WPP Wins Unilever's $3.3 Billion Media Review

Unilever’s $3.3 billion media account has been retained by WPP’s Mindshare with an expectation that there will be a growth in focus on ecommerce by the British multi-consumer goods producer. The retention of the contract follows a six-month review and will see Mindshare continue to work across all markets including the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland, Netherlands and Belgium, Nordics, Italy, Eastern Europe, South Asia—including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka—plus Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and China (excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan). WPP chief executive Mark Read told Adweek, “We are absolutely thrilled to continue as Unilever’s most important media agency, particularly given the thoroughness of the review and the way they tested new areas, particularly our ecommerce abilities.” Unilever Marketing Chiefs Call on Brands to Make a Difference ‘on the Frontline’ According to COMvergence, the U.S. portion of the review represents $822 million of spend, 48% of which is spent on digital. The EMEA regions account for $1.8 billion in spend, with 24% being spent digitally. At the same time as the review was undertaken by Unilever, WPP introduced its global data company, Choreograph—formed using the resources of GroupM and Wunderman Thompson—to help clients optimize the use of first-party data effectively and ethically across creative and media operations. The service offer is a competitor to Publicis' own data-division Epsilon and consultancy Accenture's. In a July Adweek cover story, Read said WPP's new data philosophy "is to use as little data as possible to have the maximum ROI possible with the data," which contrasts with the previous strategy of gathering as much as possible, and figuring out how to use it. When Choreograph launched in April, WPP counted Walgreens Boots Alliance as its first customer, an account the holding company won in October of 2020. This is the biggest account WPP has won since the launch of Choreograph. The company has introduced a new marketing philosophy based on three principles: ‘Get Real,’ which focuses on data and empathy to solve real-world problems; ‘Do Good,’ which continues the need for each of its stable of brands to serve a purpose that drives positive change; and ‘Be Unmissable’ that spurs them each on to be culturally relevant. Meanwhile, in a statement, Luis Di Como, evp global media for Unilever, explained, “The rapid digitization of consumer lives—accelerated even further by the Covid pandemic—has driven the convergence of media, commerce, entertainment and shopping, offering exciting opportunities for our brands. In this context, it’s great to be continuing our journey with existing and new partners, many of whom have worked with us collaboratively over many years.” Other agencies featuring on Unilever’s roster that will support Mindshare include Omnicom Media Group across Canada, Germany, Switzerland, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Taiwan. IPG will work across Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Latin America and Greece, while Havas Media will operate in France and Spain and ADK in Japan. Unilever saw its ecommerce sales grow by nearly two-thirds (61%) during the financial year of 2020-2021, largely due to the global Covid-19 pandemic and a spike in demand for non-physical retail services, and will continue to explore growing that strategy moving forward. CEO Mark Read Discusses WPP’s Data-Focused Shift Toward a New Digital Age