SB awards 18m Oxy to O&M after Grey resigns

SmithKline Beecham has handed Ogilvy & Mather its 18m Oxy skincare account in Europe and other international markets outside north America.

SmithKline Beecham has handed Ogilvy & Mather its 18m Oxy skincare account in Europe and other international markets outside north America.

O&M picked up the work after Grey Advertising resigned the business in order to handle the 24m rival Clearasil account. Clearasil is owned by Procter & Gamble.

Both O&M and the Grey network are SB global roster agencies.

SB accounts O&M already handles include Lucozade, new energy drink Solstis, Hedex, Panadol, Tums and nicotine replacement product NiQuitin.

Grey handles SB’s Aquafresh, Beechams, Macleans, Horlicks and Ribena accounts and has picked up the Mr Clean US account from EURO RSCG Wnek Gosper.

In January, P&G pulled out of EURO RSCG Worldwide to consolidate its accounts, worth 60m, into four networks – Saatchi & Saatchi, Grey, Leo Burnett and DMB&B. Clearasil was the only brand not reassigned at the time.

Grey resigned the international Oxy account after 13 years. Its most recent work was a 3.5m TV and press campaign for a new Oxy range, called Oxygen, to extend the brand’s appeal to consumers in their 20s.

SmithKline Beecham says: “The decision to move the brand has been reached amicably.”