Unilever has announced the results of its global media review that was launched earlier this year in January.
The brand has split its global media business across the six major holding groups in different markets: Mindshare (WPP), OMG (Omnicom Group), Initiative (Interpublic Group), Havas Media (Havas), Publicis Media (Publicis Groupe) and Dentsu.
Omnicom Media Group will oversee the Unilever media account in the region across the GCC countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile in the North African region, Initiative will take the lead on the media account.
According to the company, the competitive process was “in line with Unilever’s standard practice of reviewing agency partners periodically” and was designed “to ensure best-in-class support in a competitive and dynamic media landscape, aligned to Unilever’s Growth Action Plan”.
Esi Eggleston Bracey, chief growth and marketing officer at Unilever, said: “Thank you to everyone who took part in this process as we prepare for the next generation of marketing.
“It’s fantastic to accelerate this journey with both new and long-time partners. Together, we have an exciting opportunity to further optimise our media and content to better reflect people and culture as we continue to build our brands and drive to commerce.”
Prior to the announcement of the global media review, Group M’s Mindshare held the responsibilities for the account across the brand’s top markets such as the US, UK, Eastern Europe, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
In the Middle East and Africa region, Omnicom Group’s PHD was responsible for the Unilever’s media duties, post the brand’s review in 2021.
The Unilever media account split
The Unilever media account has been split across the six different agencies belonging to different holding groups.
Mindshare, part of WPP’s Group M, has been appointed with a large share of the geographies, handling the account in UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Central Eastern Europe and the Nordics in the European continent.
It will also handle the account in Australia, New Zealand, North America, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia including Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, Indonesia and China excluding Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Omnicom Media Group will handle the account in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Turkey, Germany, Austria and Switzerland alongside the GCC countries.
Initiative, one of Interpublic Group’s media agencies, has been appointed as the media agency for Canada, Greece, Latin America including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, North Africa and Ukraine.
On the smaller share of the geographic pie are agencies Publicis Media, Havas Media and Dentsu.
Publicis Media won the media account in five Asian countries: Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Havas took its share from European countries France and Spain, while Dentsu bagged the account in Japan.
As one of the world’s biggest advertisers, Unilever’s media account is worth approximately $9.47 billion dollars, according to the brand’s marketing investment in 2023.
