Mitchell & Partners has won David Jones’ $43m media account from long-term incumbent Mediacom, following a competitive pitch.
The retail giant appointed Mitchells on a two-year contract from a shortlist that included Mediacom, OMD and Ikon Communications. Mitchells will now drop out of the race for the media account of Myer, David Jones’ main rival.
“In Harold and Stuart (Mitchell) there aren’t many better media relationships in the business,” said Damien Eales, group GM of finance and marketing at David Jones.
“They are the biggest agency in Australia and with that scale comes buying power that will be beneficial. They also know retail and they demonstrated a good understanding of our business.
“It was a closely fought race and there were a number of very good pitches. It’s very difficult to move away from Media as they’ve done a good job for a long time, but it was the right time to test the market.”
The decision ends Mediacom’s 10-year hold on the business, with the account set to be handed over within the next two months.
Asked whether the move will lead to redundancies, Toby Jenner, CEO of Mediacom, said: “No, definitely not. We’ve won several pieces of business, such as Canon, so we don’t need to lose any people.”
David Jones’ creative account contract, held by Saatchi & Saatchi, is due to expire next year.
Eales would not be drawn as to whether the retailer is set to hold a creative review, saying: “Whether we go to market or not is something we will have to give consideration to.”
