The pharmaceutical company put the Rmb 80 million (about US$10m)
full-service account for its line of calcium products and supplements to
pitch last month. Its marketing director, Benedict Chiu, said a decision
on the winning agency would be made by the end of this month.
Agency sources believe Bates' relationship with White Hall in Southeast
Asia puts it in a strong position to reclaim the business, which it
handled before Grey took it away three years ago.
The other agencies in the pitch were McCann-Erickson Guangming, J. Walter Thompson, Dentsu Young & Rubicam, and M&C Saatchi along with their respective media agencies.
Although some of the agencies which pitched are currently working on other pharmaceutical accounts, including JWT which handles the 999 Enterprise Group's brands, sources said this was not an issue.
"Pharmaceutical companies believe specialist category knowledge is a benefit. Because of the many regulatory requirements, they need experienced people on their accounts,
said a source.
White Hall entered China six years ago. Its main brands are Caltrate and Centrium.
