Anheuser-Busch InBev has launched a global media agency review but has only invited incumbents, setting up a showdown among Dentsu, Publicis Groupe and WPP.

The world’s largest brewer spent an estimated $4.7 billion on advertising in 2020, according to Ad Age Datacenter. AB InBev ranks as the world’s 11th-largest advertiser. It markets brands including Budweiser and Stella Artois globally, as well as Corona outside the U.S.

The move comes seven months after AB InBev hired Publicis Groupe’s Epsilon as its data agency of record in the U.S. and a global data partner. That decision came after an intensive review of the brewer’s data and media practices led by consultancy MediaSense. At the time, the brewer opted to keep its incumbent media agencies, extending contracts that had expired in 2019. But now the company wants to take a closer look with a full-fledged review and has hired MediaLink to oversee the process. A spokeswoman confirmed the brewer could select ​​one or more agencies.

“This next phase of our transformation requires that we combine our internal capabilities with the external media and data ecosystem to enable deeper consumer understanding and the creation of campaigns which engage consumers in more meaningful and relevant ways. We have invited incumbent agency partners to join us in this process and will have an update on the outcome in spring 2022,” Luiz Barros, VP of the brewer’s global media and data center of excellence, said in a statement.

The brewer last conducted a media agency review in 2017 when Dentsu's Vizeum won the majority of the business: media planning and buying duties in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Africa. Other incumbents include Publicis Media's Starcom in Colombia and APAC; and WPP's MediaCom in Mexico, Middle Americas and South America.

“The world has evolved since our last review five years ago, with COVID accelerating emerging consumer trends like new consumption behaviors and occasions, adoption and acceleration of e-commerce, transformation of the trade, and how people engage with content through different screens and platforms,” AB InBev shared in a statement. “We know that our partners’ abilities have shifted over the last five years as well, and thus we are looking to ensure we are leveraging the right tools and services within our operating model.”

As outlined by Barros to Ad Age when Epsilon was hired in February, AB InBev is moving away from a  channel-oriented process to an audience-oriented one. That means marketing is less informed by which platform is used — TV or digital, for instance. Instead, it wants to collect more granular data on drinkers, using both first-party and third-party data, and reach consumers with the right messages at the right time, no matter the platform.

The review comes amid management changes in the U.S., where the brewer earlier this month named Benoit Garbe as its new U.S. chief marketing officer. He replaced Marcel Marcondes, who is moving to an unspecified new role in the company. The brewer also created a new role of U.S. chief commercial officer that will oversee sales and marketing in the U.S., filling it with  Kyle Norrington, who had been president of the company’s Labatt division in Canada.

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