IPG, Omnicom, Publicis & WPP Secure Media & Creative Duties Of Kimberly-Clark

After having reviewed the global creative and media agencies, Kimberly-Clark has chosen Omnicom, Publicis Groupe, WPP, and Interpublic Group (IPG) to manage its marketing initiatives.

This review, which was started in October of last year, was part of Kimberly-Clark's "Powering Care" effort, a $1.5 billion reorganisation program that aims to improve efficacy and efficiency by streamlining the agency network.

To meet its global creative and media demands, Kimberly-Clark finally chose agencies from four distinct holding companies, despite having its headquarters in Texas and generating well-known brands including Huggies, Kotex, Kleenex, Depend, and Cottonelle.

In a statement, the company confirmed that its global RFP process has concluded. "We have divided our assignments as follows," the statement read. "IPG will handle creative duties for our feminine care and family care brands, while WPP will assume creative responsibility for our baby and child care and adult care brands. Publicis will continue as our media partner in the U.S. and will now also oversee media in Canada, providing a more integrated approach for North American media needs.

Omnicom Group (OMG) has been awarded media responsibilities for all Kimberly-Clark markets outside of North America (excluding South Korea).

"We are excited and eager to get to work with our partners ahead," the company stated. This consolidation follows a period where all major holding companies held Kimberly-Clark assignments. Notably, WPP's GroupM lost the U.S. media account to Publicis in 2023.

Although Kimberly-Clark collaborates with several independent creative firms, such as Quality Meats and Mischief, the future of these partnerships is still up in the air. 

Alison Lewis retired, and Patricia Corsi was named Kimberly-Clark's new chief growth officer in May 2024. Additionally, the brand started internalising its ad-tech contracts.

Kimberly-Clark is expected to spend $511 million on global media in 2024, according to COMvergence. The company projected spending about $1.1 billion on global advertising in 2023, with slightly more than half of its sales coming from the United States.