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Bob Fellows, director of media for Sara Lee, would only say, “We are looking at our resources in media buying.”
A source close to Sara Lee said both agencies have presented plans to Fellows and are awaiting word as to how the assignments will be split. The source said that both agencies will still handle portions of the business, but how it is divided is still up in the air.
“At the most, it will be split 75-25 or 80-20. Neither one will pick up all of it,” the source said.
The AOR system is another stop in Sara Lee’s plan to centralize much of its marketing activity. Sara Lee’s units, which include separate companies such as Hanes, L’eggs, Hillshire Farms and Bryan Foods, have traditionally been decentralized. Two years ago, Sara Lee consolidated its food-side advertising with Lintas after having it spread out among a number of agencies for years. Just last spring, Sara Lee hired former Saatchi executive Gary Susnjara as its new vp/marketing to coordinate all marketing activities.
“Historically, there has been little corporate staff in this company,” said one source. “These additions were made to run things better.”
Currently, media buying and planning is performed largely by the creative shops that handle the respective creative assignments.
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