Zenith Retains Majority of Reckitt Benckiser’s $308 Million US Media Account

U.K.-based consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser has concluded a review of its U.S. media business by appointing Publicis Groupe’s Zenith and Omnicom Media Group’s Hearts & Science as its media agency partners. The appointment followed a review that included six agencies across major holding companies, according to a Reckitt Benckiser spokesperson.

Zenith retained the majority of the account across several categories, while expanding its relationship with RB to include data and analytics. Hearts & Science picked up the Nutrition category.

“We are pleased to confirm that Zenith has won the RB US Hygiene, Health and Vitamins, Minerals & Supplements brands, continuing our 10-year relationship and expanding our remit to include Data and Analytics services,” Lauren Hanrahan, CEO for Zenith, Moxie and MRY, said in a statement. “There has never been a more exciting time to support the growth of these important brands that are making a positive impact on consumers’ health and wellness.”

Hearts & Science will provide media buying and planning, as well as data and analytics services for RB’s Nutrition category, which includes leading infant formula brands Enfamil and Nutramigen, sparking new relationships with RB for the Omnicom Media Group agency. The division emerged in 2017 with RB’s acquisition of Mead Johnson.

“We are pleased to be partnering with Hearts & Science on our nutrition portfolio. Hearts & Science was selected as they showcased an enhanced ability to leverage marketing science and consumer connections to help RB over-drive its nutrition business,” RB svp for North America and Europe Pat Sly said in a statement. “Through usage of the Omni Platform, it will give RB a real-world view of consumers’ behavior for full-funnel omnichannel strategy, helping achieve RB’s ambition to grow Enfamil into the No. 1 infant formula brand in the U.S. market.”

Reckitt Benckiser spent nearly $308 million on measured media categories last year and over $140 million over the first five months of 2020, which is roughly in line with last year’s spending, according to Kantar Media. RB spent over $2 million across all Enfamil brands last year, including Nutramigen, according to Kantar Media.

The appointment marks the second major media account retention for Publicis Groupe over the past several days. Last Friday, it retained U.S. media duties for Kraft Heinz via a dedicated unit led by Starcom. Back in May, the holding company won media agency responsibilities for Sephora in North America, with a dedicated unit led by Digitas.