17204: The Wonder Drug That Works Wonders For The Health Of White Holding Companies.

 

Adweek reported IPG nabbed the Bayer global consumer health account. Or is the scenario technically a win for Omnicom, the White holding company poised to acquire IPG?

 

Omnicom reportedly participated in the review, so maybe it’s a twist on Corporate Cultural Collusion, a crafty practice the ginormous enterprise has mastered over the years.

 

At least IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky sorta exits on a high note, perhaps offsetting the 2024 loss of Pfizer and subsequent mass layoffs and prunings. Then again, the impending Omnicom-IPG deal is predicted to prompt dismissals too.

 

The entire scenario is a headache-inducing spectacle—although Bayer is a remedy currently preferred over Tylenol…

 

IPG Wins Bayer’s $720M Global Consumer Health Account 

 

The integrated remit spans media, creative, and production

 

By Audrey Kemp

 

Interpublic Group (IPG) has been named global creative, production, and media partner for Bayer’s Consumer Health division, leading marketing for brands including Aspirin, Claritin, and Alka-Seltzer, the companies told ADWEEK.

 

The integrated model brings creative, production, and media together under one holding company globally and aims to create efficiencies by using AI.

 

The shift consolidates Bayer’s agency roster, which previously spanned WPP’s EssenceMediacom for media buying and multiple shops, including IPG’s MullenLowe and Omnicom’s BBDO, for creative. WPP and Omnicom also took part in the review, per industry reports.

 

Bayer’s global media billings totaled an estimated $720 million in 2024, per COMvergence. IPG will begin work on the account on Jan. 1.

 

“Our new agency model addresses two competing forces in today’s marketing landscape—the need for more connection and individuality alongside greater efficiency and automation,” David Evendon-Challis, chief marketing and scientific officer at Bayer Consumer Health, said in a statement. “IPG understands how data, AI, and creative must converge in this new era and came forward with a strong offering that brings together world class capabilities, innovative technologies, and creativity. “

 

IPG CEO Philippe Krakowsky said the partnership brings “the full IPG ecosystem together” to “deliver bold ideas, smarter media, and technology-enabled production that accelerate growth, deepen consumer trust, and drive results across markets.”

 

According to a source, FCB led the pitch and will take a big role on the creative side of the account. Tyler Turnbull, global CEO of FCB, said on LinkedIn: “A massive congratulations to everyone across FCB and IPG on this new partnership with Bayer. Excited for what’s to come and grateful for the wonderful collaboration that powered this win around the world.”

 

For IPG, the Bayer win comes ahead of its acquisition by Omnicom, expected to close in the second half of 2025. The FTC has cleared the deal (with conditions) and other markets, including the U.K., have also granted approval.

 

In a release, Bayer’s Evendon-Challis said the company is “excited for [IPG] to join with us on this journey and by the opportunity of what is possible when their planned combination with Omnicom is complete.”

 

“We look forward to tapping additional talent and capabilities on Bayer’s behalf once we join forces with Omnicom,” Krakowsky said.

12314: Bayer’s Consolidation Headache.

Advertising Age reported Bayer consolidated global creative duties for a bunch of brands tied to its recent acquisition of Merck’s consumer healthcare business. The White advertising agencies benefiting from the consolidation are BBDO and JWT, while Havas Worldwide and Publicis Kaplan Thaler are big losers. Havas had covered most of the Merck brands involved—including Clariten, Coppertone and Dr. Scholls—for over 30 years.

A Havas spokeswoman emailed, “We are incredibly proud to have been a valued creative and strategic partner of these brands for more than 30 years. … For Dr. Scholls, we launched the most successful campaign with Gellin’, which doubled the business and ran for eight years, becoming part of the vernacular. We have had the Coppertone business for over 25 years and secured its market leadership despite numerous competitive launches. We helped make Afrin the No.1 nasal decongestant in North America.”

The Havas statement underscores at least four points. Let’s start by discussing the first three:

1. Being in the wrong holding company can adversely affect your success.

2. Merck and creative should never appear in the same sentence.

3. Producing effective-yet-mediocre work puts ad agencies at risk.

WPP and Omnicom, via their sheer size and political influence, are masters at crushing opponents in these increasingly common consolidation scenarios—which are essentially cost-cutting efficiency schemes designed by accounting wonks. Why, WPP is even ready to fabricate enterprises from scratch to appease clients and avoid conflicts (and the holding company did just that to deal with potential conflicts between Coppertone, Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic), while Omnicom offers an endless stable of generic White ad agencies that brands can be shuttled between forever.

The Merck brands highlighted by the Havas spokeswoman were promoted with lousy advertising over the years. Sorry, but Dr. Scholls’ “Gellin’” never became “part of the vernacular,” except maybe in the hallways of Havas and Merck. And the Clariten campaign? Clear crap. Merck is obviously not interested in—and probably incapable of approving—breakthrough creative ideas.

The Havas spokeswoman’s bragging about results allegedly enjoyed by the brands is pretty sad. The sales figures may build a case for the shitty work, but in the end, even the client isn’t buying the success, as they went ahead and reassigned the billings. Ad agencies that settle for mediocrity are always at risk to lose business.

As for the fourth point, here it is:

4. Minority ad agencies are so disrespected and inconsequential, they don’t receive mention in the proceedings, quietly scrambling for crumbs in the background—despite Bayer’s faux commitment to diversity and internationality.

Bayer Consolidates Global Creative for Merck Brands with BBDO, JWT

BBDO Gains Biggest Spenders—Claritin and Dr. Scholls—But Gives Up Phillips

By Jack Neff

Bayer has consolidated global creative assignments for brands involved in its October acquisition of Merck’s consumer healthcare business with Omnicom’s BBDO and WPP’s JWT. It has also moved the Phillips brand to JWT, the company confirmed.

BBDO picked up the biggest-spending brands including Claritin, Afrin and Dr. Scholls in the Americas. The three brands had a combined $164 million in U.S. media support last year and $135 million through the first nine months of this year according to Kantar Media. The assignments are global, except for Dr. Scholls, which only covers the Americas, because the brand is marketed elsewhere by RB.

JWT picked up the Coppertone and Miralax brands formerly owned by Merck along with the Phillips brand. Phillips was already was with Bayer, but formerly handled by BBDO as Bayer consolidated accounts along category lines. Combined, the brands picked up by JWT spent $50 million in measured media in 2013 and another $50 million through the first nine months of 2014, according to Kantar. Phillips was the biggest spender of the group, with $26 million in measured media outlays last year and $20 million so far this year.

Havas Worldwide handled most of the brands under Merck, including Claritin, Coppertone and Dr. Scholls. Publicis Kaplan Thaler handled Miralax. Spokespeople for Publicis couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

A Havas spokeswoman said in an e-mail statement: “We are incredibly proud to have been a valued creative and strategic partner of these brands for more than 30 years.”

She noted that Havas helped Claritin become a top allergy brand. “For Dr. Scholls, we launched the most successful campaign with Gellin’, which doubled the business and ran for eight years, becoming part of the vernacular,” she said. “We have had the Coppertone business for over 25 years and secured its market leadership despite numerous competitive launches. We helped make Afrin the No.1 nasal decongestant in North America.

“Having played such a large part in developing these brands, naturally we are disappointed that we will not be working on them going forward. We wish Bayer and their roster agencies all the luck in the future.”

BBDO referred calls for comment to Bayer. JWT couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Bayer already had shifted media from Interpublic’s Initiative to WPP’s Mediacom in October, shortly after completing its $14.2 billion acquisition of the Merck brands.