Agencies: Who's News

Global Branding Omnicom agency TLP has formed TLPlanet, branding a new global agency network for handling its world business. TLPlanet's backbone are Omnicom-owned "gateway agencies" for executing regional plans and adapting them to specific markets.

"Just as branding is critical to our clients, a TLP worldwide brand was necessary to provide current and prospective clients with an agency partner who has common nomenclature, consistent global strategies, creative talent, and world class deployment resources," says David Marchi, president and ceo of TLP, Wilton, CT, and of TLPlanet.

"TLPlanet will be made up of the best agencies we can acquire, align ourselves with, or start from bricks and mortar, " Marchi adds.

TLPlanet planned to open new offices last month in Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Manila. TLP will manage the Citibank business, based in Singapore, out of the Hong Kong office and from a two-person Singapore office.

The Hong Kong office will be the service center for the Pepsi Asia Pacific account where TLP is agency of record. TLPlanet is aligned with three gateway agencies: Claydon-Heeley, which handles work for the United Kingdom, Europe, and India; Pathways, handling China and Asia; and Dieste TLP, which handles work for Mexico and Latin America.

A component of TLPlanet is the TLP Global Brain Trust comprised with people from the network agencies. The group will promote building global promotions with local features. For a promotion with Pepsi International, for example, the brain trust developed consistent strategy and creative, allowing local offices and countries to add their own tactics, says Marchi.

Marchi says TLPLanet will benefit from proprietary digital technology systems. For example in handling Citibank's Elton John 1998 worldwide tour, graphic elements are digitally archived and sent to the singer for approval.

"Our technology system has cut down our time to market for our clients by a minimum of 25 percent," Marchi says.

Promoting Healthy Behavior Formalizing and reinforcing its health industry marketing, Dugan Valva Contess formed a new division for promoting to patients and healthcare businesses.

The launch of DVC's ActiveCare division follows the Morristown, NJ, agency's innovative work for Schering Oncology/ Biotech. Its Crossing Bridges campaign last year copped top awards when it applied promotional techniques to keep patients on a cancer drug.

"We have realized we can use this technique of applying behavioral marketing to health care across other areas," says Laura Mindell, DVC executive vp, and DVC ActiveCare account director.

DVC will bring promotional expertise to two areas, motivational marketing to consumers and helping pharmaceutical and medical equipment manufacturers market to managed care organizations.

The drug companies and supply companies have two-fold needs: they need to get managed care companies to use their products; they also have an opportunity to help MCO's market themselves to employers, says Mindell.

Drug makers like Johnson & Johnson HealthCare and Wyeth Ayerst want to spend marketing dollars to help those managed care providers sell special services to employers. A program like Schering's Crossing Bridges, for example, could be co-branded with a provider like Blue Cross and then sold to prospective customers. Or a drug vendor could develop an employee education program on hepatitis that a MCO would use to gets its plan picked by employees who are typically offered several plan choices.

Consumers' desires to be proactive in their own health care has opened the door for motivational marketing, says Mindell.

Direct to consumer advertising in prescription drugs has fed on and fueled the self-help trend, but it doesn't address motivating behavior, such as helping people take medicine, quit smoking, or lose weight.

DVC wants to "activate brands" for clients who include Schering Plough HealthCare Products, J&J HealthCare Systems and Consumer Products, J&J Merck, and Pfizer.

"Consumer ad agencies are buying health care marketing agencies to become real players in this booming industry. But there is a gap in the behavioral marketing area as neither the consumer agency or health agency has real expertise in getting consumers to take a desired actions," says Mindell.

Hangin' Ten SJI marks 10 years with sweeps offer. After hangin' for 10 years, SJI, Inc. is hanging it over the edge with a surfing-based anniversary promotion offering a sweeps winner the free concepting of a promotion.

Win a Free Promotion - Win a Woody started in August with a mailer by the St. Louis promo shop and fulfillment company to 800 potential clients. Top exec at the firms SJI has targeted are invited to visit a Web site, really big waves.com, and provided with a secret password (surf's up) to enter a Win a Woody contest.

Recipients can punch a big button on the screen and print out a picture of a Woody with SJI's name on the license plate and side panel and instructions on putting it together. Everybody who gets this far wins a paper Woody. Entrants are then automatically entered in the sweeps, in which a winner receives the free promo concept, says SJI senior account manager Diane Gallant.

In a second mailing to "those who wiped out" the first time, SJI provided a perforated post card so non-Web travelers can enter the sweeps by mail.

The promo will have three more parts during the next six months with each highlighting a part of the agency's services. In the next segment, the target audience will get a mailed CD of surfing music, with an offer to call an 800 number, identify a tune, and learn what prize was won. SJI's fulfillment operators are handling the calls.