• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 24, 2021

It appears that Unilever is preparing plans for a major media agency review.

Sources noted the company had been discussing a review a year ago before the pandemic kicked in with full force, which apparently caused the talks to be shelved.

That timing would have been about right for a big review.

The company’s last global assessment came in 2015, when it retained GroupM’s Mindshare (North America, Europe and other territories), Omnicom’s PHD (China, Australia and other countries) and IPG’s Initiative (Latin America, as well as a global communications planning remit).

While the pandemic continues to cause chaos for Adland, reviews have been successfully conducted throughout 2020, including big ones like the $2 billion T-Mobile review that began last April and was completed earlier this month, with Initiative emerging victorious.

Sources indicate that Unilever began internal discussions late last year about reviving the shelved plans for a review. How expansive the review will be remains to be seen. Word is, however, that some European agencies have already received RFPs.

At press time, it couldn’t be determined if U.S. agencies had been informed of a review.

Unilever’s press team didn’t return a query seeking comment.