15049: Band-Aid Declares Black Wounds Matter.

Advertising Age reported Johnson & Johnson is planning to launch multi-shade Band-Aids for racial diversity. Gee, where was the oh-so-progressive company when the guy who brought the brand to life was getting blackballed, blacklisted and blacked out?

 

Johnson & Johnson To Roll Out A Band-Aid In Several Shades For Racial Diversity

 

In Instagram post, Band-Aid hints at a multi-shade product coming next year, succeeding a similar line scrapped more than a decade ago

 

By Jack Neff

 

Johnson & Johnson will have a Band-Aid—several of varying shades, actually—for racial diversity, as it plans to launch a new multi-tone pack of bandages. But the new lines won’t arrive until next year, and it won’t be the first time it’s been tried.

 

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Band-Aid said: “We hear you. We see you. We’re listening to you. We stand in solidarity with our Black colleagues, collaborators and community in the fight against racism, violence and injustice. We are committed to taking actions to create tangible change for the black community. We are committed to launching a range of bandages in light, medium and deep shades of Brown and Black skin tones that embrace the beauty of diverse skin.”

 

In an email, a spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Cos. said Band-Aid plans to launch a range of bandages in light, medium and deep shades of brown in its most popular style, Flexible Fabric, next year.

 

The Instagram post elicited numerous comments along the lines of “what took so long?” for a brand that’s celebrating its 100th anniversary this month. In 2005, actually, Band-Aid did launch a line with multiple skin tones called Perfect Blend, but it was discontinued “due to lack of interest,” the spokeswoman said, adding: “We are excited to bring back a similar product with improved comfort and flexibility.”

 

Band-Aid also sells Clear Strips, designed for use by people with a variety of skin tones, she said. And the brand sells a 120-count Family Pack that includes light and dark shades. Other brands, including Tru-Colour and Curad also market bandages for varying skin tones.

 

Another theme in Instagram comments for Band-Aid was: “Give money.” While the brand itself hasn’t made any philanthropic pledge in recent weeks, J&J Chairman-CEO Alex Gorsky did last week pledge $10 million over three years for “fighting racism and injustice in America.”

12285: Exclusivity Translates Globally…?

At Advertising Age, Al Ries published a column titled, “Biggest Change in Marketing in Last 50 Years Might Get Lost in Translation,” where the marketing expert discussed a challenge that may ultimately further expose the industry’s cultural cluelessness. Ries wrote:

What’s the biggest change in marketing in the past 50 years?

You could make the case for the Internet. Or Big Data. Or mobile marketing. Or PR. Or celebrities. Or a number of other revolutionary developments.

But in our work as marketing consultants, we find the biggest change is the shift from national marketing to global marketing. Our clients are mostly focused on building global brands.

Ries tapped a topic previously covered at this blog, most recently when Johnson & Johnson Chief Marketing Officer Alison Lewis announced her desire to create “one global idea for each megabrand” at her company.

However, Ries’ take on the situation seems insufficient and incorrect, as he believes “English has become the second language of the world. Any brand designed for the global market needs to use a word English-speaking people can relate to.” To simply think a brand’s name is key to success ignores the cultural differences that each market presents. For example, the skin-lightening products hawked in India—despite the Advertising Standards Council of India’s new guidelines—would probably receive a very different response from audiences in the U.S. or Africa, regardless of product monikers.

But more importantly, are any advertising agencies—particularly any White agencies that ultimately control the “collaborative” efforts—really qualified and culturally competent to concoct concepts that might communicate globally? Hell, U.S. White shops can’t even handle cross-cultural campaigns on a single continent. The goal of global messaging should clearly show the industry’s ignorance that is fueled by exclusivity. The question is, will anyone notice—or care?

The impending Tower of Babel scenarios should not be led by English-speaking, culturally clueless adpeople. And that’s no bullshit.

12199: J&J Global Gobbledygook.

