Happy little agency: Bega consolidates media with Publicis; Vegemite jumps to Starcom from Thinkerbell
Bega is understood to have appointed Starcom to manage its consolidated media account after a $500m-plus acquisition of Lion Dairy & Drinks brands including Yoplait, Dairy Farmers, Dare and Big M. Media planning and buying for the Vegemite brand also moves to Starcom in the sweep. Vegemite's media was previously spread with creative at independent agency Thinkerbell, of which PwC owns a small stake. The media consolidation was part of a broader organisational overhaul at Bega run by another consulting firm, Kearney.
What you need to know:
- Bega is set to consolidate its media account within Publicis' Starcom, which already holds the majority of the business.
- It follows Bega's $534m acquisition of Lion's Dairy & Drinks business, adding new brands to Bega's portfolio including Dare, Yoplait, Dairy Farmers, Big M, Berri and Juice Brothers.
- Bega has big growth ambitions, including offshore expansion like New Zealand's dairy giant Fonterra and is restructuring accordingly.
- The media moves see Publicis also take media responsibility for Bega's flagship brand, Vegemite.
- Indie shop Thinkerbell previously held the media and creative on Vegemite.
- Thinkerbell's media lead, Ben Shepherd, exited unexpectedly in late June, less than a year after joining the agency. Thinkerbell is understood to retain the creative remit on Vegemite.
Bega, one of Australia's largest dairy and drinks companies, is understood to have consolidated its media planning and buying duties, appointing Publicis Media's Starcom as its lead agency.
The moves see Starcom assume media management for Bega's most well-known brand, Vegemite, which has previously held by Thinkerbell.
Thinkerbell had run the Vegemite brand as part of an integrated creative and media solution. Mi3 understands the agency will continue with its creative duties on Vegemite.
Several people with knowledge of the review told Mi3 the move to consolidate media under a holding group was driven primarily by consulting firm Kearney, which is leading a cost-out and organisational overhaul following Bega's acquisition last year of Lion Dairy & Drinks from Japan's Kirin.
Kearney has been conducting an internal review of the business following the finalisation of the acquisition of Lion's Dairy & Drinks business in January this year.
Bega's latest deal, worth $534 million, doubled the listed, local dairy company's revenues to circa $3bn and added a raft of new brands to its portfolio.
Bega acquired Vegemite and a line-up of other grocery brands in a $460m transaction from Mondelez in 2017. Bega's Lion Dairy & Drinks acquisition was helped by federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg last August who blocked a proposed $600m takeover of Lion by China's Mengniu Dairy. Frydenberg called Mengniu's proposed takeover "contrary to the national interest", opening the door for Bega to swoop.
Bega, Starcom and Thinkerbell declined to comment on the appointment.
