Nestlé concludes media pitch in Malaysia and Singapore

Nestlé has appointed GroupM Malaysia's OpenMind and IPG Mediabrands Singapore's Thrive to manage media strategy, planning and buying duties. It is understood that incumbent Zenith did not pitch for the account and the handover has already begun. IPG Mediabrands confirmed the appointment but declined to comment further. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Nestlé, GroupM, and Publicis Media for comment.

The media review was first called in July this year and involved a re-examination of ways to manage media strategy, planning and buying in line with rapidly-changing digital platforms and evolving media landscape and agencies. Nestlé previously said that the review will help ensure the brand remains strongly-positioned and highly relevant in today’s fast-paced and competitive business environment.

This latest appointment sees the Nestlé account returning to GroupM in Malaysia. Mindshare previously managed duties for Malaysia and Singapore prior to the previous review called in June 2018. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, Nestlé expanded its existing partnership with dentsu Indonesia by appointing the agency to manage full-funnel media, including eCommerce, social, programmatic, SEO, and performance for all its brands. Prior to that, iProspect Indonesia was managing part of Nestlé's search performance locally. The brand is also currently working with OMD Hong Kong for media duties. The partnership includes 38 brands across a range of categories including F&B, nutrition, and health care.

Nestlé's organic growth for the nine months of 2021 reached 7.6%, with real internal growth of 6.0% and pricing of 1.6%. According to its financial statement, growth was supported by continued momentum in retail sales, steady recovery of OOH channels, increased pricing and market share gains.

Growth was broad-based across most geographies and categories. Organic growth reached 7.1% in developed markets, based mostly on real internal growth with positive pricing. Organic growth in emerging markets was 8.3%, with robust real internal growth and positive pricing. Southeast Asia saw slightly negative growth in a difficult economic environment with movement restrictions. The Philippines saw a sales decline, also impacted by a high base of comparison in 2020. According to the company, Indochina posted low single-digit growth, with a sales decrease in on-the-go products and out-of-home channels. Sales in Malaysia grew at a high single-digit rate.

By product category, the key growth drivers were culinary, coffee and Nestlé Professional. Sales in confectionery and ice cream grew at a high single-digit rate, with good sales momentum in Malaysia. Dairy reported mid single-digit growth, led by strong demand for fortified milks. Infant Nutrition saw a sales decline, with growth turning positive outside of China in the third quarter.

Photo courtesy: 123RF

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