Advertising Age reported Johnson & Johnson Chief Marketing Officer Alison Lewis is seeking “one global idea for each megabrand” that will allegedly work across cultures and countries. Is this a smart direction to pursue? Lewis is a former Coca-Cola executive trying to transfer her soft drink experience to her current employer. Unfortunately, Johnson & Johnson and Coke are two completely different brand universes. Sprint failed when attempting to recreate the Shirato Family in Japan as the Frobinsons in the U.S. Additionally, of the examples Lewis cited, the Clean and Clear concept is nothing more than a Dove Real Beauty wannabe—and one can only pray that the OneTouch diabetes monitor doesn’t emulate the ACCU-CHECK® Nano worldwide jingle. Taking a “one-bad-idea-fits-all” approach often leads to generic, shitty communications, which can be especially dreadful for advertisers like Johnson & Johnson, whose culturally clueless White advertising agencies can’t even handle cross-cultural messaging in the U.S., let alone cross-country global campaigns.

J&J Looks to Globalize Agency Teams to Match Its New Structure

Lewis Wants One Global Idea for Each Megabrand, End to Agency Silos

By Jack Neff

A year after Johnson & Johnson brought Coca-Cola veteran Alison Lewis in as the first chief marketing officer of its consumer business, things are going well, with sales and share beating rivals from the over-the-counter drug business to skincare. Now, hoping to maintain momentum, she’s opening a whole can of Coke-style globalization on the historically fragmented company and its agencies.

In an announcement set for today, Ms. Lewis is setting out her vision for aligning J&J’s agencies and holding companies with a new global “hub and spoke” system for its global megabrands. The dozen megabrands account for the bulk of J&J’s $14.7 billion in global consumer sales and $2.5 billion in reported global ad spending, though the company will retain key local and regional brands.

The plan aims to implement a new integrated marketing communications process similar to those of such rivals as Kimberly-Clark Corp. and aimed at creating media-neutral ideas that travel around the world. It’s not about cutting marketing staff or production budgets, or even centralizing marketing decisions at the company’s New Brunswick, N.J., headquarters, Ms. Lewis said in an interview.

“The whole idea is that structure follows strategy,” Ms. Lewis said, but agencies are often left out of that process when companies reorganize. “Our agencies have been local, local, local,” she said. “With our megabrands, as we move to one idea, we’re moving to more of a global-to-region model.”

But the “hubs” are virtual rather than literal, she said, with the possibility that a creative director in Shanghai works with an account planner in New York.

“It’s not reassignment of agencies, but we’re looking to unleash the power of these holding companies,” she said. J&J’s holding companies—WPP, Omnicom and Interpublic—are “very broad and deep in terms of capabilities,” she said, “but you’re often sort of siloed in the agency you’re with. In this new agency operating model, what the agencies are working with us on is how do they unleash their broader agency capability.”

The goal isn’t necessarily to align all of a brand’s marketing services under a single holding-company or J&J-specific unit, she said, “but we are committed to looking within our holding companies for capabilities where they exist.” And while J&J isn’t adopting a general-contractor model along the lines of the system Procter & Gamble Co. initiated years ago and has since relaxed, she said one agency needs to take charge of coordinating with the rest of the group. “Otherwise the client goes crazy,” she said.

Besides J&J’s consumer business, two brands in the company’s medical devices group that do extensive consumer advertising—Acuvue vision care and OneTouch diabetes monitors—are adopting the integrated communications and agency models, Ms. Lewis said.

J&J’s consumer division has expanded its central marketing-services team some, she said, but more emphasis will be on building the central marketing teams in countries and regions to implement global ideas. Media and sales teams, the latter outside her purview, remain country-focused, as does profit-and-loss accountability.

By getting input from the top country and regional markets for global ideas, she hopes to avoid engendering resistance to global campaign ideas or having to sell global ideas to local executives who ultimately write the checks.

“Selling to another person in the company is not a great value-added activity,” she said, “so we’re taking a very different model of strong engagement from the lead markets.”

