Mondelez hands APAC duties to Wavemaker, adds 6 new SEA markets

Mondelez has retained Wavemaker for its APAC media duties following a global pitch. Wavemaker has been a strategic partner to Mondelez since 2019, and will continue working with the brand across  Australia, New Zealand, India  and Japan. In addition, Mondelez has also extended duties to Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

“A true testament to regional best practices applications and adaptations, the extensive pitch process over the last six months involved a great deal of work. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the contributors from across our formidable global network that did an outstanding job,” said a Wavemaker spokesperson. Based on COMvergence’s tracked media spend for Mondelez, APAC spend is approximately US$787 million, and APAC is one of the fastest growing regions for the brand. The brand has also spent 41% more year over year.

Meanwhile, Publicis Media has won a significant part of the Mondelez media business and will be handling markets in Europe, Middle East, Latin America, and the North African Peninsula, South Africa and China.  VaynerMedia will in the meantime take charge of US and Canada.

Last year, Mondelēz International said it was supporting the increase in shelf price by doubling down on investment in ad spend. The company's advertising and consumer spend increased by double-digits year-to-date and it is also moving more of the investment into working media. According to chairman and CEO Dirk Van Dd Put, the company plans to increase ad spend by about 7% to 8% year-over-year to achieve category growth and have more brand innovation and visibility. It also plans to reinvest 50% of its operating profit into brand-building initiatives. 

He added that the company has focused on its enablers such as increased brand investment, higher quality and purpose-led marketing, and pricing for multiple years, and the investments "are really compounding". Not only has ad spend increased, Mondelēz has also made "big strides" on the quality, the effectiveness, and the ROI of its marketing, Van de Put said. 

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