Initiative Media takes Unilever Thailand account

Initiative Media (IM) has scored a major coup by outgunning MindShare in the pitch for the consolidated Unilever Thailand account. MindShare was the incumbent planning agency, while IM was the incumbent buying agency. IM Thailand was established in October last year when it picked the media department of Lowe Lintas & Partners to expand into Thailand. MindShare had been tipped to win the consolidated Unilever account in Thailand because the FMCG giant was appointing MindShare in major markets globally. It seemed that it was consolidating its media accounts around the world with MindShare. In Asia-Pacific, MindShare holds the Unilever account in Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Taiwan. Most recently, the agency won the USdollars 700 million account in the United States. In addition, at press time, WPP announced it was setting up its MindShare operation in India after winning the Unilever India and Central Asia media account, worth more than USdollars 150 million. Following a five-way pitch, however, the entire media account for all Unilever brands - said to be the biggest single account in Thailand with a value of more than two billion baht (about USdollars 50 million) - was awarded to IM. The appointment takes effect from April this year. IM managing director Wannee Ruttanaphon told MEDIA: "Unilever was looking for a partnership that could help them move the business forward through a new process called Communication Channel Planning which it launched last year. We will help facilitate this process as well as continue as the buying agency." She attributed the win to a combination of factors which IM highlighted during the pitch: strong market analysis and rate negotiation skills, effective media software to enhance planning and buying capabilities and up-to-date consumer and media market research. Ms Wannee also pointed out that her agency has strong local contacts: "Another clear edge that Unilever sees in us is our close relationship with media owners. We have worked to the best benefit of our client in the most optimum way," she said. TOP TEN TV RECALL</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear">HONG KONG</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear">1) VITASOY (Hot Vitasoy): client: Vitasoy; agency: Saatchi & Saatchi.</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear">2) McDONALD'S: client: McDonald's; agency: DDB.</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear">3) WELLCOME: client: Wellcome Supermarket; agency: McCann Erickson.</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear">4) COCA-COLA: client: Coca-Cola; agency: D'Arcy.</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear">5) ORANGE: client: Hutchison Telecom; agency: O&M.</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear">6) PARK N' SHOP: client: Park N' Shop; agency: DDB.</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear">7) BIGUI GARDEN: client: unknown; agency: Bon Market International.</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear">8) YAKULT: client: Yakult; agency: DY&R.</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear">9) SAN MIGUEL: client: San Miguel Brewery; agency: JWT.</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear">10) SUNDAY: client: Sunday Mobile Phone Network; agency: BBDO.</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear">10) HSBC (Online Banking): client: HSBC; agency: Bates.</Paragraph> <Paragraph formatting="linear"> Data on TV ads scoring the highest recall among consumers polled was collected by MARKET BEHAVIOUR (Hong Kong) LTD, on behalf of MEDIA. (January 2-12, 2001).

Sign In

Trouble signing in?

Reset Password: Click here

Contact Customer Support at

Customerservice@campaignasia.com