Kimberly-Clark Switches Major Ad Duties From WPP to Accenture Interactive
November 11 2019 - 2:44PM
Dow Jones News
By Nat Ives
Kimberly-Clark Corp. named Accenture Interactive as the lead
creative agency for its baby and child-care products, supporting
global marketing initiatives and handling the business in the U.S.,
Europe, Middle East and Africa.
The business is Accenture Interactive's first big win pitching
with Droga5, the well-known creative ad agency that Accenture PLC
acquired in May and made part of the unit. Accenture Interactive is
Accenture's division for its advertising and marketing
agencies.
Accenture Interactive won the work partly because it had
technology tools that Kimberly-Clark hadn't seen before, but also
partly because of Droga5's creative capabilities, said Alison
Lewis, chief growth officer at Kimberly-Clark. "Technology without
creativity or ideas really doesn't work," she said.
When asked, she said Accenture Interactive would have had a
tougher time getting the business without Droga5. "I'm not sure
that would have given us the full solution," she said.
Accenture Interactive competed in a review for the global
business, the companies said. The incumbent, WPP PLC, successfully
defended its role in the Asia-Pacific region and Canada. WPP's
Mindshare agency also continues to handle the majority of
Kimberly-Clark's media duties around the world. Kimberly-Clark
expects to announce a decision about creative duties for its baby
and child-care products in Latin America soon.
The baby and child-care business at Kimberly-Clark includes
brands like Pull-Ups, GoodNites and Huggies, which recently
introduced a line of diapers made from plant-based materials and
distinctively packaged in black.
Last year the company spent $83.7 million advertising Huggies,
Pull-Ups and GoodNites in the U.S., not counting certain digital
advertising such as social media and keyword search, according to
data and research provider Kantar.
Large agency holding companies such as WPP, Omnicom Group Inc.,
Publicis Groupe SA and Interpublic Group of Cos. have long
dominated advertising and marketing. In recent years consulting
firms such as Accenture, Deloitte LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers
LLP have been building marketing, consumer experience and design
divisions to compete for some of the same work.
The consultancies have hired creative professionals and bought
creative agencies to build out their services, but Accenture's
purchase of Droga5 was the biggest move in that direction to date.
Droga5 employed roughly 500 employees at the time of the deal, with
offices in New York and London.
"We would not have been able to do this without them, and I
don't think they would have been able to do this without being part
of Accenture Interactive," said Brian Whipple, chief executive
officer at Accenture Interactive, referring to winning the
Kimberly-Clark business.
WPP said it looks forward to continuing to work with
Kimberly-Clark. "We have a longstanding and valued relationship
with Kimberly-Clark and they remain a significant global client," a
spokesman said.
Write to Nat Ives at nat.ives@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 11, 2019 14:29 ET (19:29 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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