Campbell hands 19m to Zenith

US grocery giant the Campbell Soup Company has appointed Zenith Media to handle its $30m (18.8m) planning and buying account across Europe.

Zenith, which handles the bulk of Campbell’s media business in the UK, wins business previously handled by three other roster agencies as a result of the review, first revealed in Marketing Week (April 30).

Campbell advertises in Germany, France and Belgium as well as the UK. According to a company spoke-sman, Young & Rubicam handled the media in Germany and Belgium, Carat handled it in France. Zenith handled all the UK buying and the planning for the Home Pride sauce brand and Saatchi & Saatchi handled media planning for the Campbell’s brand.

F Martin Thrasher, Campbell’s senior vice-president and president international grocery Europe/Canada, says: “With our rapid growth in Europe over the past two years, we are now in a position to gain greater efficiency and effectiveness by consolidating the media planning and buying of our business.

“I am confident Zenith Media will provide the strategic focus and creative energy to help us continue to build our European business.”

According to the company, its soup business in Europe now accounts for about 60 per cent of total European sales following the purchase of German soup manufacturer Erasco and French soup company Liebig.

Zenith Media chief executive Graham Duff was unavailable for comment.