In a new blow for WPP, which operates a huge creative campus in central Manchester, rival Publicis has won the bulk of Mars’ estimated $1.7bn media account business, with Weber Shandwick set to oversee brand PR, and Omnicom continuing to lead brand creative, which was not part of the recent review, and T&P retaining brand creative for Food and Nutrition.
It comes after UK-HQ’d WPP’s Mark Read this week revealed he will be stepping down from the board and as chief executive officer, after announcing a five per cent YoY slump in revenue and issuing a warning on tariffs in April.
WPP also lost its $700m Coca-Cola media account to Publicis in March of this year, hot on the heels of shares sliding top a four-year low in February, and most recently parted company with Paramount this month after a two-decade partnership, also switching the account to French firm Publicis.
Mars announced its latest global agency review in November last year, shortly after the US food giant acquired rival Kellanova in a $35.9bn deal.
Following a competitive proposal process, Mars has appointed Publicis to lead its media, production, paid social and influencer and connected commerce capabilities, with IPG’s Weber Shandwick to oversee a “supercharged” approach to brand PR.
According to Mars, the outcome of the pitch process will see the new agency ecosystem implemented in full across the two largest businesses of Mars, including Mars Snacking and Mars Petcare.
Mars Food and Nutrition will join Snacking and Petcare, shifting its media business to Publicis. The company’s long-standing creative partners, Omnicom, will continue to lead brand creative, which was not part of the review.
“When it comes to building brands, we know that to remain iconic, we must remain in motion,” said Gülen Bengi, lead chief marketing officer at Mars and chief growth officer at Mars Snacking.
“That’s why we’re reimagining the Growth Playbook with a transformative vision for brand building – one that is bold by design and rewired for accelerated value creation. As always, consumers and pets are at the center of everything we do. And now, we’re putting our fans and communities in the driver’s seat through unprecedented co-creation of brand experiences, seamlessly connected across the consumer journey and personalized at scale. Our new industry-leading agency ecosystem is the next piece in our plan to bring this vision to life. The Mars way.”
WPP won the Mars account in 2018, consolodating all of its media planning and buying with WPP’s GroupM (now WPP Media). Until then, Mars had operated a three-agency approach, working with MediaCom as well as Publicis Groupe’s Starcom on local media. OMD handled the rest.
