HUL keeps Mindshare as media buying agency

The parent company, Unilever Plc, on Tuesday announced the outcome of its global media agency review. The review was initiated in July 2009 across 53 countries, in line with company policy, to evaluate media agency arrangements periodically.

The company on Tuesday released a list of several countries across the globe and the respective media agencies that will manage the media buying operations.

The HUL business was split between the three incumbent groups of agencies: WPP, Omnicom Group and Interpublic Group. In India, there were media reports doing rounds that HUL was mooting a change of its media planning and buying agency. The announcement made by Unilever, however, has put an end to the speculation.

"As we increasingly make use of digital and social media, we are confident that we have the best agency partners to help us engage in new ways with the 2 billion consumers whose lives we touch," Laura Klauberg, vice president, global media, Unilever said in a statement.

"Greater alignment within our key country clusters will contribute to achieving exceptional results for our business in an increasingly complex and fragmented media environment," she added. The announcement comes at a time when HUL is struggling to retain its falling market shares key categories consumer products categories. In an effort to boost sales and drive volumes, the company is investing heavily on the mass media. For the fouh quarter ended December 2009, HUL spent ₹ 32 crore on advertising and promotions, two-thirds more than the ₹ 380 crore it spent in the same quarter the previous year, in an effort to strengthen its “market competitiveness".

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