The best example to date of J&J’s new approach in practice has been Clean & Clear, which went from three campaigns to a single “See the real me” campaign from DDB globally this year. That’s resulted in the brand taking the lead in U.S. skincare category growth for the first time in six years, as well as taking share in India, Ms. Lewis said. J&J executives have been sharing ideas for the campaign among the U.S., U.K. and India. The next brand to fully implement the approach will be Johnson’s Baby early next year, with creative direction led from Asia by BBDO, she said.

The approach—from identifying consumer “need states” to developing global ideas, resembles what she worked with at Coke, Ms. Lewis said. “We’re trying to build our global infrastructure” at J&J, she said. “It’s not at the level of Coke’s today. But that’s one of my primary charges.”

10613: J&J&Jive.

Advertising Age reported Johnson & Johnson VP-Global Marketing Group Kim Kadlec praised work produced by advertising agencies recently fired by her company—and she did so at the annual ANA Masters of Marketing conference. Kadlec deserves to be labeled as a Master of Bullshit. Then again, the holding companies have only themselves to blame for the “efficiency” moves, as mergers and mismanagement over the past twenty odd years have effectively rendered agencies generic and arguably unnecessary. BTW, will the consolidation affect any multicultural shops servicing J&J? Is it even possible to consolidate crumbs?

Despite Work Lauded Onstage at ANA, Three J&J Agencies Lose the Accounts

Pleased With Creative, but Reassignment Reflects Need for Efficiency

By Jack Neff

When is it bittersweet for an agency to see its work on display from the dais at the Association of National Advertisers conference? Probably when the agency has just lost the account.

That was the case for three Johnson & Johnson brands featured in an address by Kim Kadlec, worldwide VP-global marketing group at J&J, speaking today at the ANA’s Masters of Marketing conference in Orlando, Fla.

She highlighted advertising for O.B. tampons in Canada, as well as K-Y personal lubricant and Band-Aid in the United States, that was handled by agencies that will either be leaving the J&J consumer-products creative roster or losing the accounts in question to other roster shops.

Within two hours of her ANA talk, Ms. Kadlec was on a conference call announcing the results of a two-plus-month consolidation review of creative agencies, which eliminated independent Mother and Interpublic’s Deutsch, Lowe and Martin Agency from the global consumer-products roster. WPP’s JWT is one of the winners in the review, picking up Tylenol globally from Martin, but JWT loses the Band-Aid account.

Among the work Ms. Kadlec featured was a 30-second spot from Mother portraying two women as enjoying K-Y Intense arousal gel together.

She also pointed to the “Magic Vision” campaign for Band-Aid, handled by JWT, in which kids can scan with an iPhone or iPad special bandages to see a virtual-reality performance from a “Sesame Street” character.

And she showed an interactive video campaign for O.B. tampons in Canada from Lowe Roche in which a singer makes elaborate, over-the-top personalized apologies to customers for a shortage of the brand’s O.B. Ultra tampons.

All three campaigns were well received by the ANA crowd of around 2,000, drawing applause.

“The work is extremely well done, and certainly [the agencies] partnered with our marketers brilliantly to create that,” Ms. Kadlec said in an interview later.

“At the center of the work really was the use of consumer insights and the use of new technology,” Ms. Kadlec said. “And that was really driven by our marketing teams and business leaders and partnerships. I know the new alignment will work similarly and hopefully on a more simplified, streamlined basis.”

Ms. Kadlec, who spoke on her theme of “the marketing of now,” is a little too busy these days to think too long about the past. Having just finished work on the global creative review for the consumer business, she’s within weeks of finishing work on a media review for J&J’s Europe, Middle East and Africa business.

That will likely mean, she said, that “in the normal rhythm of the business” J&J will begin to review the rest of its global media account by next year. But she said Interpublic’s losing out in the global creative consolidation doesn’t presuppose that the holding company will lose work in any of the global media agency review.

Interpublic’s R/GA continues as a key part of J&J’s digital roster, and the review of global lead-creative shops didn’t affect digital, said Michael Sneed, J&J’s VP-global corporate affairs.

J&J remains pleased with the work of Interpublic shops on other parts of the J&J business, he said, including media, where Universal McCann handles the North American business.

