Bristol-Myers Squibb calls reverse auction for global marcomms review

This story is posted to the Holmes Report website here

Pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has called a review of its global marketing communications spend, asking holding groups to take part in a reverse auction where vendors compete to lower their prices.

The company is seeking greater consolidation across its PR, medical education and advertising accounts, which are currently split among a number of agencies worldwide, and are believed to be worth more than $500 million.

What next for Ketchum, Pleon and Brodeur in Asia?

The big merger between Omnicom agencies Ketchum & Pleon is something that has been bubbling under the surface for a while. Given the way PR revenues have been hit in recent months, it won’t suprise too many people and Ketchum and Pleon are, geographically at least, reasonably complementary.

But one region where this doesn’t add up to much is Asia-Pacific. Ketchum, at present, exists only in Greater China – where it is one of the mainland’s stronger agencies. Pleon, meanwhile, was previously associated with Brodeur in Asia-Pacific, and has a barely minimal presence of its own in the region. So the upshot must be that the new agency, which is actually called Ketchum, will need to seriously consider acquisition if they want to deliver on the idea of becoming one of the world’s key PR networks.