NutriCo Morinaga awards $2.5m media account to Starcom
Within a year of commencing production, the $35 million joint-venture shifts its media investments to the second largest media agency in Pakistan.
Following a media review, NutriCo Morinaga has shifted its media account to Starcom after three years with the Omnicom Media Group. A joint venture between ICI Pakistan, Morinaga Milk Japan, and Unibrands Private Limited, NutriCo Morinaga commenced commercial production of its infant and growth formula products in January 2020.
Starcom is represented in Pakistan by Brainchild Communications Pakistan, which has a non-ownership franchising agreement with the Publicis Groupe to use the trademarks MediaVest and Starcom. Sources told Babar that NutriCo Morinaga left the Omnicom Media Group for Starcom in order to access competitive media rates, value added deals, and tactical innovation across media platforms, including display, video, search, mobile, social and programmatic.
Representatives from NutriCo Morinaga and Brainchild declined to comment for this story. This story will be updated once a quote from the winning agency is provided.
Whether it be Reckitt Benckiser leaving the Omnicom Media Group for Blitz Advertising or Stylo leaving GroupM for IG Square, the overarching theme in leaving one media agency for another is often a blend of past results in a similar category, proof of access to top pricing, and access to activations that are exclusive to specific agencies such as the connection between the Pakistan Super League and The Content Company.
Marketing infant and growth formula products
In the mid-2000’s, infant formula was widely believed to be responsible for millions of infant deaths in low and middle-income countries (LMIC), with subsequent studies concluding that unclean water acted as a vector for the transmission of water-borne pathogens to infants in those LMIC environments.
“Children who receive breastmilk instead of a breastmilk substitutes benefit from reduced severity of diarrheal disease and respiratory infections, benefits in cognitive function, and longer-term benefits for cardiovascular health,” said a 2018 academic paper titled Mortality from Nestlé's Marketing of Infant Formula in Low and Middle-Income Countries.
An over-the-counter (OTC) product primarily marketed through the influence of pediatricians, the infant and growth formula products category in Pakistan is led by Nestle, followed by Abbott, Numico, and Meiji according to a category analyst at Daraz.
According to the Punjab Food Authority, infant formula manufacturers are barred from approaching doctors or medical practitioners for marketing of their products, adding that any educational or informational material relating to a designated product may be provided to doctors through email.
In any public or private healthcare facility and maternity centres, the promotion and marketing of infant formula products has been completely banned - with infant formula manufacturers permitted to display their products at one designated shelf in their retail outlet with a notice stating that infant formula is not a substitute of mothers milk.