The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. has selected M2M, a media company of Omnicom Media Group, to be its media agency in eight European and four Asian/Pacific countries. According to the company, M2M was chosen following a lengthy competitive review of several agencies. The agreement with M2M begins rolling out July 1. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed at press time.

M2M, which services prestige and luxury advertisers, has handled the company’s media planning and buying needs in the U.K. for the last five years. Another Omnicom media company, OMD Worldwide, has directed the company’s communications needs in Spain and Australia. MindShare Worldwide, part of WPP, will continue to manage the Company’s media planning efforts in the Americas.

By consolidating the work of several media agencies into one, the Estée Lauder hopes to deploy sophisticated analytics to measure and improve the return on its media investment. Additionally, it will look to integrate traditional media and expand the use of Internet and digital advertising. The company’s new relationship with M2M will also facilitate its brands sharing best practices across countries.

In addition to its existing account in the United Kingdom, M2M will take on media planning and buying for the company’s brands in Russia, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Japan, Korea and China. It will also take over the company’s business in Spain and Australia. Estée Lauder’s advertising expense in these 12 countries represents about 40% of its worldwide annual spend for print, digital, television, radio and outdoor media.