PHD Wins US$20M Menarini APAC Media Mandate Across 11 Markets
PHD consolidates Menarini's regional media business across 11 Asia-Pacific markets in a US$20M win. The shift from market-by-market to centralized Singapore hub signals pharma's push for regional e...
Menarini Asia-Pacific has appointed PHD, an Omnicom Media Group agency, to consolidate its regional media mandate across 11 Asia-Pacific markets, effective January 1, 2026. The appointment follows a competitive pitch process that began in June 2025.
The account is estimated at US$20 million in regional billings.
PHD Expands Remit From Four to 11 APAC Markets
PHD previously handled Menarini's media planning and buying in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the Philippines. The new mandate adds seven markets: India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Korea.
PHD's Singapore office will serve as the regional hub, overseeing campaign strategy, performance governance, and best-practice sharing across all markets. The agency will use Omni, Omnicom's AI-driven planning platform, to manage media decisions and track campaign performance across the region.
The partnership is structured as a two-year engagement with options to extend.
Eugenia Yuen, Menarini's Regional Head of Commercial and Marketing for Consumer Health, said the previous market-by-market structure created inefficiencies. "We needed a media model that supports greater efficiency, clearer decision-making and stronger regional visibility, without losing local market relevance," she said.
Eileen Ooi, President of PHD Asia-Pacific, said the win reflects the agency's regional network capabilities. "This win showcases the power of our network, where innovation, cultural understanding, and our 'Intelligence. Connected' vision form the backbone of how we deliver measurable impact," she said.
Pharma Brands Rethink How They Run Media Across Asia
The appointment reflects a broader pattern among multinational pharmaceutical companies. Many are moving away from separate, country-by-country agency arrangements toward consolidated regional models that improve consistency and speed up learning across markets.
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Menarini's previous structure meant that successful campaigns in one market often stayed there. Insights were slow to travel. The new model, with a centralized Singapore hub and a shared performance tracking dashboard, is designed to shorten that cycle.
However, Yuen was clear that the model does not mean central control over local execution. "Our model remains firmly market led. In healthcare, success is shaped by local regulation, infrastructure and consumer behaviour, and those realities cannot be managed from a single center," she said.
Monaz Todywalla, CEO of PHD India, said the collaboration reflects what consumer health marketing in Asia now requires. The work, she noted, involves "merging local expertise with the strategic capabilities of our regional network."
Menarini's APAC Growth Provides Commercial Context
Menarini's push for a more structured regional media model comes as its Asia-Pacific operations expand. The company's Indonesian manufacturing facility, MiLab, doubled its export volumes to 2.8 million units by 2025, including a target of 700,000 units of its Dermatix scar treatment for export to China.
Indonesia's pharmaceutical market is projected at US$11 billion in 2025, making it the largest in Southeast Asia and a key market within Menarini's newly expanded media footprint.
Menarini also pointed to the performance of its Dermatix SCARS campaign as evidence of sustained brand building. Brand awareness for Dermatix rose from 47% in 2020 to 67% in 2025, a 20-percentage-point gain over five years, alongside higher treatment adoption among target audiences.
PHD's win follows the agency's recent appointment by Mandai Wildlife Group, suggesting a deliberate push to accumulate multi-market regional mandates across Asia-Pacific.
Transition planning, brand prioritization, and performance measurement setup are currently underway ahead of full operations.
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