In a shocking move, it would appear that Omnicom's OMD have poached the $1 billion-plus Johnson & Johnson US media buying account from Interpublic's J3, a unit of UM dedicated solely to J&J business. The shift is effective immediately. However, whilst the media-buying account will include all of the US businesses owned by J&J, J3 will continue to handle media planning, which is the biggest piece of the media business in terms of revenue.
Whilst the media-buying account will include all of the US businesses owned by J&J, J3 will continue to handle media planning
The move arrives less than 19 months after the pharmaceutical manufacturer reviewed it's US media business and less than 2 months since the departure of Kim Kadlec from the company. Kadlec had been the point person on that review, but left her role as world-wide vice president of global marketing at J&J for a job as head of relationship marketing at AOL, her role has yet to be filled. Kadlec's boss, Michael Sneed, continues in his role as vice president of global corporate affairs, and will continue to oversee marketing and communications at J&J. According to a spokesperson, the shift has nothing to do with Kadlec's departure, she said that the company were shifting their focus “From a product marketing perspective to really looking at what consumers are looking for in media.”
Kim Kadlec (left), who left J&J less than 2 months ago and Alison Lewis (right), who joined last October
The shift follows J&J's hiring of former Coco-Cola executive Alison Lewis late last year as the first chief marketing officer of the consumer business at J&J. Whilst the consumer business might be smaller than the pharmaceutical and medical-device arms of the company (at least in terms of revenue), it's easily the company's largest media spender, so it makes sense that they would hire a veteran of a company with significant annual media spending. When asked who made the final decision concerning the media account, the spokesperson said the decision was made by their “Marketing leaders who have responsibility for what the marketing plan looks like across the enterprise, based on the suite of offerings of each agency.”
Whilst the consumer business might be smaller than the pharmaceutical and medical-device arms of the company, it's easily the company's largest media spender
A spokesperson for Interpublic, the holding company behind UM and J3, said that despite the shift, the company “Remains a highly valued partner to Johnson & Johnson around the world and will continue to play an important role for us in the U.S. and globally.” A spokeswoman for J3, meanwhile, said that they are “Proud to continue to provide the most strategic services to J&J including strategy, planning, content development and activation." If nothing else, the shift makes it abundantly clear that the collapse of the planned merger between Omnicom and Publicis earlier this month has done little to harm the company's reputation.
Official Johnson & Johnson Website
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from the UK who might need to replace the 'J' key on his laptop after finishing this article!
