In China, the business is predominantly handled by Nitro. However, McCann handles the lion's share of the account in South and Southeast Asia, which includes Wall's and Ben & Jerry's.
“My expectation is that the ice cream accounts in Asia will not be handled by different agencies in different countries – the division is not according to geographical region,” said Trevor Gorin, head of media relations at Unilever. “Lowe will handle Magnum and some of the other brands, and DDB will look after the rest; these are pan-Asian accounts.”
“My expectation is that the ice cream accounts in Asia will not be handled by different agencies in different countries – the division is not according to geographical region,” said Trevor Gorin, head of media relations at Unilever. “Lowe will handle Magnum and some of the other brands, and DDB will look after the rest; these are pan-Asian accounts.”
Details over the market-by-market split have yet to be ironed out, and sources say JV Raman, the VP of Unilever ice-cream Asia and Africa, may take issue with the decision made at Unilever headquarters in London last night.
Raman is currently on his way from Kuala Lumpur to Unilever headquarters to discuss the Asia implications of the review.
Lowe has been awarded the global $200 million Magnum brand, to be managed out of Madrid by boutique agency brand Lola. Magnum's largest Asia-Pacific markets are Singapore and Australia.
The shift ends a four-month review between the three Unilever roster agencies, and marks an end to an unlucky streak for DDB which has missed out on a string of global pitches, latterly LG, to eventual winner BBH in November last year.
