Commonwealth Bank media pitch down to three
The lucrative Commonwealth Bank media pitch is down to just three agencies, Mumbrella can reveal.
The three players who will face off for the next round of the pitch are understood to be incumbent Ikon Communications, OMD and an IPG Mediabrands offering.
CommBank announced the pitch in July with a wide field, including Carat, ZenithOptimedia and even its creative agency M&C Saatchi, thought to have thrown their hats into the ring in the first round for the account which has a main media spend of $43.1m according to Nielsen for the bank, with subsidiaries taking the billings above $60m.All agencies contacted declined to comment on the pitch for one of the most sought-after accounts in Australia.
Incumbent Ikon is fighting to retain the bank, its foundation client, last month bringing back former staffer Pat Crowley to the agency.
Crowley had led the CommBank account for Ikon for many years before moving to independent agency Match Media earlier this year. At the time of his return to Ikon sources said Crowley had been given equity to return and launch a new offering to save the account. At the time the agency would only confirm Crowley was returning to the “Ikon STW Group” however, it now appears that while Crowley is heading the pitch for STW it remains within Ikon.
IPG Mediabrands’ decision to enter the pitch is also being keenly watched by the industry, with the group’s largest agency UM having online bank ING Direct as a client.
The agency group recently promoted Stefan Burford to the newly created role chief strategy officer across the group.
Nic Christensen
