Humana, the publicly traded national health insurer, has appointed Interpublic Group of Cos.' MullenLowe as its new creative agency of record, effective this month. The selection follows a review managed by search consultancy Select Resources International.
Omnicom's BBDO, Humana's incumbent creative agency of record, declined to comment.
"This is an amazing era of innovation in healthcare and we're excited to expand our reach in the category with Humana," Kelly Fredrickson, MullenLowe president, said in a statement.
A team of strategists, behavioral scientists and creatives from MullenLowe's Boston and New York offices will service the account. The win follows MullenLowe picking up lead creative duties for Navy Federal Credit Union two weeks ago—while media responsibilities went to its IPG sister agency MediaHub. The agency that works with brands such as JetBlue Airways, Whole Foods Market, E*Trade and Athenahealth also won the Grey Goose creative account from BBDO earlier this year.
The larger Omnicom Group was first hired on Humana's creative account in 2010. In a statement then, Humana said it sought to strengthen its brand in the U.S. and praised the holding company's agencies including BBDO, DDB, TBWA, Interbrand and Rapp. It is unclear if the client worked across all of those shops under that original partnership. BBDO New York became Humana's lead agency in 2015 and is most recognizably behind the company's "Start With Healthy" campaign.
According to estimates from R3 Co-Founder and Principal Greg Paull, Humana spends about $60 million annually on measured media in the U.S.
