AB InBev Awards Publicis Its US and European Media Buying and Planning Business

Anheuser-Busch InBev put its media accounts into review last September, shortly after company appointed Benoit Garbe as chief marketer in the U.S. At the time, incumbent Dentsu, Publicis and WPP were the three companies up for the business. Now, AB InBev has announced that it has awarded a majority of the business to Publicis Groupe. In a memo from AB InBev, the company stated that it awarded Publicis Groupe and Dentsu with five-and-a-half-year partnerships, with Publicis working on the business in the U.S., Mexico, Central America, South America, Europe and Asia, and Dentsu continuing its work on the business in Canada and Africa. The 66-month partnerships with Publicis Groupe and Dentsu span nearly 40 countries worldwide. The win builds on Publicis Groupe’s existing relationship with the beverage giant. It was the incumbent in APAC and LATAM. Adding Europe and the U.S. means that Publicis now has a major portion of the media business worldwide. Publicis had added the U.S. data business through Epsilon in 2020. Sources tell Adweek that Dentsu chose not to defend the business from the beginning of the review process due to ongoing challenging commercial terms. While no numbers have been given as to the size of the account, according to COMvergence, AB InBev had just over $700 million in billings in 2021. AB InBev spent $845 million on measured media from July 2020 to June 2021, with 31% of the total going to digital. In the largest market of North America, the company spent $518 million on media, 25% of that on digital. “The strategic work we’ve delivered together, across APAC, LATAM and most recently with data and technology from Epsilon, has laid a strong foundation for our future together," said Arthur Sadoun, CEO and chairman of Publicis Groupe in a statement. "Now, working globally together, our integrated model and capabilities will help ABI further accelerate their transformation.” Strategic partners, accelerated transformation While the win was by Publicis Groupe, sources familiar with the pitch say that the win was fueled by its media agency Starcom, which will handle much of the business in the U.S. and a majority of the markets. AB InBev stated that its goal with the review was to choose a transformation partner that can help the company to accelerate its journey and deliver strong business growth. “[Publicis Groupe and Dentsu] invested heavily in new capabilities and talents that will leverage data and technology to allow us to be more innovative, efficient and effective with our media strategies," said Luiz Barros, global vp, data and media, AB InBev, in a statement. AB InBev said that the awarded agencies will be the company's strategic partners in further accelerating its business transformation, as it has plans to evolve its approaches to media planning and buying, driving stronger collaboration with internal teams and agency partners, placing data and creativity at the center of its efforts. "Publicis Groupe and Dentsu have a critical role to play to accelerate our transformation and help us to deliver our dream of a future with more cheers,” said Pedro Earp, global CMO, AB InBev, in a statement. Following C-Suite Shuffle, AB InBev Announces Global Media Review