FairPrice Group hands media and creative remit to IPG's UM and Omnicom Group's Homeground United

FairPrice Group has appointed Interpublic Group's UM and Omnicom Group's Homeground United as its media and creative agencies of record for its business, effective 1 June 2023, as confirmed to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE.

This follows a rigorous closed-door review, managed by independent global marketing consultancy R3 which began in January 2023. The agencies were selected for their ability to provide integrated and holistic media, creative and communications counsel and execution of marketing for the group spanning multiple brands including FairPrice, FairPrice Xtra and Finest supermarkets, Cheers convenience stores and Unity pharmacies. 

This comes as there was a need for FairPrice to align all marketing efforts in a way that allows consumers to identify and connect better with its brands, according to Alvin Neo, chief customer and marketing officer, FairPrice Group. Currently, the incumbent media agency is Havas Media; Iris as creative agency, Hogarth as production agency and GOODSTUPH as social marketing agency.

“Looking ahead, we are driving tighter synchronisation and synergy between paid, owned and earned campaigns to lean into the future of retail which is both omnichannel and omni-vertical. We are confident that UM and Homeground United are the right partners for this journey; as we tap into their strong integration of marketing disciplines and strategic capabilities. We look forward to working with them to achieve our goals and continuing to effectively fulfil our social mission,” he added.

The partnership will also elevate the brand's sense of community and belonging that FairPrice is synonymous with, according to Joyce Chen, managing director, eg+. The Homeground United agency is an integrated collective comprising exceptional talent from, eg+, TBWA\Singapore, designory and OPRG.

"FairPrice is an iconic, progressive Singapore brand and it’s an incredible honour to be awarded the creative portfolio to deliver a total brand experience to their customers...Mandy Wong, president of TBWA\SG, Khoo Yin, senior partner OPRG SG and I are excited to embark on the journey with FairPrice Group to shape the future of Singapore retail,” she added.

Meanwhile, Kasper Aakerlund, regional president, UM APAC, said: “UM Singapore is delighted to be named media agency of record for the country’s largest purveyor of everything food. We are excited to partner with FairPrice Group and are confident that the team’s strategic capabilities and collaborative culture make UM the perfect fit to supercharge the FairPrice Group business into the future.”

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to FairPrice Group for more information. 

Back in February, Fairprice Group called for an integrated pitch cutting across creative production, media and digital and has appointed R3 to handle the pitch, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE understood. In recent years, Fairprice Group which owns brands such as Cheers, Kopitiam, Unity and FairPrice Finest has been upping its retail experience. Last year it unveiled a new Grocer Bar, a dine-in area for consumers to eat and drink their purchases on the spot at NTUC FairPrice Finest at The Centrepoint. 

Related articles:

FairPrice Group partners The Trade Desk to drive closed-loop measurement with retail data
FairPrice Group axes out physical Kopitiam cards in favour of app