Unilever media bid for Southeast Asia and Australasia down to three agencies

The media bid, which was held in Singapore, is for the FMCG giant's media buying business in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. 

Last December, Nielsen reported that Unilever was Southeast Asia's strongest advertiser in terms of ad spend dollars for the third quarter of 2011. For the first half of 2012, Unilever's ad spend in Malaysia was US$78 million, according to a source. 

It was previously reported that only two agencies were involved in the pitch for Australia and New Zealand  but Campaign Asia-Pacific was reliably informed that Mediabrands' agency Initiative is also involved. 

According to Nielsen, Unilever’s main media ad spend in New Zealand, for January to June this year was US$20.3 million, 15 per cent down versus the same period last year. The giant's spend in Australia was also down 23 per cent to US$29.9 million for the first half of the year. 

In June, it was reported that Unilever had aligned its global media planning account with PHD and that its scope in Asia was unconfirmed.

In the region, Mindshare has been the lead planning agency for more than 20 years and is currently the incumbent agency for the markets under review. 

Sources tapped PHD as the favourite to win, as it holds Unilever's media account for both global and China.