Australia’s largest health insurer Medibank is planning to shift media planning and buying to Accenture Song, following a competitive review, B&T can reveal.
The account has been held by Carat, which recently folded into Dentsu, since 2015. B&T understands that Dentsu and Omnicom Media, whose sister agencies handle Medibank creative, were involved in the latter stages of the review process.
Medibank told B&T the tender process is ongoing, although several sources with knowledge of the matter told B&T it was set to happen. B&T understands final contract negotiations between Medibank and Accenture Song are being thrashed out.
The win is a coup for the 40-strong Accenture Song team, which earlier this year won Australia Post, and last year was told ‘yes’ in the Optus pitch.
Medibank and ahm’s media billings are estimated to be north of $80 million, and is one of the larger accounts in Melbourne.
For Dentsu, the loss of Medibank leaves a hole in its Melbourne operation, although the agency has recently had success. In June, Dentsu won the Tabcorp media account after a competitive pitch.
In Sydney, Dentsu shored up its media team by hiring PHD’s national head of planning Elyse Foley as the managing director of media, NSW, and promoting Harriet Swinburn to head of strategy, media NSW.
These move follow a Dentsu media restructure, folding its media agency brands Carat and iPropsect into the Dentsu banner.
A spokesperson for Medibank told B&T: “We are still in the process but will give an update once it’s complete.”
Accenture Song and Dentsu declined to comment.
