McCormick & Co., marketer of brands including French’s, Schwartz and Frank’s RedHot, consolidated its global media business with Dentsu X following a competitive review.

Dentsu had been working with McCormick, which owns 32 brands in 170 countries, for nearly 10 years in select markets across the globe, including Australia and China. It has held agency-of-record status for McCormick in the U.S. and Canada since 2020. 

The agency network will now be adding responsibilities for Europe, Latin America and Southeast Asia to its remit. Publicis held media duties in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for the company since 2019. Publicis declined to participate in the review according to a person close to the situation. McCormick declined to comment on participating agencies.

It is believed that Pile & Co. conducted the review. The consultancy referred comment to the client. 

“As McCormick has continued to evolve their own marketing team, they've finally created a global oversight of marketing function and they saw an opportunity to bring together the media agency relationship, and that's what triggered the review,” said Dentsu X Chief Media Officer Leah Meranus. 

The company has continued to increase its global marketing spend. McCormick spent $182.6 million on advertising in 2021, a bump from $174.8 million in 2020 and $150.8 million in 2019, according to its annual filings.

“When it comes to delivering innovative thinking to fuel our media-driven marketing approach, Dentsu X has proven tools and expertise to help us build deeper connections between consumers and our brands. We look forward to growing our relationship with the Dentsu X team globally,” Melanie Sifuentes, VP of global marketing strategy and media at McCormick, said in a statement.

One point of emphasis for McCormick, which acquired Cholula in 2020, will be expanding its presence in the hot sauce space, according to Meranus. 

“So in the U.S. for example, Frank’s is super big for American football. We drive tailgate season throughout the year all the way through Super Bowl. It's a hot time of the year, no pun intended, but how does that translate in other markets where the NFL is not necessarily the moment?” she said.

Related: See Fitzco's campaigns for French's and Cholula

Despite inflation and supply chain issues, and the company’s exit from India and Russia, McCormick reported that constant currency sales grew 6% in the third quarter of 2022.

Dentsu also recently picked up media duties for Heineken, JCPenney and The Aspen Group.