The pitch for Nestlé’s hotly contested media account for Australia and New Zealand has finally drawn to a close with GroupM taking out the win via a purpose-built bespoke solution, OpenMind.

The appointment concludes a drawn out tender process that was first announced in April 2023 as part of a global media review. Locally, the account is thought to be valued at around $50 million. It was contested by incumbent, IPG Mediabrand’s UM, as well as Publicis and GroupM.

“We wish to thank UM, Publicis and GroupM for all their work as part of the review. All three presented compelling, quality work which highlighted the strength of Australia and New Zealand’s media companies,” said Nestlé Oceania Director of Marketing and Communications, Anneliese Douglass. “In particular, I wish to acknowledge the work of UM, who have delivered great strategic work and strong media buying results since 2018. We wish them all the best for the future.”

Nestlé’s portfolio of global food and beverage brands includes KitKat, Allen’s, Nescafé, Milo, Maggi, Uncle Tobys, Nespresso, and Purina.

GroupM Australia & New Zealand CEO, Aimee Buchanan, said: “We are thrilled that Nestlé has chosen OpenMind to help deliver on its media transformation across ANZ. We were immediately excited by the Nestlé ambition and have loved working through this process with the team. Our proposed combination of capability, innovation and technology resonated as a vehicle for growth. We can’t wait to get started working on these amazing brands, with this great group of marketers.

OpenMind’s appointment is effective as of 1 June 2024. “The Nestlé Australia and New Zealand team is looking forward to our future relationship with OpenMind powered by GroupM,” Douglass said.