It is only two weeks since Cannes Marketer of the Year 2015, Heineken, and Wieden + Kennedy split, but Heineken has made Publicis Worldwide its lead global creative agency without a review. The change began on July 1.
Local agencies will continue to create local campaigns for the brand.
The move was quite probably hinted in the statement by Heineken’s chief commercial officer, Jan Derck van Karnebeek, announcing the end of Heineken’s relationship with W+K, “We work with multiple agencies on Heineken to support the worldwide presence of the brand, and also to bring additional creative thinking. Globally we now enjoy a strong relationship with Publicis, while in many markets we are working with local agencies to deliver outstanding and effective local top-spin campaigns.”
Several Publicis Worldwide agencies, like France and Italy’s, were already working with Heineken.
“Over the last two years, the team has produced exceptional results for Heineken, especially the responsible consumption and ‘dream island’ campaign,” van Karnebeek, stated.
Bruno Bertelli, chief executive of Publicis Italy, will lead the global team the agency is putting in place for the client. “Having the chance to work side by side with Heineken, to write a new chapter for their communications, is a fantastic opportunity for all of us, but it’s also a big responsibility.
“We now have to prove that we deserve their trust across the network by delivering breakthrough work from New York to Shanghai to Sao Paulo. I¹m counting on all of you.”
Heineken has had an ecouraging start to 2015. In his statement in Heineken’s first quarter 2015 sales results, Jean-François van Boxmeer, chairman of the executive board & chief executive officer, announced, “We have made solid progress through the first quarter, with top-line growth reflecting the benefits of Heineken’s geographic diversity and our continued focus on marketing and innovation. Volumes were once again strong in Asia Pacific and Americas, offset by slightly lower volumes in Europe and more subdued volume growth in Africa Middle East. Heineken premium volume growth continued especially in developing markets. Whilst pricing continues to be limited by deflationary and off premise pressures, and markets including Nigeria and Indonesia are challenging, we remain confident of delivering on expectations for the full year.”
Heineken’s overall volume growth was 2.2%, Premium beer volume growth was 6.2% (except the US, where it was 4%]. Group revenue grew 2.2% organically.
