• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, September 30, 2005

In a much-needed win, Havas' MPG unit has picked up a rather sweet media planning account. As part of a major restructuring of its agency roster, Hershey Co. Thursday kissed goodbye to WPP's Ogilvy & Mather and Omnicom's DDB units and moved most of its advertising account to Havas' Arnold Worldwide. Part of the business was assigned to North Castle Partners.

While media buying for the Hershey brands will remain with long-time media agency Omnicom's OMD unit, MPG will gain planning duties for the flagship chocolate brands moved to sister agency Arnold.

In a statement, Hershey said it has "no plans to change its media-buying agency," but that it was realigning its brand advertising assignments after a 35-year relationship with O&M to "capitalize on changing consumer and media trends," implying that the shift had at least something to do with its communications strategy, not just creative.

"The changes we are implementing will help Hershey further build its brands and drive growth by connecting with consumers across a full range of touchpoints and media, including the Internet, public relations, consumer promotions, and interactive communications," stated Tom Hernquist, senior vice president and president of U.S. confectionery at Hershey.

In a separate statement, O&M said it was kissing off Hershey, not the other way around: "The move relates to an emerging conflict with Hershey and other Ogilvy clients," reads the O&M statement.