Pfizer to review $1.3bn media account with Aegis Group’s Carat

By Alexandria Pešić

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Pfizer Glaxosmithkline

Worrying times lie ahead for Pfizer’s advertiser, Aegis Group’s Carat, as the drug giant has decided to review its $1.3bn media account, as the firm is speculated to be slashing its outgoings.

Pfizer, the largest drug company in the world, spent $600m on advertising during the first six months of this year, according to Nielsen, and is currently the fifth largest advertiser in the US. This position was bolstered by the company’s colossal $68bn merger with healthcare firm, Wyeth.

Pfizer’s media agency, Carat, have already experienced an eventful year, having so far been awarded $250m for duties on Pfizers’ Wyeth brand, as well as having secured $125m for Smucker, $100m for Beiersorf and $50m for Red Bull.

Despite this, Carat has seen huge losses with RadioShack, Alberto Culver and Revlon business worth around $350m in total combined media spending;. The potential loss of Pfizer will therefore come as a major cause of concern for the agency.

After a review earlier this month, Pfizer transferred responsibilities for creative duties on its Advil brand to mcgarrybowen. It has been confirmed that the Dentsu-based shop will handle Advil, Advil PM and Children’s Advil, in addition to another Pfizer brand, ThermaCare.

The latest media agency review will be carried out by Joanne Davis Consulting, a client agency relations company, formed by Joanne Davis in 2000, marking the second big pharma reassessment to go ahead in recent weeks, with rival drug company, GlaxoSmithKline having confirmed it will be reassessing its even larger $1.4bn media account at MediaCom.

A spokesperson for GSK commented that the review of its US media planning and buying account would “help position GSK for future growth by ensuring [GSK] are benefiting from world-leading strategic planning services and innovation, along with media buying effectiveness and efficiency.”

A rethink of financial outgoings could perhaps account for the reassessment as the company recently borrowed $22.5bn to buy Wyeth, and next year faces the impending loss of its Lipitor patent, which became the world’s top-selling drug in 2010. Pfizer is now looking for new ways to replace Lipitor’s $12bn annual sales, and so, stripping back funds to its media account could be on the cards.

Related topics Markets & Regulations Globalization

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