- Andrew McMains

Mcgarrybowen has added yet another Kraft Foods brand: Maxwell House, which comes at the expense of Ogilvy & Mather in New York, the client has confirmed.

Major media spending on Maxwell House totaled $27 million last year, according to Nielsen. At the same time, mcgarrybowen picked up creative duties on Kraft's General Foods International coffees and teas, which last year spent more than $6 million, as estimated by Nielsen. Those figures don't include online spending.

Dentsu's mcgarrybowen has added seven new assignments from Kraft since January, including four from WPP Group's Ogilvy alone (Oscar Mayer, Crystal Light, Maxwell House and General Foods International). The others came from Nitro (Kraft Singles and Philadelphia Cream Cheese) and IPG-owned Draftfcb (Kraft Lunchables). All told, those brands spent nearly $195 million in media last year, per Nielsen.

As with Lunchables, which moved earlier this month, the shift of ad duties on Maxwell House came without a pitch. Ogilvy will retain promotional and digital marketing duties on the brand via its OgilvyAction and OgilvyOne units, according to a Kraft representative.

"We did not open it up for a formal pitch," the rep said. "Since Kraft Foods has worked with mcgarrybowen on other brands we provided them an opportunity to present and we were impressed with their strategic and creative thinking to enliven Maxwell House communications and further grow the business."

Mcgarrybowen services its Kraft business out of an office in Chicago that now employs about 50 staffers. Other Kraft brands at the shop include Miracle Whip and the company's namesake lines of salad dressings, mayonnaise and barbecue sauce. The Chicago office also manages the shop's Disney account.

Despite its losses, Ogilvy remains on Kraft's roster, and in the U.S. handles brands such as Kool-Aid, Country Time and Capri Sun.

This story updates and replaces an earlier item, noting that mcgarrybowen has also added Kraft's General Foods International coffees and teas.