Walgreens Boots Alliance, the pharmaceutical holding company formed in late 2014 with Walgreen’s purchase Alliance Boots, will partner with WPP on both creative and media. WPP will subsequently form a dedicated unit called Team WBA to service the account out of offices in New York, Chicago and London. According to Kantar Media, Walgreens Boots Alliance spends around $600 million on measured media. According to Adweek, the review launched early last year.
“We look forward to partnering with Walgreens Boots Alliance to help further enhance what are already iconic brands in the health and wellbeing category,” WPP CEO Sir Martin Sorrell said in a statement. “Team WBA will be a custom solution that draws together the talent and resources from across WPP to develop effective communications that will differentiate WBA and drive results.”
GSD&M has handled creative for Walgreens in the U.S. since 2012, after reportedly beating out mcgarrybowen in the final stages of a review to win the account. The agency’s work for Walgreens included the 2015 holiday spot “Scraps.” In the U.K., Mother has served as creative AOR for Boots Alliance since 2003.