Ogilvy & Mather has a new piece of Nestlé business: The WPP agency has been assigned U.S. marketing responsibilities for Nesquik, a brand previously handled by McCann-Erickson L.A., sources said.
In 2011, Nestlé spent $26.4 million in U.S. measured media on Nesquik, an amount that does not include digital spending or business-to-business advertising, according to Nielsen.
Nestlé roster agency Publicis was thought to have also been considered for the Nesquik assignment. Ogilvy L.A. is said to be the office handling Nesquik, given its proximity to the client in California. Both agencies declined to comment, referring inquiries to Nestlé.
Last spring, Nestlé took Nesquik and Coffee-Mate’s U.S. business out of McCann and reassigned the non-dairy creamer to Publicis. McCann L.A. president Cathy Saidiner had earlier resigned and has since joined L.A. digital agency Blitz. Saidiner was said to be close to the Nestlé client but her departure was not necessarily the catalyst for McCann’s dismissal on the accounts. Observers say Nestlé is deliberate in making agency changes and McCann would have been warned and given the chance to save the accounts. McCann L.A., with remaining accounts LifeLock and IHOP, will be kept open. The agency continues to work on Nesquik and Coffee-Mate in 30 countries outside the states.