Leo Burnett has emerged as the big winner in Kraft Food Group's recent creative agency consolidation. The Publicis Groupe shop, which previously did not have any Kraft brands, has won Philadelphia cream cheese, Crystal Light, Cracker Barrel, Planters, Jell-O, Cool Whip and Breakstone's, Kraft confirmed to Ad Age on Thursday .
The marketer announced the consolidation in November, picking four creative agencies to oversee its vast portfolio of packaged food brands -- and shedding other shops. Among incumbents, McGarryBowen, Taxi and CP&B made the cut.
McGarryBowen will handle Kraft-branded salad dressings, barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, natural cheese and parmesan cheese, as well as Kraft Singles, Capri Sun, Kool-Aid in the U.S., Oscar Mayer, Country Time and Athenos.
Taxi will handle Maxwell House, Mio, Gevalia, Tassimo, and, in Canada, Kraft peanut butter, Nabob and Kool-Aid. CP&B got Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Velveeta, A.1., Miracle Whip, Grey Poupon and Stove Top. In Canada, CP&B was assigned Kraft Dinner -- which is the same as Macaroni & Cheese -- and Kraft Singles.
Kraft, which is headquartered in suburban Chicago, said in a statement that Leo Burnett's "storied experience with iconic brands lends itself well to these new assignments. The fact that they are located right in our backyard is another valued benefit as we look to build deeper more meaningful connections with our agency partners."
At the time of the consolidation announcement, Kraft said it was consolidating so it could align its brands better with the "particular strengths" of certain agencies. Shops that were removed from the roster included Droga5, VSA Partners, TBWA, The Martin Agency, Lopez Negrete Communications, Roberts & Langer and Wieden & Kennedy.
Among the biggest brand spenders for Kraft are Oscar Mayer, with $91.4 million spent on U.S. measured media in 2013, according to Kantar Media. In the same time period, Crystal Light spent $66.3 million. According to Ad Age's DataCenter, the Kraft brand spent $154.7 million, a figure that includes spending for Macaroni & Cheese and salad dressing, among other Kraft-branded products.
