Overnight reports have suggested that FMCG giant Mars, which put a huge swathe of its agency business out to pitch last November, is entertaining overtures from WPP, Omnicom, IPG and Publicis.
As reported in B&T last year, the focus of the review is on Mars’ Snacking division, which includes brands such as M&M’s and Snickers, and its Petcare division, featuring brands like Pedigree and Cesar. The Food & Nutrition segment, encompassing brands like Ben’s Original, is not part of this process. All incumbent agencies were invited to participate, but the process is now believed to have entered the request for proposal (RFP) phase.
Notably, creative services are excluded from this evaluation, with Omnicom’s BBDO and DDB continuing to handle creative duties.
EssenceMediacom, part of GroupM, has been responsible for global media planning and buying since 2018. Publicis Groupe’s Mars United Commerce manages commerce-related activities, and IPG’s Weber Shandwick oversees brand public relations.
B&T has reached out to all the holdcos for comment locally, but no-one has thus far proffered an opinion and we’re not expecting one given the global bosses are remaining shtum.
