Nestlé has retained Zenith on its £63m UK and Ireland media account and awarded the Publicis Groupe-owned agency an expanded remit following a process that began at the start of 2021.
Zenith held on to the business – which previously only covered the UK – in the face of challeges from IPG's UM, Dentsu X and WPP team Openmind, which included people from Mindshare, Wunderman Thompson and Neo.
The Zenith-led team and parent company Publicis Groupe have now been given expanded responsibilities, which are understood to include search, out of home and health, after the Swiss conglomerate – the world's largest food company – consolidated several agency relationships.
WPP was the incumbent in Ireland.
A spokesman for Nestlé confirmed the appointment but declined to comment further.
Zenith first won the business in 2014, when it replaced Mindshare, which had been the incumbent across Nestlé's unified media acccount since the previous pitch 10 years earlier. Before that, Mindshare had worked on Nestlé's confectionery and coffee brands, which accounted for about half its media spend.
Nestlé's brands include KitKat, Nespresso, Nescafé, Maggi, San Pellegrino and Purina.
Nestlé's advertising could be significantly affected by the UK government's planned crackdown on HFSS food and drink ads, which was confirmed last month.
In May, a document circulated within the company, seen by the Financial Times, acknowledged that the majority of Nestlé's products failed to meet a "recognised definition of health".
