- Andrew McMains

NEW YORK Welch Foods is reviewing creative duties on its ad account and is using Chicago-based consultancy Jones Lundin Beals to manage the search, sources said.

The incumbent, WPP Group's JWT, is not participating in the process, an agency representative confirmed today. "We wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors," the rep added.

Jones Lundin and the Concord, Mass.-based client could not immediately be reached.

Major media spending on the Welch's brand has declined in recent years to nearly $15 million last year from about $20 million in 2006 and roughly $25 million in 2005, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus. The 2007 figure does not include online spending.

Welch Foods is the food processing and marketing arm of the National Grape Cooperative Association, which has 1,350 members.
 
Jones Lundin handled Welch's last creative review in 2004, when JWT bested two other finalists: independent Cramer-Krasselt in Chicago and Havas' Arnold in New York, the incumbent at the time.

In 2005, the client shifted media planning and buying duties on its account from Havas' MPG in New York to WPP's Maxus in New York after a review. Media duties do not appear to be in play now.

A recent Welch's TV spot targeted mothers and centered around the antioxidant benefits of grape juice, compared to orange juice. Also, last month the company placed a lickable print ad in People magazine. The ad featured a strip that peeled up and off under copy that read, "For a tasty fact, remove and lick."