Ekaterra chooses PHD as its cup of tea

Tea conglomerate Ekaterra has hired PHD as its inaugural media agency following the business' spin-off from Unliver and acquisition by venture capitalists.

Campaign understands the final choice was a shootout between PHD and UM.

Ekaterra is the world's largest tea business, operating in 42 markets. Its brands include PG Tips, Lipton, Pukka and T2, and it spends an estimated €70m (£59m) on media each year.

Unilever completed the sale of its tea division to a CVC Capital Partners fund this month, but had called a global media review, working with ID comms, earlier this year.

Ekaterra’s portfolio generated global revenues of about €2bn in 2020, across 11 production factories on four continents and tea estates in three countries.

Its media brief was to find a "digital-first" agency to support its investments and campaigns across its global markets.

Ekaterra’s brands were formerly supported by a range of media agencies that worked with Unilever. In the UK, the bulk of Unliever’s media planning and buying is handled by Mindshare.

Ekaterra had not responded to Campaign’s request for comment at the time of writing, but its chief marketing and digital officer Aparna Sundaresh had previously said: "We want to choose an agency partner with a shared passion for our consumers and an appreciation for the role that our brands can play in their lives."

PHD and ID Comms declined to comment on the review.