World: New-Business Analysis - Six names in the hat for dollars 180m US Army account.

Ad agencies are bidding to recruit American soldiers again.

The mandatory five-year review of the lucrative dollars 180-million US Army account is well under way, with sources placing five New York-based agencies on the shortlist with the incumbent, Leo Burnett, Chicago. The review is being co-ordinated by the consultancy Jones Lundin Beals in Chicago.

The account, which was won by Leo Burnett in 1999, is a complicated one to manage as it requires supervision of several minority subcontracts, a task few US agencies are qualified to handle.

Leo Burnett created the successful 'army of one' campaign in 2001 in response to research that indicated the former 'be all you can be' creative was alienating the young audience. The cross-media campaign points potential recruits towards the US Army website and has succeeded in reversing a fall in recruitment before the 11 September attacks.

Meanwhile, reviews continue to stack up - Samsung was due to make a decision in July this year, and the international media planning and buying business for Nestle should have been close behind. There is movement at last, though, on SC Johnson & Son - Interpublic has won the dollars 350 million global broadcast media account after the household goods manufacturer decided to consolidate its business at the holding company, moving its European portion out of ZenithOptimedia. The business will be divided between Initiative and Universal McCann - the latter handling the account in the UK.

 
ACCOUNTS UNDER REVIEW 
Client:        Nestle 
Task:          media planning and buying, global 
Budget:        dollars 1.5bn 
Shortlist:     IPG, WPP, Publicis Groupe 
Incumbent:     various, including: MindShare, OMD, Universal McCann 
Decision:      October 
Consultant:    n/s 
 
Client:        Unilever 
Task:          media buying, Europe 
Budget:        dollars 1.2bn 
Shortlist:     Initiative, MindShare, Carat 
Incumbent:     Initiative, MindShare 
Decision:      December 
Consultant:    Media Audits 
 
Client:        General Motors 
Task:          media buying, Europe 
Budget:        dollars 700m 
Shortlist:     Universal McCann, Initiative, Carat 
Incumbent:     Universal McCann, Initiative, Carat 
Decision:      autumn 2004 
Consultant:    n/s 
 
Client:        Samsung 
Task:          integrated, global 
Budget:        dollars 400m 
Shortlist:     WPP, Publicis Groupe, IPG 
Incumbent:     Foote Cone & Belding 
Decision:     ...