Indeed, none of the creative agency moves was based on any disappointment about performance, Mr. Sneed said, but all about operational efficiency and simplification. Agencies that lost work, he said, will have chances to win future work on J&J accounts.

10604: Johnson & Johnson & Bullshit.

Advertising Age reported Johnson & Johnson is completing its holding-company review, with IPG set to lose a bundle. It’s pretty sad when clients actually conduct reviews of entire networks, essentially executing Corporate Cultural Collusion at the highest level. Honestly, what has DDB or JWT done to deserve picking up new business? It’s not what you know, it’s who you know—or who you’re owned by.

J&J Set to Consolidate Creative With Omnicom, WPP

Review Wraps Up on Marketing Chief’s Timeline

By Rupal Parekh

Back in August, Johnson & Johnson VP-Global Corporate Affairs Michael Sneed said he expected to wrap the marketer’s holding-company review by October, and he’s coming in right on schedule.

It’s expected that creative agency assignments will be finalized this week—and while not every detail has been nailed down yet—it’s understood that the biggest change J&J is undertaking is yanking the bulk of its creative account from one of three holding company partners, Interpublic Group of Cos.

It’s likely that J&J will reassign chunks of business that were previously handled by Lowe, Deutsch and the Martin Agency to shops at Omnicom and WPP. Interpublic will still remains a key partner for media and other duties, however.

Calls to J&J were not returned. The agencies either declined to comment or referred calls to the client.

J&J spent $2.6 billion globally on advertising last year, mainly on its consumer businesses, and $1.94 billion in the U.S., according to the Ad Age DataCenter, with the consumer businesses making up the vast majority of that spending.

It’s a massive blow to Interpublic, for which J&J has been one of its top five clients by revenue as recently as 2011. Agencies haven’t been informed of all their assignments yet, but it’s likely that DDB will pick up all of the feminine-care business, BBDO will handle Band-Aid and Neosporin and JWT will pick up Tylenol.

Only roster shops were invited to pitch the business in what was essentially a consolidation review.

“The relationships with the holding companies remain quite strong and we remain very pleased with the agencies within those holding companies,” Mr. Sneed told Ad Age in August. “We will be moving brands among agencies. We will be eliminating some agencies from our roster in the short-term, but it’s not based on performance. I would fully expect that as we look at new businesses, new opportunities that those agencies will continue to be in play, continue to be candidates going forward.”

Contributing: Jack Neff

10349: Johnson & Johnson In Review.

Advertising Age reported Johnson & Johnson is conducting a gigantic creative review. This must be Madison Avenue’s worst nightmare—roughly $2.6 billion in billings controlled by a Black man.

J&J Conducts Massive Global Creative Review

Move Follows Management Changes, Recall Woes

By Jack Neff, Rupal Parekh

Johnson & Johnson is conducting a global review, seeking to consolidate creative for its massive advertising account, putting up for grabs one of the biggest accounts in marketing.

In an e-mail statement, a J&J spokeswoman said: “Johnson & Johnson is conducting a global agency review and consolidation to build greater value and deliver innovative and fully integrated solutions for our consumer brands.”

The review comes after Michael Sneed became J&J’s top marketing officer Jan. 1, consolidating duties overseeing marketing and public relations in his role as VP-global corporate affairs. And it comes about a month after J&J launched a media review for its Europe, Middle East and Africa region, which is running separately from the global creative review, said spokeswoman Carol Goodrich.

Mr. Sneed succeeded longtime J&J chief marketer Brian Perkins, who announced his retirement late last year, and also took oversight of the PR function headed by Ray Jordan, corporate VP-public affairs and corporate communication. That change came as Alex Gorsky succeeded longtime CEO William Weldon earlier this year, though Mr. Weldon remains as chairman.

Kim Kadlec, worldwide VP-marketing, is also expected to play a key role in the global review.

The embattled pharma and consumer products giant has been trimming its marketing spending in the U.S., where a series of recalls and manufacturing issues have had key brands, such as Tylenol and Benadryl, in short supply since 2010.

