Tyson Foods has awarded its U.S. media planning and buying business to Mindshare after a review that concerned marquee brands Jimmy Dean, Ball Park, Hillshire Farm and Tyson Brand.
The move amounts to a consolidation for the food giant, which has existing relationships with other WPP agencies including Ogilvy and Y&R.
"Our decision to appoint Mindshare was based, in part, on our intent to centralize agency resources through WPP," a company spokesperson wrote, adding, "Mindshare is the right media partner to support our ambitious growth."
IPG Mediabrands' BPN was incumbent on the business, counting Tyson as one of its largest clients. "Mindshare replaced BPN Worldwide Chicago," the Tyson spokesperson continued. "BPN had been our media partner for three years and made significant contributions to our growth. We value their contributions."
As a result of the review, IPG has moved to fold the BPN organization into Initiative, another media agency within its Mediabrands network.
"BPN will continue as an independent brand within IPG Mediabrands, however its operations in the U.S. are being aligned with and will report into Initiative," a holding company spokesperson said regarding the news. The BPN team in Chicago has already moved into Initative's offices, according to one party familiar with the matter.
The latest numbers from Kantar Media state that Tyson Foods spent just over $135 million on paid media in 2015 promoting the four brands involved in this review. The numbers for the first nine months of 2016 were more than 20 percent higher than the same total for the previous year, hinting at the growth mentioned in the client's statement above.