Publicis Groupe Retains U.S. Media Duties for Kraft Heinz
A dedicated unit led by Starcom will lead the account
Publicis Groupe has retained U.S. media agency of record duties for Kraft Heinz, following the conclusion of a global media review launched by Kraft Heinz in March.
At the time of the review, data consultancy COMvergence estimated Kraft Heinz’s spending at around $520 million, and the majority of the client’s spend is dedicated to the U.S.
Publicis Media Americas CEO Tim Jones announced the news today in an internal memo obtained by Adweek. In the memo, Jones explained that a custom unit called Publicis 57 will service the account, led by Starcom, which was the incumbent on the account and celebrated being awarded the account for Kraft Heinz’s “largest market.”
Jones said in the memo that Publicis 57 “harnesses Starcom’s strategic human insights, the media power of PMX, the end-to-end identity solution of Epsilon PeopleCloud and the Groupe’s advanced commerce capabilities” and that over 200 people across Publicis Groupe contributed to the pitch.
It is unclear if Kraft Heinz has finalized its media agency appointment for the remainder of the global market outside the U.S. Sources with knowledge of the review process presume Dentsu Aegis Network media agency Carat to be the winner for markets outside the U.S., as it was the other finalist in the Kraft Heinz review identified by sources earlier this week.
WPP’s GroupM and Omnicom Media Group were also previously part of the review process, according to sources. Kraft Heinz claimed the review would focus on growth and strategy, but the focus shifted and the review went through a protracted process centered around pricing negotiations, according to sources with knowledge of the process, including Kraft Heinz requesting payment terms in excess of 120 days.
Kraft Heinz did not respond to requests for comment regarding the conclusion of the review. The company previously declined to comment on details of the review process.
