Aussie Home Loans has put its advertising business up for review, ending a two year partnership with Saatchi & Saatchi.
Stuart Tucker, general manager of marketing at Aussie, today confirmed that the mortgage broker had parted ways with Saatchi & Saatchi and that it had entered into talks with agencies.
“A review is underway with four undisclosed creative agencies, with pitch presentations due early February 2009,” he said.
The Sydney-based review is a blow to Saatchi & Saatchi which won the business in August 2006 after a two-way shoot out with rival Leo Burnett. Prior to this Aussie ended a four-and-a-half year partnership with The Furnace.
Simone Bartley, chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi said: “The last two years working on the Aussie brand reinvention have been incredibly rewarding for the agency. Aussie is a great business that is fuelled with a great spirit and we would like to thank them for the opportunity. We are incredibly proud of our work, and Aussie’s success during the credit crisis is a true testament of its effectiveness. We wish Aussie all the best”.
Bartley added that she had no immediate plans to retrench staff as a result of the account loss.
According to Nielsen Media Research figures, Aussie spent an estimated $6.4m in main media spend in the last 12 months. It spent $7.8m for the same period last year.
Aussie’s media account will remain with both Amnesia, which handles digital media and web development, and Razor for planning and offline buying.
