Starcom MediaVest wins £15m Kraft UK business

Starcom Mediavest Group is understood to have won Kraft Food’s £15m UK media planning and buying account after a final pitch against MindShare.

Starcom Mediavest Group is understood to have won Kraft Food’s &£15m UK media planning and buying account after a final pitch against MindShare.

In the UK, Kraft Foods, which has brands such as Kenco, will be handled by Starcom MediaVest as sister agency Starcom Motive has Cadbury. The incumbent in the UK, Zenith Optimedia, was advised that it would lose the business when the pitch was called back in April.

The UK pitch is part of a wider review, with further media pitches scheduled in Europe for the Nordic and Iberia regions later this year.

Starcom has a strong relationship with Kraft in the US. It is now in pole position to pick up the other regions as it is thought that Kraft wants to consolidate its media into one agency.

Kraft is reviewing all of its global operations with the aim of making major cost savings. Roger Deromedi, who took the helm as sole chief executive last year when co-chief executive Betsy Holden was demoted, has already set about cutting jobs. He has also lowered long-term targets for profit growth, saying that the company needs to invest in its brands if it is to freshen them up. In response to mounting concerns over obesity levels, Kraft last year announced that it would cut portion sizes and slash levels of fat, sugar and salt in its products (MW July 10, 2003).