Publicis takes largest bite out of Mondelez’s global media business

Mondelez – the makers of Cadbury and Oreo – has split its $1.6bn media account between Publicis Groupe, Wavemaker and Vayner Media following a global review.

Publicis Media has won the lion’s share of Mondelez’s media business, and is thought to have increased the global billings it handles from about 30% to 70% by picking up major European markets.

The review is thought to be one of the largest global media reviews this year, alongside the brewer AB InBev and the global Nike review that wrapped in July. 

It also involved incumbent Dentsu International, whose agency Carat held the roughly £50 million account in the UK, but is understood to have pulled out in an earlier stage. 

The major addition for Publicis Groupe is $450 million of media billings across Europe, including the UK and Italy (previously handled by Carat) and Nordics, France and Germany (previously with Wavemaker). 

Publicis will lead Mondelez’s business in Latin America, Europe, Middle East and the North African Peninsula, South Africa and China. 

The holding group will also manage traditional video investment, content and multicultural marketing in the US and Canada.

VaynerMedia has been retained to lead communications planning and digital buying in the US and Canada.

Wavemaker has been appointed to lead media in Southeast Asia, India, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. This accounts for about $225m in media billings.

Mondelez is one of the largest advertisers in the world, spending $1.6bn on advertising in 2021. Its iconic confectionery brands include Cadbury, Oreo, Toblerone, Milka, Daim, BelVita and savoury snacks like Ritz and Philadelphia cream cheese spread.

A spokesperson told Campaign: “To lead the future of snacking, we are continuing to evolve our marketing approach to be more consumer-centric and digitally-enabled than ever before. Since our last media review in 2018, we have re-engineered our agency model across creative and production to deliver meaningful impact to the Mondelez business. 

“After a careful review, we are proud to announce key media agency partners have been selected to build on this foundation and further accelerate our growth.”

Publicis Groupe has slowly increased its slice of the Mondelez advertising services pie in recent years.

In 2020, Mondelez awarded its global content production and management to Publicis Media and Media.Monks, which followed a global creative review in 2019 that was split between Publicis Groupe and WPP.

Wavemaker has worked with Mondelez since 2019. A spokesperson told Campaign: “We’re proud to continue our relationship in APAC across Australia, New Zealand, India and Japan and excited to extend to Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand & Vietnam—and disappointed not to be continuing our relationship across Germany and France.

“The extensive pitch process over the last six months involved a great deal of work, and we’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the contributors from across our formidable global network who did an outstanding job.”

Publicis Groupe and VaynerMedia declined to comment on the review. Campaign has approached Dentsu International's global office for comment.  

Alison Weissbrot contributed.

This article has been updated on 17 August with additional information about APAC and Wavemaker's comment.