Kraft Heinz has named Cummins&Partners Melbourne as its creative agency of record, following a competitive pitch involving two other Melbourne agencies, AdNews can reveal.
The FMCG brand previously worked with Melbourne indie Channel T, picking up the creative account from Y&R in 2015.
AdNews understands Cummins&Partners will now be responsible for all above the line work for Kraft, Heinz and Golden Circle.
At the end of last year, Spark Foundry, then Mediavest, picked up the Kraft Heinz media account from OMD. Kraft Heinz also recently signed Wrights as its new PR agency.
Kraft Heinz has annual billings of about $14 million. Its portfolio of brands includes Heinz classics such as baked beans, soups and sauces, cordial brand Cottee's, Golden Circle and tuna brand Greenseas.
"After an exhaustive search involving a competitive pitch, we have made the decision to appoint Cummins&Partners as our Creative agency partner. This is the final piece in the puzzle for us, in relation to agency appointments and it comes at an exciting and pivotal time for the Kraft Heinz business. With the plans that our business has in place and the portfolio of iconic local brands and products that we have, we have no doubt that we are in a very strong position to create powerful ideas together with the C&P team," A Kraft Heinz spokesperson says.
Chief creative officer Sean Cummins adds: "There are some brands that are steeped in our lives. That give us experiences and memories. To have an opportunity to take up the baton across this amazing portfolio is why we do what we do."
The new agency structure follows the Kraft/Heinz merger in 2015, which was worth US$36bn. At the time, AdNews reported it would have little impact on the Autralian Kraft brands, since the brand is locally owned by an entirely separate company – Mondelez.
Heinz Australia released new work from Y&R New Zealand last month, introducing loveable, animated character Geoff. The short film has been viewed more than 700,000 on YouTube and was picked up globally for its Pixar-style creative.
The win is the second for Cummins&Partners in recent months, also picking up McCain Foods in August.
Kraft Heinz and Cummins&Partners were approached for comment.
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