Kraft Foods CEO Irene Rosenfeld signaled today that the food giant will continue to aggressively market its North American grocery brands, even after the business is severed from its faster-growing global snacks unit in a split planned for the end of next year.

“If you believe that there is a new normal of slower consumption growth in North America — and we do — certain capabilities will be even more important in the future,” Ms. Rosenfeld told analysts at Barclays Capital’s Back-to-School Consumer Conference. “Things like stronger share position, world-class marketing, go-to-market scale and low-cost producer status will become even more critical in the future.”

While nothing will be known for sure until the company divides, Ms. Rosenfeld’s comments offer at least some comfort to ad agencies working on the grocery business that the food giant is not giving up on the brands, which have been overshadowed by the faster-growing snacks unit ever since the company made its plan public last month. Dentsu’s McGarryBowen handles a big chunk of the grocery brands, including Maxwell House and Oscar Mayer, while a plethora of agencies steer the global snacks brands. Read the rest of this entry »