P&G has restructured its agency roster after Publicis Groupe announced it was closing the D'Arcy advertising network following its merger with Bcom3.
French rival Havas is the big loser in the shake-up, as its advertising network Arnold Worldwide loses four brands and two accounts handled by its ethnic specialist agencies. The accounts were held by Arnold's New York office, Arnold/McGrath.
The Publicis Worldwide network picks up brands including Bounty, Charmin and Tempo. Leo Burnett has been awarded Always/Whisper, the deodorant brand Mum and Fairy Laundry; while Saatchi & Saatchi's new brands include Folgers coffee and the dental care brands Crest and Fixodent.
Grey, which already handles advertising for Pringles, will take the tortilla corn chip brand Torengos.
In a statement, Jim Stengel, global marketing officer for Procter & Gamble, said: "This choice allows P&G to partner with two strategic networks at unprecedented levels. Together we will spend less time focused on internal transactions and more time focused on the external business of winning with our consumers."
Grey has worked for P&G for 46 years, and the consumer goods giant has had an association with Publicis since the French group bought Saatchi & Saatchi in 2000. Stengel added that Publicis Groupe's relationship with Dentsu, the Japanese advertising group that owns a 15% stake in Publicis Groupe, would benefit many P&G brands in Asia.
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