Unilever shifts creative duties of Knorr

JWT's loss is Lowe's gain. Unilever is shifting creative duties for its biggest brand, Knorr, in three global regions.

JWT had worked on the Knorr since 2001 and losing Knorr, which has annual global sales of $3.9 billion, is a blow to JWT, a WPP Group agency, The agency has also been the lead creative shop for Knorr in Europe, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. Omnicom Group's DDB handles creative for Knorr in North America, Australia and Africa, and is not affected by the change.

Unilever made the agency change on the business without a formal review.

Silvia Lagnado, Unilever's group VP-savoury, said in a statement: Lowe has delivered fresh ideas on the global projects we have worked on together and I am excited about the prospect of working with them going forward."

The move means that Interpublic Group of Cos.' Lowe picks up a plum piece of business, worth an estimated $5 million in revenue and $156 million in spending. Unilever is now Lowe's biggest client.
JWT's most recent work for the Knorr line of products, which includes soups, seasonings and frozen meals, is positioned as "Every meal is an opportunity."

JWT will continue to work on Unilever's beauty brands such as Sunsilk, Lux and Radiant.