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Volkswagen Names MediaCom Agency

9 August 1999

Volkswagen Names MediaCom Agency of Record for Media Planning & Buying In U.K.

          Media Win Broadens MediaCom Partnership With VW In Europe

    NEW YORK, Aug. 9 -- Volkswagen United Kingdom announced that
it has named MediaCom-TMB Ltd., London, its agency-of-record for media
planning and buying in the United Kingdom.  The assignment calls for MediaCom
to handle print, electronic and out-of-home planning and buying
responsibilities for Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda and commercial vehicle
brands, with billings of $125-130 million, according to the trade press.
Carat-affiliated BBJ Media Services, the incumbent agency, also participated
in the review.
    MediaCom, Dusseldorf, was named media agency-of-record for the
$280 million Volkswagen and allied brands account in Germany in January, 1999
and MediaCom, Prague, won the account in the Czech Republic in April.  Both
had been handled previously by Carat.  MediaCom also serves Volkswagen in the
Middle East and China.
    Volkswagen AG, headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany, is the largest
producer of passenger cars in Europe and the third-largest in the world.
MediaCom-TMB Ltd. is the fastest growing media services company in the United
Kingdom, with a ranking in the top three.
    MediaCom United States has won several major accounts in 1999 including
the ConAgra $100 million media consolidation; the Smith-Kline Beecham
$150 million electronic media consolidation and the Seagram $50 million media
consolidation.
    MediaCom Worldwide, with $8 billion in billings and offices in 80
countries, is one of the world's largest media companies and an independent
unit of Grey Advertising Inc. .