Marketing for Nestlé frozen food brands Lean Cuisine, Maggi and Papa Giuseppe will be handled by Simplot following a deal between the two companies.
Simplot is now licensed to manufacture, market and sell Lean Cuisine and Maggi throughout Australia and New Zealand, while it has acquired the Papa Giuseppi frozen pizza brand.
As a result of the deal, Simplot senior brand manager of frozen seafood brands Adam Hanlon sees his remit increase to include the new brands.
The incumbent agencies that worked on Nestlé’s frozen food brands – Publicis Mojo on creative and ZenithOptimedia on media buying – have been retained by Simplot “for the foreseeable future”, with Simplot executive manager retail Graham Dugdale saying he had already met with both agencies.
Hanlon heads up one of Simplot’s five marketing teams, all of which report directly to Simplot general manager retail marketing Tara Lord-Smith.
Simplot is also in the process of recruiting a senior brand manager and brand manager.
Terry O’Brien, managing director at Simplot, said: “We are a leading player in the frozen vegetables, potatoes and seafood categories through our Birds Eye and I&J brands. Moving into ready meals is a logical extension of our offer.”
Simplot spent as estimated $11.2 million on main media from September 2008 to October 2009, according to Nielsen.
A Nestlé spokesperson confirmed the deal had not resulted in any redundancies at the company, and that the 16 marketing staff that had worked on Lean Cuisine, Maggi and Papa Giuseppe had been absorbed into other marketing teams.
Michelle Elliott
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