J&J said in an earnings conference call last week that it doesn’t expect to have the overhaul of its U.S. over-the-counter drug facilities completed and reviewed under a consent decree with the Food and Drug Administration until sometime in the second half of 2013.

Assuming it’s just roster shops that have been invited, the goal for the agencies will be not only to hang on to to the business they have, but to absorb brands handled by rival shops. A number of different holding companies have J&J business, including Omnicom Group via DDB and BBDO; Interpublic Group of Cos.’ via Deutsch, Lowe, Martin Agency and R/GA; Publicis Groupe via Razorfish; WPP via JWT and AKQA; and Havas via EuroRSCG.

J&J reported $2.6 billion in global advertising spending in its Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for 2011, up 4% from $2.5 billion in 2010.

According to Ad Age’s DataCenter, Johnson & Johnson spent $1.94 billion on U.S. advertising last year, a huge figure, but one that’s shrinking. In 2010, J&J had spent over $2 billion. It’s dropped in its ranking by ad spending on the DataCenter to No. 13 from No. 9 this year.

8690: The Saturday Evening Post.

Nightly News in a MultiCultClassics Monologue…

• A fourth grade teacher in Virginia sparked controversy with a history lesson whereby Black students were subjected to participating in a mock slave auction. A school official admitted, “The lesson could have been thought through more carefully, as to not offend her students or put them in an uncomfortable situation.” Hopefully, there aren’t any Native American students in the class for additional lessons.

• A new global study showed being unemployed increases a person’s risk of premature death by 63 percent. Um, has anyone checked to see if a spike in early deaths fueled the lowered unemployment rate?

• The New Jersey Nets were fined $50,000 by the NBA after minority owner Jay-Z was spotted in Kentucky’s locker room during the NCAA Elite Eight competition. League rules prohibit excessive contact with college players until they declare for the NBA Draft. Sounds like Jay-Z just made a rookie mistake.

• Authorities in Franklin Park, Illinois, found $27 million worth of cannabis in a moving truck. Somewhere, there’s a very disappointing housewarming party.

• Johnson & Johnson will cough up $70 million to settle civil and criminal charges of bribing European doctors and paying kickbacks to the Iraqi government to illegally gain business. Hey, maybe that moving truck filled with $27 million of cannabis belonged to J&J bribe artists.

8575: Johnson & Johnson & Bullshit.

Advertising Age published a column by Johnson & Johnson VP-Corporate Affairs Brian Perkins titled, “What Would You Ask John Wren, Martin Sorrell and Michael Roth?” Perkins is slated to moderate a panel featuring The Three Stooges at the upcoming 4As 2011 Transformation Conference, and he plans to drill the holding company honchos on topics including digital, unbundling and data. Plus, Perkins wants Ad Age readers to submit questions for the panelists.

Now, what makes this so wildly outrageous is that Perkins appears poised to suggest advertising agencies, digital agencies and media agencies change their processes and structures. And it seems Perkins is comfortable delivering the suggestions because, well, he’s the client. When clients recommend agency revisions, agencies are expected to comply. Hell, Perkins is even requesting that shops become more integrated. Of course, he means in regards to service offerings, not cultural makeup.

Yet one has to wonder why clients like Perkins continue to turn a blind eye to the lack of culture in White advertising agencies. Johnson & Johnson is quite emphatic about its commitment to an inclusive workplace, as evidenced by the “Our People and Diversity” section on the company’s website. But J&J mirrors all other clients by feeling completely cool—and not the least bit hypocritical—partnering with agencies where exclusivity reigns.

What would you ask John Wren, Martin Sorrell and Michael Roth? Perkins could start by letting the leaders publicly verbalize their positions on diversity. Additionally, have the men detail the specific tactics being employed to diversify employees. Probe the millionaires regarding the personal actions they’ve taken to end the racial segregation, inequities and discrimination in their networks. And don’t allow them to defer to their chief diversity officers.

Instead, Perkins will probably handle Wren, Sorrell and Roth with the delicate mildness of Johnson’s® Baby Shampoo.