Sudler & Hennessey wins Galderma, J&J health-care accounts

The health-care agency has bagged the creative duties for the re-launch of Galderma Labs’ skincare brand, Cetaphil. Also in the bag is Johnson & Johnson’s Stapler account, targeted at surgeons

Health-care communication agency Sudler & Hennessey India (S&H) – a joint venture between S&H International and Rediffusion DY&R – has bagged two new accounts, collectively worth about Rs 20 crore.

S&H will handle the creative duties for specific medical products from Galderma Laboratories and Johnson & Johnson. The agency will assist these companies to launch medical products in Indian and foreign markets.

Galderma Labs, a joint venture between Nestle and L’Oreal, has plans to re-launch the Cetaphil brand of skin-care products in eight countries, including India. The other countries are Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, the Philippines, China, Thailand and Taiwan. A pitch for this business was called in February.

Besides S&H in India, Galderma Labs was also examining a few agencies in Australia and Singapore. S&H has now been entrusted with the task of handling the creative duties for this re-launch. The advertising budget is estimated to be Rs 10 crore. Cetaphil used to be a prescribed brand, but is now an over-the-counter product.

Sudler & Hennessey wins Galderma, J&J health-care accounts

Asha Kapoor

Says Asha Kapoor, executive director, S&H, “One global campaign for eight countries was the brief given to us during the pitch. We are working on a multi-dimensional campaign to re-launch this cleanser.” Expanding on the strategy, she adds: “The profile of the target group is different in different countries. In India, for example, it is doctors. We are going to work closely with individual countries and come up with the desired solution.”

Following another multi-agency pitch, S&H has bagged the Stapler account of Johnson & Johnson India. J&J plans to launch this new product for surgeons later this year in India and Brazil. Lowe Healthcare and Ogilvy Healthcare had participated in the pitch called by the client. The size of the business is estimated to be Rs 8 crore.

For Stapler, S&H will provide communication support in the areas of one-on-one interaction with doctors, seminars, conferences, films, creating web presence and other below-the-line activities.

There has been an explosion of activity in the health-care communications space, particularly since the enforcement of the intellectual property regime in 2005. Industry players say expectations from this industry have changed dramatically. In terms of communication, ad firms are looking at making science creative and interesting. The challenge is finding the talent to do so.

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