MillerCoors is expanding its relationship with WPP, moving a portion of the Miller Lite account to a collection of agencies at the holding company, Crain’s sister publication Ad Age reports.
The incumbent, Publicis-owned Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, will remain on the account but will have to share the workload with WPP. The model is similar to the arrangement WPP created for the brewer in 2012 when it formed a new agency called Cavalry to handle Coors brands and new products, such as Redd’s Apple Ale.
For Lite, WPP is expected to pull talent from Ogilvy and Johannes Leonardo, which is minority-owned by WPP, as well as possibly some other shops.
Chicago-based MillerCoors spent $159.7 million in measured media on Lite in 2012, according to the latest full-year data from Kantar Media.
Read more in Crain’s Chicago Business.