Japanese skincare and cosmetics company Kao's USA arm has appointed Havas' Arnold Worldwide as its global creative agency of record on John Frieda and Jergens.
The company ended a decade-long relationship with MDC Partners' KBS+ in February -- starting a search for a creative agency on John Frieda, Jergens, Biore and Curel. Who will lead creative on the latter two brands is yet to be decided. John Frieda and Jergens are the two bigger brands in Kao USA's portfolio.
The search was supported by Joanne Davis Consulting. Arnold is expected to begin work on the brands Thursday.
"All finalist agency teams did an outstanding job during the process. We would have been delighted to work with all of them. Our decision came down to our confidence in the quality of the team, insights on brands and ideas to build our business. We also felt a strong sense of connection with them. We look forward to our new partnership with Arnold," said Dave Muenz, VP-regional executive officer, mass business sector, in a statement.
"For us, this was a good match, because we share many of the same cultural values, passion for the target market and we both have a strong desire to innovate. This creative partnership will allow us to leverage technology to build stronger relationships with beauty conscious consumers," Pam Hamlin, global president at Arnold Worldwide, said in a statement.
In March last year, the company, which is a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Kao Corporation, appointed Publicis' Spark and DigitasLBi for media and digital-creative.
Kao USA spent $130 million on measured media in 2013, according to Kantar Media.
