Havas Media has retained U.S. media agency of record responsibilities for pharmaceutical giant Sanofi.
The appointment follows a review dating back over six months which also saw Sanofi name Omnicom Media Group’s dedicated Sanofi @ Omnicom unit as its global media agency of record outside the U.S.
As U.S. media agency of record, Havas Media will handle media buying and planning responsibilities across all of Sanofi’s consumer and pharmaceutical brands in the U.S., which comprises the majority of the company’s spending. Havas Media Group North America president Shane Ankeney announced the news Wednesday in an internal memo obtained by Adweek.
In the memo, Ankeney explained that the appointment marked not just a retention but an expansion of Havas Media’s responsibilities for the client, with the agency adding additional brands not part of its previous remit for Sanofi. As a result, Havas Media now will manage all of Sanofi’s U.S. media investments.
Havas Media was previously awarded media buying for Sanofi’s prescription brands and media planning for consumer brands following a 2017 review, which saw Sanofi appoint GroupM’s Mindshare as global media agency of record, while independent New York agency KWG retained media buying responsibilities for consumer brands at the time.
Ankeney thanked Havas Media’s Sanofi and Growth teams for their efforts across a lengthy review process, which included nearly 20 pitches and presentations. The review was led by search consultancy MediaSense and included global incumbent Mindshare and IPG Mediabrands, as well as Havas Media and Omnicom’s team, according to sources with knowledge of the process.
Sanofi spent an estimated $1.1 billion on media globally from July 2019 to June 2020, with North America comprising about $670 million of that total, according to global data consultancy COMvergence.
The appointment follows on the heels of confectionary company Perfetti Van Melle naming GroupM’s Wavemaker as U.S. media agency of record, an account on which Havas Media was the incumbent. Perfetti Van Melle, whose brands include Airheads, Chupa Chups and Mentos, had appointed Havas Media as U.S. media agency of record about three years ago.