INTERNATIONAL: Frohmann aims for global unity for HMR

FRANKFURT: Leading pharmaceutical company Hoechst Marion Roussel

has appointed Armin Frohmann as its new head of global employee

communications.

The post has been vacant since Peter Wiegand left in April to work with

parent company Hoechst as head of advertising.

Frohmann’s appointment last month comes as Hoechst Marion Roussel

develops its internal communications, over a year after it was created

from the merger of three big pharmaceutical firms. He will oversee a

team of four in Frankfurt, serving 40,000 employees in 120 countries

across the world.

He will report to Thomas Quinn, Hoechst Marion Roussel’s global

communications head, and work with the firm’s local communications

managers in more than 20 countries.

Hoechst Marion Roussel was formed in July 1997 from the merger of German

firm Hoechst Pharma, US company Marion Merrell Dow and French company

Roussel Uclaf. Frohmann has been charged with creating a single company

culture for Hoechst Marion Roussel.

He said: ’The goal of employee communications is to help employees

understand management’s efforts to develop a single corporate culture

worldwide.’ He added that he would look at hiring an agency to support

his internal communications strategy.

Frohmann joins from car manufacturer Audi, where he was head of

editorial services and government affairs for two years. He previously

worked for German agency Topcom and Burson-Marsteller’s German

operation.

HMR’s top selling drugs are Cardizem, which treats hypertension,

Trental, for vascular disorders and the Delix family of drugs, also used

to treat hypertension.