Sanofi hires The Martin Agency as it consolidates North American creative

Sanofi Consumer Healthcare North America has named The Martin Agency as its creative agency of record for its 10 brands, which include Icy Hot, Gold Bond, Cortizone-10, Aspercreme, Xyzal, Act oral care, Unisom, Nasacort, Selsun Blue and Zantac. Super Bowl commercials Tracking the latest brand and agency plans Enter here The decision follows a creative review handled by consultancy R3. Over the last several years the French pharmaceutical giant has worked with Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, 31,000 FT and Terri & Sandy, the latter of which worked on Icy Hot, Aspercreme, Gold Bond Skin Care and Act. Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness will continue to work on other parts of Sanofi’s business, according to Sanofi. Terri & Sandy did not pitch to retain the business and 31,000 FT stopped working with the company three years ago, the company said. “We are proud of the award-winning work we created for Aspercreme and Icy Hot and wish Sanofi and the Martin agency much success,” Terri & Sandy said in a statement. Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness and 31,000 FT were unable to be reached. Claudine Patel, who took over as chief marketing officer for Sanofi Consumer Healthcare North America in February, was looking to consolidate the agency business with one agency “that can truly be a partner for us,” she said. The company needed a strong agency partner as it looked to “sharpen and modernize” its legacy brands, she said. Patel said Martin delivered an insight-led strategy that looked at what anchored each of Sanofi’s brands and “looked at what consumers thought of as distinctive to us and showed us how they could push our brands into culture in a modern, fresh way.” Sanofi spent $798 million on measured media in the U.S. in 2022, according to Vivvix, including paid social data from Pathmatics. The company hopes to stand out among competitors, including Johnson & Johnson and GSK Consumer Health, by “playing a different game,” according to Patel. “We want to move through and with culture a lot faster by testing and learning and being brave,” she said. “Bravery in marketing for our teams is so important, and we share a lot of similar values to how Martin fundamentally approaches their creativity.” Patel specifically cited Martin’s work on Mondelēz’s Oreo, which has included celebrities demonstrating their perfect dunk. Martin will also handle creative for Oreo’s 2024 Super Bowl ad. “[Martin] brought a lot of fresh thinking while keeping the brand’s roots in terms of families with kids,” Patel said. “They just refreshed for the millennial generation.” Sanofi plans to dig deeper into digital, including using generative AI to bring campaign elements such as the Xyzal brand mascot Nigel the Owl to life. Patel also wants to move beyond traditional media spaces into connected TV and streaming as well as put an increased focus on experiential initiatives to let consumers “touch, feel and experience” Sanofi’s brands. The appointment marks the second big win for The Martin Agency this month as it also was named lead creative agency for Papa Johns. Before that, Martin was chosen as creative agency of record for Pernod Ricard Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey, Scotts Miracle-Gro and Tomcat. ~ ~ ~CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this story included incorrect information from Sanofi regarding its relationships with Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, 31,000 FT and Terri & Sandy.

Sanofi hires The Martin Agency as it consolidates North American creative

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