Wrigley China launches media cost exercise

MEC, the incumbent agency on the account, Starcom and Zenith Media are involved in the process, designed to assess the client's media buying needs. Sources suggest OMD may also be involved.

It is thought the exercise comes on the back of Mars’ acquisition of a majority stake in Wrigley Confectionary in March 2008. Mars teamed up with investor Warren Buffett to buy the US chewing gum manufacturer for US$23 billion. 

One potential outcome of the exercise is that the Mars and Wrigley media accounts are consolidated. “The client might feel that there is a natural advantage of synergy with the cost benchmarking exercise, though there are no guaranteed consequences afterward,” a source said.

In March this year, Mediavest, a division of Starcom Mediavest, won the Mars and Wrigley accounts in the US. At the same time, in a separate pitch in China for Mars only, Zenith Media scooped the business.

According to analyst BISWorld, Mars was the largest confectioner by market share in China in 2008, thanks to its merger with Wrigley. Wrigley’s Chinese unit enjoyed 11 per cent of the country’s confectionery market. 

Confectionery sales in China are forecast to rise by more than seven per cent this year with demand, even for high-end products, staying robust despite slowing economic growth. Sales will reach US$5.7 billion in 2009, up from US$5.3 billion a year earlier, according to BISWorld.

Sources close to the account indicate that confectionery consumption in China is lower than in the West but expected to grow rapidly.