After nine years locally with OMD Australia, global pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, has moved its media account to IPG’s UM.
The business will sit within a dedicated division of UM called J3.
The news will come as a blow to OMD Australia, which has held the $25m account for nine years.
In May Johnson & Johnson confirmed it was conducting a global agency review across the company’s consumer, pharmaceutical and medical device businesses and brands.
The review is one of many global pitches to be called over the last few months, which sees the decision over accounts here in Australia, taken away from local offices while it’s battled out on a global level overseas.
“Our goal is to ensure we have the best media capability in strategy, planning and buying against evolved business strategies and marketing frameworks for Johnson & Johnson’s business sectors and brands around the world,” a Johnson & Johnson spokesperson said.
According to a statement from Johnson & Johnson, J3 will handle media for “consumer goods, pharmaceuticals and medical-device segments in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, as well as the Asia-Pacific region.”
“Throughout the review, each of our incumbent agencies demonstrated extraordinary commitment to the process, our people and business,” Johnson & Johnson said.
“With this new partnership, Johnson & Johnson will continue to drive leading media capabilities and we look forward to expanding our partnership with J3 around the world.”
In other recent pitch wins, last month Publicis agency ZenithOptimedia won the Singapore Airlines media account from MEC in a global pitch. MEC had held the account for about 15 years.
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