Vitasoy shifts HK brief to OMD

Incumbents MindShare and Maxus have held the business for seven years, which last year boasted monitored spend of US$10 million. Industry sources say Vitasoy is also gearing up for a creative pitch for a new project launch. Vitasoy's agency DDB along with two other international shops and a local firm have been tipped as contenders for the business. Vitasoy declined to disclose details of the upcoming pitch. The shift follows the appointment of Wendy Chu as Vitasoy's marketing director half a year ago. The agency had worked with Chu, who was marketing director at Standard Chartered prior to Vitasoy, to managing the bank's media brief. OMD Hong Kong general manager Ray Wong said although there was no formal pitch, the agency demonstrated its strategic capability, media planning and buying strategies through two rounds of credentials. Wong said the agency was looking to expand Vitasoy's media mix beyond its TV focus to sharpen its communications with the teen segment. With net profit for the six months ending September 2005 up nearly 36 per cent, Vitasoy is being increasingly targeted by the likes of Coca-Cola and Nestlé in the soya milk and lemon tea segments.