Nestlé consolidates media buying in China with Mindshare

Following a media review on assorted brands in its China portfolio during June and September this year, Nestlé has expanded Mindshare's buying responsibilities to include the food conglomerate's major subsidiaries: Wyeth Nutrition, Yinlu, Toto Le, Haoji and Hsu Fu Chi.

Multiple parties with direct knowledge of the matter told Campaign China that Publicis Media and Dentsu Aegis Network were reportedly shortlisted in the final rounds of the pitch that concluded last week. A representative of Publicis Media, however, said the company declined to pitch. Dentsu Aegis Network declined to confirm its involvement. Campaign has contacted Nestlé's procurement lead for further comment.

Mindshare previously handled both the traditional and digital buying duties for major sub-brands under Nestlé and Wyeth Nutrition (part of Nestlé) since 2014, with total adspend of approximately RMB 1 billion (US$144 million) on paid media per year in the past.

The review did not affect Nestlé’s relationships with other media agencies that will continue to work on the planning business of each sub-brand.

Separately, in other markets, Mindshare recently lost its Nestlé media accounts to Publicis agencies in Singapore and Malaysia.

This story has been updated to clarify Publicis Media's response.