McCann holds onto Biogesic business

Castro will oversee creative output across all disciplines: advertising, brand activation, PR, healthcare, branding, design and CRM. He was previously ECD at Lowe Manila, where he spent 18 years.  "When Lintas became a Lowe agency, Raul played a pivotal role in making the kind of creativity Lowe stands for part of our DNA. I wish him all the best," said Lowe president Mariles Custilo.

Castro's appointment will add weight to a creative department that lost Russell Molina, its deputy executive creative director to DDB, and creative director Trixie Diyco to BBDO/Guerrero Ortega a fortnight ago. "It's a challenging role, but under Raul's creative leadership, I'm confident we'll be able to elevate our market leadership position in the Philippines to a category of its own," said Patricia Arches, president and CEO of McCann WorldGroup Philippines.

McCann's win of Biogesic came after a five-way pitch with TBWA\SMP, Y&R, Lowe and DM9. The agency pitched with Harrison Communications, the incumbent and McCann's sister agency.

Harrison will continue to handle Unilab brands Neozep, United Home and Cetrinets, but lost BioFlu, a flu-relieving remedy estimated to spend $600,000 on advertising, to TBWA.