Every month, B&T rounds up the biggest new business winners in the creative and media worlds.
This time out, there was one very big new win in the media world — Mindshare’s $40 million Unilever account win. You won’t find EssenceMediacom’s Uber win in this list though, because that was a retained account, and no one seems to know exactly how much the account is worth. You also won’t see Telstra’s account in here, as no decision has been made on that win yet — though industry insiders tell B&T it’s between TBWA and The Monkeys.
Anyway, here are this month’s Gold, Silver and Bronze agencies:
Media agencies
Bronze – Advertising Associates
This one took much of adland by surprise. Melbourne-based independent agency Advertising Associates took the final part of Kia’s advertising work away from Havas. Rated at $12 million, this most-recent digital media account win added to the $22 million of above-the-line spend that the shop already controlled.
Silver – Initiative
Right at the start of the month, IPG-owned shop Initiative scooped Fantastic Furniture’s media account, understood to be worth at least $14 million. Mel Fein and Sam Geer’s team will now control all offline media planning and buying, including BVOD and YouTube for the brand.
Gold – Mindshare
Now, the big one. Mindshare wrested back control of the $40 million Unilever account from PHD, having lost it back in 2015. The tender was part of a periodic global review of Unilever’s media agencies and means that Maria Grivas and the team will be managing the media buying for the likes of Streets, Liptons, Rexona, Sunsilk, Pond’s and Continental.
Creative agencies
Bronze – whiteGREY
Last week, whiteGREY was announced as Chinese automaker Chery’s digital agency of record. It’s a broad remit, with whiteGrey taking care of digital transformation and performance media across Chery’s brand portfolio, including website strategy & development, UX, CRM, digital content creation and lead generation. So, as you’ll see, it falls somewhere between media and creative but, as Lee Simpson, CEO of whiteGREY said, the team is looking forward to “working closely with Chery in creating a distinctive brand experience through digital channels”.
Silver – M&C Saatchi
M&C Saatchi won the pitch for Ryman Healthcare’s creative account. The company specialises in retirement care and wants to make its care good enough for everyone’s mum and dad. M&C Saatchi-owned media agency Bohemia had won Ryman’s media buying account in June, bringing everything neatly into line for Justin Graham, Michael McEwan and Paul Hutchison eqaully happy.
Gold – 72andSunny
A big win for 72andSunny this month, reeling in control of BCF’s account. Previously held by The Monkeys, the retailer will work with 72andSunny to create the strategic and creative playbook that will inform all its brand communications moving forward, as well as developing future advertising campaigns. “We’re stoked to be partnering with this team of legends to build such an iconic Aussie brand. It has a rich heritage of great creative work that will be a heap of fun to build upon,” said Ross Berthinussen, CEO 72andSunny ANZ — though he’s nowhere near as stoked as 72andSunny’s bean-counters.
