PHD wins Unilever’s Canadian business

Mindshare, which has handled media here since 2010, still managed to hold on to the biggest portions of the review globally.
unilever

Unilever’s $3.3 billion USD media review has wrapped after a six-month process, and while WPP’s Mindshare retained the bulk of its account – and even expanded it into some markets – it was PHD that walked away with buying and planning duties for Canada.

The Omnicom agency also got media duties for Austria, Germany, Switzerland, North Africa, the Middle East and Turkey.

Mindshare had been Unilever’s media AOR in Canada since 2010, an assignment that did not change after the CPG’s last review in 2015. Among the dozens of brands Unilever sells in Canada are names like Dove, Axe, Lipton, Hellmann’s, Love Beauty Planet, Seventh Generation and Tresemmé.

Despite losing Canada and some other markets, WPP is still considering the results a win, as Mindshare now handles media for the rest of North America, as well as the U.K., India, Indonesia and China, covering Unilever’s top markets (the Chinese portion of the business was not part of this year’s review, having moved from Omnicom to WPP last year). It also has duties for Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, the Nordics, Eastern Europe, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.