• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, December 14, 2012

Online dating service eHarmony has shifted its media planning and buying assignment to Huntington Beach, CA-based Ocean Media, the agency has confirmed. The incumbent was Omnicom’s OMD.
 
The client spent more than $65 million on ads in 2011, according to Ocean Media, which had been eHarmony’s media shop from 2002 until early 2011, when the client conducted a formal review. OMD prevailed in that review, while Ocean declined to participate.
 
According to an item posted on Ocean Media’s Web site confirming the win, eHarmony has spent upwards of $700 million on advertising since its launch in 2000. Its 2002 budget, the first year Ocean handled the client’s media chores, was just $150,000. By 2007, company spending peaked at roughly $140 million.

However, spending levels have declined from that peak in the post-recession years.
 
The client did not respond to a request for comment on the shift. According to Adweek, the client also ditched its creative shop, OMD sister agency GSD&M in Austin, Texas, and handed creative chores to Los Angeles-based Handmade Productions.
 
Adweek reported that the changes came after eHarmony’s founder Neil Clark Warren rejoined the company last July and became chief executive. Subsequent changes in the marketing management team also took place.

In addition to eHarmony, Ocean Media clients include Priceline.com and Ancestry.com. Last month, online shopping site Gilt Groupe appointed Ocean as its first media agency of record. The appointment coincided with the launch of Gilt’s first TV ad campaign.