Starcom and Universal split £96m Interbrew
Drinks giant Interbrew has split its global media business, worth an estimated &£96m, between UK incumbent Starcom Motive and Universal McCann. The realignment of media planning and buying has seen the company’s roster slashed from 14 agencies to two, in an effort to cut costs.
Starcom Motive will handle some non-UK markets, while Universal McCann will handle the US market.
A spokeswoman for Interbrew says: “The rationale behind the decision has been to save costs on media planning and buying across all markets.”
This latest rationalisation follows Interbrew’s move last year to cut its creative agency line-up and reinvest the money it saves in marketing its brands (MW October 23, 2003).
Interbrew appointed Bartle Bogle Hegarty to its &£14.4m UK advertising account, stripping Mother of both the Hoegaarden and Castlemaine XXXX accounts. BBH has also been appointed to the global advertising business for Hoegaarden (MW November 13, 2003). Leo Burnett Chicago was appointed to handle the global Leffe account, while the Stella Artois global account remains with Lowe.
