• by David Kaplan , December 10, 2004

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has quietly shifted an estimated $75 million in direct response TV buying duties from Aegis Group's Carat USA unit to WPP's Wunderman Media, according to executives familiar with the account.

Other than the direct resposne assignment, the relationship between Carat and Pfizer--the media shop's largest media buying client, with roughly $1 billion in U.S. billings--is relatively unchanged, the executives said.

"This is a small piece of business relative to what Carat handles," said one, noting that Carat handles media buying and planning, interactive, and corporate brand experience for the New York City-based drug company.

Nevertheless, other sources noted that Pfizer could be using the Wunderman assignment as a test to determine whether to diversify the handling of other media duties in the future.

A spokesman for Pfizer was unavailable for comment.