Boots calls global healthcare review.(Boots Healthcare International)(Brief Article)

Boots Healthcare International, the healthcare products division of Boots, is in talks with agency networks about its international advertising account. The talks threaten WPP's domination of the Boots account.

Boots, which centralised its entire business into WPP last October, initially spoke only to the WPP roster networks J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy & Mather and Young & Rubicam. However, numerous other networks, including Scholz & Friends, were later invited to pitch. The pitch is being handled by Agency Assessments.

The initial brief was for an over-the-counter medicine product launch, said to be an allergy remedy. However, the brief has since been altered and is now also expected to include the international expansion of the much wider Boots Healthcare International-range.

It is understood that activities on the pitch have been temporarily put on hold while Boots executives make definitive decisions about the nature and reach of the project, as well as which brands it involves. However, one source close to the pitch said the pharmaceutical giant wants to have creative work completed by the end of the year.

The advertising is expected to target key European markets in the first instance, although a long-term ...