US confectionery, pet food and grocery brands giant Mars has appointed GroupM’s MediaCom to handle its media planning and buying duties across most of the company’s portfolio. The result follows a competitive pitch against Omnicom, led by Hearts and Science, and Publicis, led by Starcom. MediaCom had previously had the account in over 20 markets.
Recma estimates the global Mars business to be worth £1.4 billion. Simon Kellett, chief client officer, MediaCom Dublin, said his agency already had the existing planning brief for Mars. From January 2019, the agency will extend the relationship to include media buying for confectionery, gum, pet and food categories, currently with Core’s Spark Foundry.
The account will also be consolidated into MediaCom in other markets, including buying for the US and China. They already handled Mars in Mexico, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands. To deliver on the assignment, MediaCom will work as part of GroupMW, tapping into the resources of GroupM and other agencies across the WPP network.
“It was impressive to see some of the approaches from all three agencies,” Rob Rakowitz, global media director at Mars, said. “It’s helped evolve our thinking and inspired us to be even bolder in our ambition. GroupM created a model which enables us to put data at the heart of our decision-making, drive speed and use our resources efficiently,” he added.
