After asking agencies to pitch, Coles has decided to stay with its existing agency partner, Omnicom but will introduce Deloitte into the fold.
Reportedly Deloitte has snagged a big gig and will join the team as part of a bespoke agency called Smith Street.
WPP and Publicis were both asked to respond to a request for proposal (REP). However, Omnicom clearly won out.
While it is not 100 per cent clear what Coles spends annually on advertising, its parent company Wesfarmers is reported to spend around $110 million annually.
So, Omnicom securing this relationship would easily be a multi-million dollar win and has saved the agency from any potential fallout from losing a lucrative contract.
Currently, indie agency Big Red handles most of Coles’ creative and OMD handles the media side. However, the grocery giant boasts a number of agencies on its current roster.
Coles CMO, Lisa Ronson, who was just named in B&T’s Powerlist of the top 20 marketers in Australia, said that COVID had markedly changed the company’s strategy over the past two years.
Ronson said in a statement: “What the pandemic has shown us over the past two years is that we were able to have some of the best talents in the business come together to work with us to communicate with our customers across many channels during a very challenging time. It happened very organically, and we are so grateful to the team of strategic, creative and media minds from DDB, Big Red, TBWA and OMD, who ensured our message was clear and meaningful at a time the country relied on important information delivered with empathy and in the Coles tone of voice.
“This model has taught us that we have the opportunity to power our customer-obsessed marketing model by marrying agency support with the customer problems we have prioritised, as well as supporting our increasing need for digital experiences and the brilliant store experiences that customers now expect.”
