Unilever reviews £123m media

Unilever has started a statutory review of its £123.6m UK media business, held by Initiative Media. The review could result in the work being put up for pitch later in the year.

Initiative handles the bulk of the Unilever account in the UK, with Carat Insight working on media planning for Birds Eye Wall’s.

The packaged goods giant conducts a statutory review of its agencies every three years. Initiative Media’s contract runs out this year.

Birds Eye Wall’s business director Chris Pomfret says: “Unilever conducts statutory audits of all its suppliers at periodic intervals. The UK assessment is nothing out of the ordinary and complies with business practice. It has been planned for some months and is not a result of any dissatisfaction with performance.”

Pomfret is also the chairman of the Unilever UK marketing committee, which oversees all communication policy and implementation in the UK.

Earlier this year, Unilever split its £100m media business for North America and the Middle East between MindShare and Initiative Media.

The Anglo-Dutch consumer group reported a fourth-quarter profit for 2001 of e228m (£139m) compared with a net loss of e980m (£597m) for the same period the previous year. For the full year, its net profit increased to E1.86bn (£1.1bn) from E1.12bn (£680m).