NORTHFIELD, Illinois: Kraft Foods is looking for "breakthrough marketing", according to ceo Irene Rosenfeld as she pursues her turnround strategy for the maker of brands such as Maxwell House and Oreo cookies.
A cash injection of between $300 million (€220.5m; £149.7m) and $400m into marketing and product development was pledged by Rosenfeld earlier this year [WARC News: 22-Feb-07], in a bid to reinvigorate less successful brands and regain US market share.
To this end, the company is shaking-up its estimated $103m advertising account for brands including Kraft Singles cheese and Ritz crackers, dealing a stinging blow to WPP Group's JWT. In addition, the $42m Lunchables account is being shifted out of JWT into Interpublic Group's Draft FCB.
Kraft's first quarter results, the last under the control of parent group Altria, show net income down 30% to $702m, although revenue grew 5.7% to $8.59 billion, mostly from developing markets.
Data sourced from Wall Street Journal Online; additional content by WARC staff
