Kraft Heinz hires Carat for US media, moving away from Starcom

Kraft Heinz is naming Dentsu’s Carat as its U.S. media agency following a pitch process handled by MediaSense. The incumbent is Publicis Groupe’s Starcom, which has a longtime relationship with the food giant and retained the U.S. account the last time it was up for review, in 2020. “We can confirm that Kraft Heinz plans to consolidate its media buying agency support and we are working now to finalize details of a partnership with Carat (a Dentsu company),” Kraft Heinz wrote in a statement. “The plan is to add U.S. media management to the work Carat was already doing for its International Zone, Canada, and its Global Center of Excellence.” Carat referred comment to the client. Starcom declined to comment. It’s unclear if Publicis is retaining any of the business moving forward. Publicis had set up a dedicated team to service the Kraft Heinz account in 2020 called Publicis 57. According to a memo at the time, more than 200 people across Publicis participated in the pitch. The agency began losing a foothold on the account that year after Kraft assigned its international and Canada media business to Carat. Ad Age Media Summit Hear from industry leaders during October event in NYC Register here The addition of the U.S. business amounts to a big win for Dentsu Media which saw CEO Doug Rozen depart amid an agency restructuring that will impact 1,000 Dentsu U.S. staffers. Other recent Dentsu media account wins include McCormick & Company, The Aspen Group, and SharkNinja. Recent news: Ad agencies restructure—behind the shakeups Kraft spent $207 million in U.S. measured media in 2022, according to Vivvix, including paid social data from Pathmatics. Kraft Heinz previously disclosed 2022 worldwide advertising expenses of $945 million; 70% of Kraft’s net sales came from the U.S. last year. The agency change comes as Kraft Heinz, like most major food companies, deals with inflation. But the company has been resilient: It reported a net sales increase of 2.6% in the second quarter. Kraft Heinz continues to use marketing to refresh its brands, including Jell-O, Kraft Singles and Lunchables, to help it attract younger consumers and get in front of school-aged kids. More news: Kraft Heinz marketing to kids draws some criticism “We grew profits while also investing in marketing, research & development, and technology, which we funded through gross efficiencies,” Kraft Heinz CEO Miguel Patricio said in an Aug. 2 statement. Next year, Kraft Heinz’s North American president, Carlos Abrams-Rivera, will become CEO, taking over from Patricio. Contributing: E.J. Schultz Check out the latest Ad Age events and award programs

Kraft Heinz hires Carat for US media, moving away from Starcom

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