Australia’s largest health insurer Medibank has begun a review of its media planning and buying requirements, B&T can reveal.
Carat, which recently folded into Dentsu in this market, has held the account since 2015, successfully defending the account following a hotly-contested pitch in 2019, when media billings were thought to be worth north of $50 million.
The account includes Medibank and ahm — two of the largest health insurance brands in the country.
Medibank confirmed the review was live in a statement to B&T.
“As part of our standard market testing process, we have commenced a tender for our media buying agency,” a spokesperson said. “The process is expected to run for around two months, and we look forward to engaging with a range of agencies about our media strategy.”
Dentsu declined to comment on the review, and has undergone substantial changes in recent months.
Last week, Dentsu won the Tabcorp media account after a competitive pitch.
In May, Dentsu retired its media agency brands Carat and iPropsect in a major restructure of its media buying and planning operation. The move led to several exits, including Marcelle Hoyek, iProspect’s national managing director, Ken Lam the GM of iProspect Victoria and Barbara Messitt, MD of Woolworths@DAN.
Woolworths, which is currently reviewing creative, remains the largest media client at Dentsu. Mitchell & Partners first won the account in 2002, the agency was sold to Aegis Group (now Dentsu) in 2010 and Woolworths has remained there ever since.
