CHICAGO — Kimberly-Clark has expanded its relationship with Ketchum in North America, shifting a number of brands that were previously handled by Omnicom sibling firm Marina Maher Communications.

Ketchum's Chicago office adds consumer public relations duties for Kimberly-Clark's adult and feminine care brands, including Depend, Poise and U by Kotex — for which Marina Maher had led several award-winning campaigns over the past six years.

"Consumer-focused public relations work for Kimberly-Clark’s adult and feminine care brands in North America, including Depend, Poise and U by Kotex, is now handled by Ketchum, an Omnicom agency," confirmed Kimberly-Clark global communications associate director Terry Balluck. "We appreciate the award-winning work produced by Marina Maher Communications, also an Omnicom agency, over the past six years."

The shift effectively marks a consolidation of Kimberly-Clark's consumer PR duties with Chicago-based firms. Ketchum's Chicago office already handled family care brands, including Kleenex, Cottonelle, Scott and Viva — while baby and child care brands, including Huggies, Pull-Ups and GoodNights, are represented by Edelman Chicago.

Marina Maher's work for Kotex was recently recognised at the In2 SABRE Awards in Chicago, while its campaigns for both Kotex and Depend have been heavily awarded in recent years, including at the Global SABRE Awards and North American SABRE Awards, where Depend took Platinum honours in 2013.

An MMC spokesperson noted that "although we are sorry about the consolidation, we are happy Kimberly-Clark stayed within the Omnicom family — we wish Kimberly-Clark all the best and are proud of the work we did for them and all the awards we have won."

Kimberly-Clark's corporate and business PR activity remains handled by McGrath Business Communications in New York.