Unilever renews media duties with PHD Hong Kong

Unilever has renewed its media business with PHD Greater China for another three years.The renewal, involving China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, took place without a pitch review.In Hong Kong, the agency will continue the five-year media partnership with Unilever for some 20 of its household names such as Dove, Lux, Surf, Persil, Rexon, Lipton and Knorr, to name but a few.A spokesperson from Unilever told Marketing that the brand is joining the digital marketing fray to shift part of its marketing budget towards digital and social media, mainly Facebook, Yahoo and YouTube in Hong Kong.On the traditional media front, advertising spend on print magazine will be severely trimmed, with TV commercial remains a "standard proportion", the spokesperson said.Personal Care is the company's leading category for ad expenditures, with Dove as the biggest advertising spender.Meanwhile, Unilever Australia has moved its media duties from Mindshare to PHD following a competitive pitch between Mindshare, PHD and Inititative, according to AdNews.The media account is believed to be worth HK$328 million (AU$57 million).