Pepsi pitches Australia and New Zealand media account
PepsiCo has put its Australia and New Zealand media account up for pitch, three months after installing a new regional chief marketing officer across the snacks and beverages portfolio.
Vandita Pandey assumed the newly-created role in December, and has wasted no time reviewing the brand’s agency relationships. Omnicom Media Group agency PHD has held the media account for 11 years, and last retained it in 2017.
“We can confirm we are currently in the process of reviewing our media agency,” a Pepsi spokesperson told Mumbrella. “Once complete we will make an announcement.”
Since last retaining Pepsi’s media account against GroupM’s Mindshare, PHD has experienced a leadership shake up. At the end of 2019, Mark Coad left the agency after seven years in the top job to take up the CEO role at Mediabrands, with Mark Jarrett taking his place.
Under Jarrett’s leadership, the agency has added Spotlight to its client roster and expanded its relationship with Bayer. The year before, in 2019, PHD won LG Electronics, Tik Tok, Virgin Australia, and the AFL, and expanded its remit with H&R Block.
Pandey
Just after Pandey was appointed to the Pepsi CMO role, rival Coca Cola launched a global review of its media and creative accounts – worth US$4 billion in global media spend and around $20 million across the South Pacific – which locally could impact Mediabrands’ UM on the media account, and McCann and Ogilvy on the creative side.
UM retained the South Pacific media account after an agency review in 2019, after first winning it against Ikon in 2014.
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Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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