Coles is reportedly on the lookout for the one agency to bring its media, creative and strategy under the one roof.
According to reports, Omnicom Group, WPP and Publicis have all been asked to respond to a request for a proposal (REP) from the grocery giant. Each agency has been asked to pitch on their respective operational capabilities.
Currently indie agency Big Red handles most of Coles’ creative and OMD handles the media side. Although the company boasts a number of agencies on its current roster.
It’s not 100 per cent clear what Coles spends annually on advertising, however, its parent company Wesfarmers is reported to spend around $110 million annually.
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 talent 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 messaging was clear and meaningful at a time the country relied on important information delivered with empathy and in the Coles tone of voice.
“What this model has taught us is 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.”
Coles GM of brand, digital and design Samantha McLeod added: “The goal is to design a bespoke model of industry leaders from all disciplines. New thinking and our ambition requires new ways of working. It is exciting to see what can be achieved working as a network of experts rather than a group of different agencies. I’m looking forward to working with our partners to design a new approach so we can continue to inspire our customers.
“Coles has worked outstandingly with one partner in Big Red for the biggest part of the last 12 years. On behalf of Coles, we’d like to thank everyone at Big Red for the contribution they’ve made to Coles.”
