Unilever moves Hellmann’s into O&M
Unilever has moved its 15m pan-European Hellmann’s Mayonnaise business out of Lowe Worldwide and into Ogilvy & Mather, which handles the company’s dressings account.
Unilever’s global realignment of the Hellmann’s business has lost Lowe an account which was worth 6m in the 12 months to June in the UK alone.
Unilever was poised to move the European Hellmann’s account to O&M – which holds the account in North America after beating Lowe in a 2003 pitch – last November, but a contractual wrangle led to the company changing its mind and deciding to leave the business with Lowe (MW January 5).
The blow to Lowe has been softened by a realignment that sees it pick up the business for some of Unilever’s Family Goodness brands, including Blueband and Rama spreads.
New Lowe London chief executive Amanda Walsh began in her post this week after quitting as European president of WPP’s United London earlier this year (MW May 25).
