AGENCY NEW BUSINESS

M&C Saatchi Abel plans to get the tills ringing for PepsiCo brands

By our News Team | 2022

FMCG giant appoints new advertising agency to provide creative solutions across a portfolio of its leading brands.

Ad agency M&C Saatchi Abel has been appointed as the new lead agency across a portfolio of PepsiCo brands. This includes Lay’s, Liqui Fruit and Weet-Bix. The appointment will see the agency providing creative solutions aimed at further entrenching loyalty for the brands.

“Winning this mix of iconic brands comes with a legacy and heritage we need to uphold as we begin our journey with the PepsiCo family,” says Jacques Burger, Founding Partner and Group Executive of M&C Saatchi Group South Africa.

“But, at the same time, it also comes with the challenge of ensuring they remain future-fit and continue to grow. Working with a brand like Lay’s presents an exciting space to marry global assets with our South African audience, establishing local and regional relevance,” adds Burger.

Photo credit: PepsiCo

Integration of multiple brands into one portfolio

According to Martin Neethling, Chief Marketing Officer at PepsiCo in sub-Saharan Africa, the acquisition of Pioneer Foods by PepsiCo in 2020 provided for the integration of a range of different and powerful brands into a single portfolio.

“This in turn provides us with the unique opportunity to be able to zoom out and examine our agency partner ecosystem. We want to be sure that the agencies we work with are the best partners in these challenging and innovative times,” says Neethling.

“We believe that the appointment of new agency partners will bring together creative talent with our winning brands to help us create meaningful connections between our brands, our consumers and their communities.”

Burger notes that M&C Saatchi Abel welcomes the opportunity to deliver brutally simple solutions, underpinned by a sense of accountability, within the advertising discipline.

“At the end of the day, you will know if the work is delivering on the client’s needs by the sound the till makes when customers pick your brand over another,” he concludes.

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