The WPP Group media network is understood to have competed against Zenith Media and Omnicom Group's PHD and the B|Com3-owned Starcom. The incumbent agency was Grey Global Group's MediaCom. MediaCom will, however, continue to handle Masterfoods USA's outdoor media buying.
The move comes as a blow for MediaCom, which recently triumphed in the UK when it won Masterfoods 拢120m UK media-planning business as part of a Europe-wide efficiency review. It followed the merging of Mars' food, confectionery and petfood divisions into one business last December to form Masterfoods.
Starcom had been hotly tipped to win the business because its sister agency MediaVest handles all of Masterfoods' broadcast buying business.
The business includes the Mars Bar, M&Ms, Whiskas, Uncle Ben's and Dolmio to the Pedigree, Twix, Galaxy and Milky Way brands.
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