Miller Brewing Co. has discontinued its promotions work with Zipatoni and reassigned the business to Chicago agencies Frankel and Upshot. The beer maker also chose GMR Marketing to handle its event marketing. The agencies will be working on the Miller Lite and Miller Genuine Draft brands.
Zipatoni had handled the work for the past eight years, the St. Louis-based agency said.
Zipatoni said that it would complete projects for Miller that are already in progress. The agency had about 20 to 30 employees working on the account and is not planning lay offs at this time, Zipatoni spokesperson Amy Burger said.
Zipatoni declined to specify the value of the account saying only that “it was a sizable piece of business”.
“We’ve had a terrific relationship with them and we’re very proud of that,” Burger said. We’re sorry to see it go, but we hope we will continue to have a good relationship with them”.
The agency, which has about 200 employees, also has offices in Chicago, San Francisco and Wilton, CT.
“Zipatoni is grateful to have been the promotions agency for the Miller Lite and MGD trademark business for so many years,” said Jim Holbrook, president and CEO of Zipatoni, in a statement. “The success that we’ve achieved in activating their consumers and driving their retail business is a case study in how to revive a brand. The work and the results speak for themselves.”
Since January, the agency has taken on a number of new clients including Jim Beam Brands, White Castle, Maytag, The Home Depot and Majesco, the agency said.
Miller said that its plan to increase promotional and event marketing spending for its top brands.
GMR Marketing, Milwaukee, WI, a division of Omnicom Group, won the event work. Frankel is part of Publicis Groupe’s Arc Worldwide.
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