The assignment - covering about 15 brands including Sunsilk and Lux - is estimated to be worth up to US$70 million in annual billings. The shift takes effect from January next year, ending a 30-year association between Unilever and Initiative and its predecessor, Lintas, in Thailand. Initiative Asia-Pacific chief operating officer King Lai said he was surprised by the move because "our delivery in terms of planning and implementation is excellent in Thailand".
Lai said that the Thai decision was not linked to Initiative's Unilever win in Japan earlier this month. "Although Unilever is a global company, it looks at each market individually." It is believed that the assignment accounts for about 50 per cent of Initiative Thailand. The agency's MD Wannee Ruttanaphon said "we have already reorganised our teams" and she ruled out any redundancies.
MindShare Southeast Asia CEO Nick Waters described the review as "the most thorough" he had experienced. "There were two separate planning assignments. An audit of our buying abilities conducted by an expert from Australia as well as an examination of our tools, processes and systems by Unilever's Global Marketing Science unit. We then went onto a corporate brief, presentations and follow-up questions."
MindShare is now assembling a team of about 25 people, including strategic plan- ners and buyers. Waters said: "We are looking for younger people because they are more easily able to be innovative and think in new ways." MindShare has Unilever's brief in six other markets - China, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia which is limited to planning.
