Draftfcb has lost Kraft Foods’ Gevalia coffee account, Draftfcb New York CEO Dana Maiman confirmed in an Oct. 24 statement. Maiman said the agency is “extremely disappointed that [its] plans to leverage the Gevalia coffee brand in the retail environment will not be realized.”
The Gevalia account will be handled by Taxi, a unit of WPP Group’s Young & Rubicam Brands, according to AdWeek, which first reported the story. Draftfcb previously retained the Gevalia account in February after an RFP that included Droga5 and TBWA Worldwide-owned agency Being, according to numerous reports.
Draftfcb had been Gevalia’s agency of record for 14 years. Gevalia began working with Epsilon last year on integrated marketing efforts.
Kraft pulled roughly 25% of existing Draftfcb creative duties in 2010, including work with Jell-O, Cool Whip and Planters.
S.C. Johnson & Son also reassigned its global advertising account in July after a decades-long relationship with Draftfcb. As a result of the account loss, Draftfcb Chicago reduced its staff by approximately 10% and the agency’s global workforce was cut 3%. The account was worth approximately $1 billion in billings.
Kraft and Taxi representatives could not be immediately reached for comment.
