Ikea: One Green Bean didn’t decline to re-pitch – we rejected them
Ikea and PR agency One Green Bean today found themselves in an ugly conflict over who ended the relationship after Mango was today named as the brand’s new public relations agency .
The contradictory claims came after the Swedish furniture retailer this morning said that it had switched to rival agency Mango after a pitch covering PR, experiential and social media.
One Green Bean quickly put out a statement from executive creative director Kat Thomas that the agency had chosen not to re-pitch for the business.
But after this claim was published, Ikea put out a further statement contradicting Thomas’s version of events, saying that One Green Bean pitched for the business, and failed to make it through.
Ikea’s statement at 11.27am:
IKEA AUSTRALIA ANNOUNCES NEW PR AGENCY
Global home furnishing retailer IKEA has appointed a new PR agency in Australia following a review of its agencies. Mango, part of the DDB Group, has been appointed as IKEA Australia’s Public Relations partner to work across its PR, social media and experiential campaigns.
The appointment sees incumbent PR agency, One Green Bean, move off the business as of April.
IKEA Australia Marketing Director, Rebecca Darley, said “PR and Social Media continue to be a focus and a very important channel in our marketing mix, and now more than ever we are looking to leverage our brand personality, and engage with consumers in innovative and inspiring ways.
“IKEA maintains an integrated marketing approach, and we are thrilled to welcome Mango as a key agency partner. The team at Mango are passionate, and a perfect cultural fit for our brand. They bring to the table some exciting big brand experience and thinking, both in traditional PR as well as social media, that sets them apart and really resonates with our brand personality”.
Mango Sydney, Managing Director, Claire Salvetti commented: “We are thrilled to be working with IKEA, one of the world’s most influential and creative brands. The pitch was a great combined effort from both the Mango Sydney and Mango Melbourne offices.
“We’re looking forward to collaborating with the team at IKEA and continuing the brand’s heritage of delivering pioneering work in PR, experiential and social media.”
One Green Bean’s statement from Thomas at 11.56am:
“Having launched the world’s first doggie high chair for April Fool’s Day, a dads crèche for Father’s Day, opened IKEA’s largest store in the Southern Hemisphere with a meatball marathon and co-ordinated their first ever in-store wedding for Valentine’s day a few weeks back, we’ve delivered lots of fun and successful campaigns for IKEA. We chose not to re-pitch but to go out on a high after a brilliant four years together, and we look forward to seeing the IKEA brand continue to flourish”
Ikea’s statement at 12.54:
“Hi All
“Further to the below – as there is some confusion as to the IKEA PR pitch process & involvement.
“OGB were part of the six-way initial pitch and IKEA elected not to take them through to the next stage.”
Thomas had not returned Mumbrella’s call at the time of posting.
Tim Burrowes
They lost the business because a Mango is bigger than One Green Bean
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Why is why PR agencies will never take the central strategic role at most brands. There is a credibility issue. OGB plain lied.
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Who cares. No ones likes IKEA’s airbrushed saudi meatballs anyway
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Ironically, given the subject, this feels like bad PR for both parties.
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WHO CARES? MOVE ON.
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I believe the PR Agency, of course. But the client is always right
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“We chose not to re-pitch but to go out on a high”, this oozes sour grapes. Better left unstated.
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#awkward
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That’s awkward
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all class from OGB.
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Silly OGB just silly.
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I’ve seen this episode. Neither can agree on who broke up with who and it ends with both compromising on a ‘mutual decision’. Hilarity ensues throughout.
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Ikea obviously wanted a fresh pair of eyes on the biz. OGB didn’t make the cut and should have acknwlwedged that up front and moved on. It won’t the be the last time this happens, so just get over it.
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Somethings an allen key obviously can’t fix…
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Story stay the same through the money and the fame
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Man fish in a barrel i don’t even
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Mumbrella, shame on you for publishing such a pithy article. Who cares. This is pathetic.
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re: “Why [sic] is why PR agencies will never take the central strategic role at most brands. There is a credibility issue.”
