Earlier this month, Unilever initiated a review of its global media planning and buying account. The FMCG giant last reviewed its media account in 2021, with GroupM-owned Mindshare successfully retaining the account. Media experts anticipate no significant changes in the current review.
Mindshare, which also has the mandate in India, will obviously be re-pitching for the account.
“Mindshare is an exceptional incumbent. GroupM has had an impressive run over decades managing Unilever. Since 1995, when Fulcrum secured the first AOR (agency of record) and later evolved into Mindshare under the GroupM umbrella, the account has remained firmly entrenched,” said a leading media planner on conditions of anonymity.
Does that mean others won’t be participating in the pitch?
“Of course they will,” said another expert. “The likes of Omnicom and Publicis and others who also work with the company on several accounts will be a part of the pitch. However, given the way Group M has handled Unilever, it is unlikely the company is looking for any major shakeup. The existing agency faces no significant threat,” this media planner added.
Alongside India, Mindshare is responsible for handling Unilever’s media buying in other major markets as well, including the US, UK, Netherlands and Belgium, the Nordics, Italy, Eastern Europe, South Asia (including, apart from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam). The agency also handles media planning and buying in China following a review in 2020. Three other holding groups—Omnicom, Havas and IPG—are incumbents on the account.
How do global reviews work?
Media reviews are a part of standard processes and happen every three to five years for most global brands. For Unilever, the review happens every three years.
Global pitches are taken care of by global teams from a point of view of what impact the agency or what is the value the agency is going to deliver across the globe. For example, in big pitches like Unilever, they look at networks like WPP, Omnicon or a Publicis who are spread across the world.
Another factor that companies look for when they call for a media review is how entrenched the agencies are in the key markets in which they operate. Then of course there are other criteria like how the agencies are pitching, what are the kind of value adds they are offering in terms of the savings, etc.
Do global reviews impact individual markets?
Additionally, even in global pitches, the success depends on local nuances. If, for instance, the agency in India cannot provide the right value in a global pitch, the India business might opt for a different agency. While this scenario isn’t very common, it has happened.
The influence of a global pitch on an agency’s local offices in various countries is generally not substantial. However, there are instances where a pitch spanning multiple countries may result in securing certain regions while missing out on others. For instance, the agency might secure Asia but not China, or get Europe but not Britain.
Some of the groups are powerful in some parts of the world. For example, WPP is powerful in Asia and in Europe and Omnicom is more powerful in regions like Latin America and the US. So big advertisers look at the strength of agencies and look at how the agencies are spread across the globe in terms of how many countries they are present in as a brand and how many countries the agencies are present in.