Quaker Reviews Snack-Bar Business

PepsiCo's Quaker is reviewing its Quaker Chewy snack-bar business. The move comes as the company looks to house its different businesses under the Quaker name at separate agencies. According to the request for proposal, Quaker in the past has had its hot cereal and snack bars business under one agency's roof, given the two business had similarities. EnergyBBDO has been the lead agency on the Quaker business since. The agency is still working on the hot cereal business, said an agency spokeswoman. "Recently, however, Quaker has adopted a demand space driven approach to positioning and communications," said the RFP. "With this shift, the Quaker Oatmeal and Quaker Chewy businesses now play in distinct demand spaces. " A Quaker spokeswoman told Ad Age that "we can confirm that we're in the process of exploring additional ad agencies to support 2016 Quaker Chewy work." The review is likely to be a swift one. The company reached out to agencies in mid-November, and shops will be presenting their pitches on Dec. 18. It appears as though no in-person meetings will be held prior to the presentations, at least according to the RFP, though there are two phone calls that were to be scheduled. EnergyBBDO was also the lead agency on PepsiCo's Lay's brand, but as of May, the agency no longer works on that brand. The Quaker brand spent about $59 million on U.S. measured media in 2014, according to Kantar Media, including the hot cereal and snack bars. Quaker Chewy is the fourth-largest brand in the snack bar category in the U.S. with a projected market share of 6.6% for 2015, according to Euromonitor International. Sales are expected to reach $451 million this year, up from $433 million in 2014, according to Euromonitor. Quaker has been surpassed by the fast-growing Kind brand, which is now in third-place, with sales expected to grow from $391 million in 2014 to a projected $547 million this year. Contributing: E.J. Schultz

Quaker Reviews Snack-Bar Business

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