This PR agency’s actions should not be taken as representative of the whole industry! That is a ridiculous statement.
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Plus it is a case of one organisation’s word vs the other. We don’t know what actually happened, as outsiders.
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Sorry for the multiple posts, but I really find it surprising that these statements have been issued. Usually there is a very vague reference to the outgoing agency and the outgoing agency doesn’t actually issue a statement. This seems quite unusual to me. Perhaps because it might be considered a surprising change on the heels of a major PR campaign. Interesting, anyway.
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Shame when a PR agency turns out to be so clueless in its own brand management
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I knew of a Swedish pirate named Captain Green Bean. He only had one ball (not sure if that was a meatball?). His boat was assembled from a flat-pack and his wife drove a Volvo.
Captain Green Bean discovered Mango’s on a voyage to the tropics. He also painfully discovered fish that swam up your snopp when weeing in the river, in The Amazon; “Peeeee, Arrrrggghh!!!!”
Sorry.
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childish
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OGB tried to spin things their way and it failed, badly. I sense there was quite some ‘bad blood’ between Ikea and OGB before this, which would have led to ikea issuing its ‘corrective statement’, but OGB deserves to take this hit because the agency clearly tried to puff itself up and exercise in some indulgent ‘control the message’ routine when there was simply no need. Their egotistical control-freak move backfired, and they deserve this public shaming.
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so. awesome. as someone who has no life and practically lives on PR Releases, I would like to sincerely thank OGB for their hilarious antics, and Mumbrella for publishing this incredible piece. My day is now officially worth living.
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“Shame when a PR agency turns out to be so clueless in its own brand management”. Amusing comment given Mango’s own brand management in the last 12 months.
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Where’s Miss Thomas’ response? Has the cat got Kat’s tongue?
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Just a bad look all round. Not the best issues managment by OGB. Should have just stayed quiet. Business is business and often organisations need to refresh their PR and marketing companies. Best to be done with class and respect, not back biting.
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OGB have proven that they are still just a PR agency where image is still more important than the truth. Very interesting reading.
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I think Mango comes out looking the fool by calling Ikea “one of the world’s most creative brands”.
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Rrrrrrrreow!!
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is it really that serious? After all of my girlfriends finished with me, I ran round the school telling everybody it was me who ended it.
isn’t that just what people do?
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It’s cultural within the group. Host do the same. Finally, a client has called them out on this pointless face-saving tactic.
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Embarrassing for OGB
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Is it just me, or do others double take ‘OGB’, initially thinking it says ‘OMG’
PMSL nevertheless…
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It’s OK, OGB now has the chance to re position themselves as a Social Media Agency…..The world of sex lies and videotape.
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It seems to me that IKEA needed an agency that could handle both brilliant consumer activation (hats off to OGB for their work – which is excellent) and could also handle the serious stuff, like crisis comms and reputation defence – which it sounds like they found in Mango.
I don’t think this stone throwing at the agency does IKEA any favours and they just come off looking churlish and small. They have much bigger problems to solve.
Just a few months ago, Ikea had its highest reputation rank ever, scoring 25 on YouGov’s chart. Now, it’s at the lowest point in more than three years, down to just 5.
YouGov attributes the precipitous drop to three factors:
In September, the company took flak for digitally editing women out of the Saudi Arabian version of its catalog.
In November, Ikea admitted to using East German forced labor to build furniture in the 1980s.
In February, the company dealt with reports of horse meat in its famous meatballs and other food products.
So my advice to IKEA would be to let sleeping dogs lie and continue to do brilliant consumer work as well as start to address the corporate issues.
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Does anyone ever really choose not to re-pitch on a piece of profitable business?
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PR agency manages its own PR disaster.
Bit like an ad agency running a shit house ad. Oh wait…that’s been done too.
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This is rather like a situation where an ex prime minister who has promised the people that he won’t run again, tries to get the ball rolling by arranging for a senior colleague to instigate a leadership challenge, and then , when he realises the numbers don’t stack up, makes a statement at the eleventh hour and 50 seconds, that he always intended to stand by his word and refrain from challenging.
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