starcom MediaVest released the below statement announcing the win.

UAE-based integrated telecommunications service provider du has appointed Starcom MediaVest Group (SMG) as their media agency partner.

The win followed a fierce, multi-agency pitch that spanned over eight months. The media agency won against the challenger agency, MediaCom. The account has been previously handled by OMD.

SMG will handle du’s media planning and buying, as well as data and analytics for the brand’s offline and online business.

SMG presented du with an integrated communication model based on harnessing data and deriving insights to create human experiences that would further build the brand and connect it to its consumers. The strategy is focused on achieving a more efficient and agile media strategy keeping up with the rapid pace of change in human and media behaviors.

“We are thrilled to be selected as du’s media agency. They are a great brand with huge ambitions and we are excited and eager to get started in achieving them together,” says Alex Saber, chairman of SMG/VivaKi MENA. “We look forward to bringing our expertise of being the number one media agency in the region.”

“We were impressed with SMG’s exciting and innovative pitch that we feel really takes our growth story forward. Based on this, it was an unanimous decision to bring in SMG. We look forward to working with them as a partner of choice, leveraging their deep and proven experience working with clients facing unprecedented change in technology and customer preferences,” says Hala Badri, executive vice president, brand and communications, du.

“We are honored to be chosen as the media agency for du because we are truly inspired by their ambition of adding life to life as the tech fabric and infrastructure of the UAE,” says John Antoniades, CEO of SMG MENA. “We look forward to a great partnership, leveraging on our leading talent, capabilities and scale to help du reach out to their customer base successfully and effectively,” he adds.