Mindshare and ZenithOptimedia wrestle it out in Nestlé’s Greater China media pitch

Both agencies have finished the first round of pitches in China in mid-April, and are geared to attend the Hong Kong and Taiwan pitches next week.

This is a first Greater China pitch that Nestlé has called for in quite some time. Currently, Mindshare handles its media business in China and Hong Kong, while ZenithOptimedia handles its Taiwan market.

Nescafé, Coffee-mate, Del Monte, Nestlé Ice-cream and KitKat are some of the better-known brands that are part of Nestlé, although different markets in Greater China have other Nestlé products that are more well-received, a source close to the client said.

According to a news article in Reuters dated 20 April, Nestlé's first-quarter sales showed organic growth at 7.2 per cent, with Greater China, South Asia, Africa and the Middle East all achieving double-digit growth. In China, brands such as Nescafé and Milo are shown to lead with strong brand performance. The new partnerships in China (Yinlu and Hsu Fu Chi) also performed to expectations.

Globally, Nestlé has agreed to buy Pfizer’s infant nutrition business for $11.9 billion, the largest acquisition by the European company as it expands its global presence in the baby food market. The deal will help Nestlé tap into the growth of several emerging markets.

Nestlé is the number seventh brand in China, according to the Asia's Top 1000 Brands 2011 report  co-produced by Campaign and research firm, TNS, while its Chinese counterparts MasterKong and Uni-president were the second and sixth brands in China, respectively.

Reported last June, GroupM, Dentsu Media and ZenithOptimedia, which operates within Leo Burnett in Seoul, have been invited to compete for the business, when Nestlé called a media pitch review in South Korea.