ANZ has retained its long-serving media agency PHD following a competitive pitch, B&T can reveal.
PHD and Atomic 212 were the final two agencies in the race, but PHD prevailed after a pitch process that ran for nearly a year and had several pauses.
B&T understands that Dentsu was also in the race, but did not make the final round.
The retention is a major coup for the PHD Melbourne team and PHD’s leader Laura Nice.
ANZ is its largest client and has been with PHD for 14 years, winning it from Mitchell’s.
“The review was intentionally comprehensive, evaluating agencies across strategic leadership, media effectiveness, commercial performance, data and measurement, technology and AI maturity, and operational excellence,” ANZ chief marketing officer Sian Chadwick said.
“As customer expectations continue to evolve and technology reshapes the media landscape, it is critical that ANZ partners with organisations that can help deliver effectiveness, innovation and measurable business outcomes.
“PHD emerged as the clear standout across all aspects of the review, demonstrating the strategic thinking, capability and future-focused approach required to help ANZ deliver stronger outcomes for our customers and business. We are delighted to continue our partnership with PHD.”
PHD Australia CEO Laura Nice added: “Winning a client for the first time is exciting. Earning the right to keep growing with them after 15 years is something we’re incredibly proud of,” Nice said.
“The bar was exceptionally high and rightly so. We had to demonstrate not only the value we’re delivering today, but the opportunities that will drive growth tomorrow.”
This success follows Officeworks moving from Initiative to PHD a month ago, and losing Asahi to Mindshare in June, a pitch the agency declined to defend.
The agency, which has around 370 staff in Sydney and Melbourne, has been building momentum in the past year.
In 2025, PHD won eight clients, including the likes of Bunnings, Betr, Spirit of Tasmania, Zurich, Etihad, OpenAI, Sodastream and Merlin Entertainment.
The agency lost Tennis Australia, but its overall performance earned a a respectable mark of 8.5 in B&T’s Agency Scorecard.
