INDIANAPOLIS: Roche Diagnostics is shifting PR for its diabetes care unit to Porter Novelli from Edelman as it consolidates its marketing communications with Omnicom agencies.
Porter Novelli's Chicago office will now oversee PR for Roche's Accu-Chek diabetes testing products. Roche is shifting advertising for the group from Cramer Krasselt, Chicago, to BBDO's Chicago office.
Discussions about the shifts date back about 10 months, said Don Dumoulin, VP of marketing, diabetes care. Omnicom company Corbett Worldwide Healthcare Communications, which works with healthcare professionals, first broached the subject with Dumoulin.
"I truly believe the best way to build a brand is to have an integrated message," Dumoulin said. "I thought the power of the integrated message outweighed any relationships we had."
While he wouldn't discuss overall marketing spending for the brand, Dumoulin said he expects the new arrangement to save money and time. "We'll eliminate duplicate hours to brief different agencies," he said. Duplicate research on core messages will also be eliminated. "We'll hone in on one way to do it," he said.
Other Omnicom agencies that will be involved are Phd, which will handle media; Footsteps, which will handle ethnic marketing; branding specialist Interbrand; and special-events firm GMR Marketing.
Wendi Taylor Nations, the SVP who oversees PN's Chicago healthcare practice, is heading up the team for Roche. She isn't yet sure how many PN staffers will be involved.
She added that PN's Chicago healthcare unit should bring in about $1 million this year.
