NEW YORK Johnson & Johnson will meet with six to eight agencies this week as it reviews the creative portion of its $100 million-plus U.S. Tylenol account, according to sources.
Contenders include Interpublic Group shops Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, Deutsch and The Martin Agency; Omnicom Group’s TBWA\Chiat\Day; roster shop Alchemy, a unit of IPG’s Lowe; and possibly others, sources said. Incumbent Saatchi & Saatchi, a holding of Publicis Groupe, is expected to defend, sources said. Other than Hill, Holliday in Boston and Martin in Richmond, Va., all of the shops are based in New York.
Saatchi is the only agency Tylenol has used since its introduction as a pain relief medication in the 1970s. A Saatchi representative declined comment.
The search is being handled out of J&J’s McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals division in Fort Washington, Pa. McNeil owns Tylenol and other over-the-counter brands such as Motrin, Immodium and St. Joseph’s.
McNeil Consumer representative Kathy Fallon said, “Saatchi is our agency and that’s what we know right now.” She declined further comment.
The client spent $115 million on Tylenol ads in 2002, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR.
A decision in the search is expected by November.
This story updates an item posted on Sept. 18.
Tylenol to Meet With Shops
