Kraft Consolidates
Kraft Foods, Glenview, IL, named six promotion agencies for ethnic promos. The food giant spent several months reviewing shops to consolidate from 30 full-service agencies. Review of co-marketing and event marketing agencies are likely to follow.
The six agencies are: Colangelo Group, Westport, CT; Davidson Marketing, Chicago; East/West Creative, Chicago and New York; Frankel & Co., Chicago; Guild Group, White Plains, NY; and Ryan Partnership, Chicago and New York.
The review was part of Kraft’s 18-month-old Project Renaissance initiative to make the company “a world-class promotion organization,” says Wendy Kritt, director of the corporate and consumer promotions. Project Renaissance is part of Kraft’s corporate-wide goal set by Bob Eckert to become the undisputed leader in food.
The agency consolidation has three goals. First, Kraft wants “bigger and better ideas, more innovation from our agencies and ourselves,” Kritt says. Second, it named agencies of record to strengthen relationships between a brand team and its advertising agencies. Third, Kraft wants to save money. The company continues to boost budgets and shift more dollars to the consumer side from trade. Streamlining assignments makes spending more efficient.
Kritt headed up the review with input from promotion directors at each of its six divisions and in the corporate Marketing Services unit. Brand managers consult with promo planners in their division to set campaigns; Kraft has about 100 promo planners across the company, 20 of them on the corporate level.
