Insights
Industry
People
Culture
Brand Studio
Facebook Hub
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
OMD Corner
LEAD with ABG
Insights
Brand Studio
Facebook Hub
Choueiri Group Deep Dives
OMD Corner
LEAD with ABG
ABOUT US
CONTACT US
ADVERTISE WITH US
Insights Industry
Back
J&J looks to globalize agency teams to match its new structure
By Arjun RKTue, Nov 11 2014

Contact
jj-looks-to-globalize-agency-teams-to-match-its-new-structure

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 last week, 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.

J&J global megabrands lead creative agencies

Aveeno — DDB(Omnicom)
Johnson’s Baby —BBDO (Omnicom)
Listerine — JWT (WPP)
Tylenol — JWT (WPP)
Motrin — JWT (WPP)
Benadryl — JWT (WPP)
Clean & Clear — DDB (Omnicom)
Neutrogena — DDB (Omnicom)
Zyrtec — JWT (WPP)
Carefree (outside US) — DDB (Omnicom)
Le Petit Marseillais (outside US) DDB (Omnicom)

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, Lewis said in an interview.

“The whole idea is that structure follows strategy,” Lewis explains. But agencies are often left out of that process when companies reorganize. “Our agencies have been local, local, local,” she says. “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 explains, 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 says. J&J’s holding companies – WPP, Omnicom and Interpublic – are “very broad and deep in terms of capabilities,” she asserts, “but you’re often sort of silo-ed 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, Lewis says 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, Lewis says.

J&J’s consumer division has expanded its central marketing-services team some, she says, 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 ulimtately write the checks.

“Selling to another person in the company is not a great value-added activity,” she says, “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 US skincare category growth for the first time in six years, as well as taking share in India, Lewis says. J&J executives have been sharing ideas for the campaign among the US, UK 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 says.

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

J&J integrated marketing communications process

Brand foundation (a.k.a. brand architecture) – encompassing its promise, purpose and positioning. Intended to last three to five years, along with the growth plan and global creative idea.

Brand growth plan – the strategy to build sales and share, or problems the creative agency needs to solve.

Brand creative idea – the single global concept aimed at solving the problems identified in the growth plan.

Global connections plan – understanding the key points where consumers can be “converted” or influenced to buy the brand.

Local connections plan – how those points play out in local markets and media.

Tool kit for content distribution – ideas for distributing content around the creative idea, some of which can be shared among markets.

 

 

Article originally sourced from Adage.com

RELATED TOPICS
Integration Interpublic Johnson &Amp; Johnson Legacy Brands Marketing Media Omnicom Wpp
MORE IN Industry
Industry
November 01, 2020 How to Build a Winning Gen Z Strategy on Mobile

App analytics and market data company, App Annie, have released a new report that sheds light on Gen Z’s mobile behavior, in order to help marketers develop effective strategies to reach them. 98% of Gen Z report owning a smartphone, on average receiving their first at the age of 10. They are also part of […]

Industry
October 28, 2020 Micro-Influencers Are Still an Important Channel in the Marketing Funnel

Experticity, the world’s largest community of influential category experts have released a new study that sheds new light on the importance of micro-influencers on the average consumer. The study was conducted with online interviews of more than 6,000 individuals from the United States drawn from Experticity’s micro-influencer network and the general population. In addition, more […]

Industry
October 28, 2020 Global Media Insight Report Provides Concise Picture of Media Trends in UAE & KSA

Market research companies eMarketer and Global Web Index have collaborated together to release the 10th edition of the global media intelligence report. The report is a detailed compilation of data and insights about internet users’ traditional and digital media usage in 42 key markets worldwide. Communicate will be highlighting the key trends that are shaping the […]

Industry
October 27, 2020 Socialbaker’s New Report Highlights Slow Return to Normalcy in Digital Space

Social Bakers, a global AI-powered social media marketing company has released the Q3 edition of their social media trends report. The report reveals where the industry is currently standing with regard to spending and engagement globally. Here are the key findings – ADVERTISING Worldwide ad spend increased by 56.4% in Q3 compared to where it […]

Subscribe to

our newsletter.

This site uses cookies: Find out more.

Logo
  • Insights
  • Industry
  • People
  • Culture
  • Brand Studio
  • Facebook Hub
  • Choueiri Group Deep Dives
  • OMD Corner
  • LEAD with ABG
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise With Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
NEWSLETTER

Get a monthly round-up of Communicate's best insights

© 2020 communicateonline.me
About Us
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Privacy Policy
Disclaimer
icon
icon
icon
icon
icon
© 2020 communicateonline.me