• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, November 4, 2014

Spirits marketer Brown-Forman has narrowed the field in its ongoing media agency review to four agencies. The client, marketer of Jack Daniels and other brands launched the review in August.

The incumbent UM, part of IPG Mediabrands, is in the group of four that remain in the review, along with Publicis Groupe’s Zenith Media, sibling agency MediaVest and WPP’s Maxus. The contenders were confirmed by Russel Wohlwerth, who heads External View Consulting Group, the firm hired by Brown-Forman to help manage the review process.

Brown-Forman spent $52 million on ads in 2013, according to Kantar.

When the company confirmed the review in August, a rep said at the time that it was a matter of “due diligence” given that it had been 10 years since the last formal media agency review.

“We’re not dissatisfied” with UM’s performance, the rep added. “But we need to make sure we are up to date with what the media landscape looks like and getting the service we need.”

Other Brown-Forman brands include Southern Comfort and Finlandia. The company reported fiscal 2014 net sales of more than $3.9 billion, up 4%.