PepsiCo has created a new in-house media and creative agency team as it aims to "redefine" its European marketing output to be faster and better connect with its customers.
The team is led by Nancy Croix, marketing director for creative across Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, who joined the company last year from Danone.
"Our vision is to redefine marketing at PepsiCo Europe, to be faster to market and to always resonate with consumers," Croix said.
"The launch of this new team allows us to develop campaigns in-house, by blending creativity and media from inception. In order to live up to this vision, we have assembled a high-performance team, with the best talents from the industry."
In July, during an earnings call, PepsiCo chief executive Ramon Laguarta explained that the business was moving towards in-housing to help save money.Ìý
Also in July, PepsiCo moved its ad account for Walkers and Sensations to VCCP, from long-standing incumbent Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. Croix explained that agencies will be called on for their specialist expertise.
She said: "The in-house team is part of an overall marketing ecosystem of the future, an agile model where in-house and external partners have an important role to play.
"Working in this way means our agency relationships are optimised, with our external partners being called upon for their specialist expertise and consultancy."
In-housing has been a popular move for brands such as Lucozade and Specsavers. Unilever's approach is to have a creative team, created by agency Oliver and called U-Studio, which sits in-house, while News UK has a similar model with The & Partnership called Pulse Creative.
Fernando Kahane, senior marketing director for Walkers, said that he has found working with an in-house agency to be an "efficient set-up".
He added: "The agency acts as an extension of our brand and marketing teams, and together they have worked hard to get under the skin of our diverse portfolio of brands and deliver content that perfectly reflects their DNA."
PepsiCo's in-house agency began releasing work for Walkers on 1 September with a spot for Wotsits. It has also been working on a campaign for the crisp brand's "Taste icons" range.
PepsiCo's New York-based content creation division, the Creators League Studio, famously made the 2017 Kendall Jenner ad which sparked outrage and was subsequently pulled. The boss of that unit, global beverage group president Brad Jakeman, stepped down later that year.Ìý
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