Ogilvy & Mather has added U.S. duties on several key Kimberly-Clark brands -- including Huggies, Kotex and Depend -- at the expense of sister shop JWT, sources said.
WPP Group's Ogiivy already handled such baby care, feminine care and adult care brands outside the U.S. Domestic media spending on Huggies, Kotex and Depend totaled more than $70 million last year and almost $35 million in the first four months of 2010, according to Nielsen. Those figures don't include online spending.
To take on the additional business, however, Ogilvy had to exit the global creative review for Johnson & Johnson baby products, according to sources.
Revenue on that worldwide account, which includes both traditional and digital duties, is estimated at $20 million.
The other finalists in J&J's review are JWT, Omnicom Group's BBDO (which is partnering with sister shop Roberts + Langer DDB) and the Interpublic Group team of The Martin Agency and Lowe. Lowe is the incumbent on traditional duties; the digital incumbent is Prospero. J&J launched the review in May and expects to conclude the process in August.
Kimberly-Clark's shift came without a review. In a statement, the Dallas-based client didn't specify the brands involved, but did acknowledge a "realignment" designed to achieve "single agency support globally by sector."
Going forward, Ogilvy will be Kimberly-Clark's lead creative agency for baby, child care, adult and feminine care brands globally and JWT will lead global creative efforts for family-care brands, the statement said.
"This move is made to better position Kimberly-Clark to capture global growth and efficiency opportunities while eliminating potential conflict barriers," said Tony Palmer, chief marketing officer at Kimberly-Clark.
Among the company's largest family-care brands is Kleenex.
