WPP faces P&G £300m switch

Procter & Gamble is expected to move its $600m (£311m) media planning and buying account for Gillette out of WPP agency MindShare following its $57bn (£30bn) acquisition of the shaving business. MindShare recently won the planning and buying b

Procter & Gamble is expected to move its $600m (£311m) media planning and buying account for Gillette out of WPP agency MindShare following its $57bn (£30bn) acquisition of the shaving business. MindShare recently won the planning and buying business for arch-rival Unilever.

P&G global media and communication manager Bernhard Glock says he will “never work with a Unilever agency” and has confirmed that he will look at moving the business.

Glock adds: “I am of the firm belief that firewalls need to be built between conflicting pieces of business within networks. I’m concerned about the fact that MindShare handles the Unilever business but it is too early to say where we will shift the business.”

The move however might not translate into a loss for Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP network, which recently acquired Grey, a P&G roster agency. Some sources suggest that it is likely that MediaCom, now part of WPP, might be handed the P&G business.

P&G’s media business is split between Starcom Group, which handles the bulk of the business, and MediaCom. Gillette is globally aligned to MindShare.