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Qantas pitch: ZO, Droga 5, Play Communication, Amnesia Razorfish, Subnine and R/GA announced for roster

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The prized Qantas global creative account has gone to Drogas 5 after a lengthy pitch process. Zenith Optimedia has won the media account. Also on the new roster are Amnesia Razorfish for digital media strategy and R/GA for specialist digital projects. Subnine will support key sponsorships and Play Communication will support arts and entertainment properties.

The final shootout for creative and digital account was between Publicis agencies Mojo and Amnesia Razorfish, against Droga5.

OMD and Zenith Optimedia were in the final round for media.

The announcement:   

SYDNEY, 1 JUNE 2012: Qantas today announced it had concluded its advertising agency review and appointed its new roster of agencies including Droga5 as the new lead creative agency.

Droga5 Australia has been appointed as the lead creative planning agency globally. This will include strategic input from David Droga, Chairman and Founder of the agency and his team in New York.

Zenith Optimedia will continue as the global media agency and will partner with Droga5 in key offshore markets to provide a global network of creative and media expertise.

The review focused on the quality of strategic and creative capabilities relative to the Qantas brand, including retail experience and campaign success.

The new agency model will also see digital and experiential specialists working closely with the two lead agencies, Droga5 and Zenith Optimedia.

Publicis Group’s Amnesia Razorfish will work in partnership with Zenith Optimedia on the digital media strategy and R/GA will be contracted for specialist digital projects.

Publicis Mojo will continue to work as a strategic adviser and on a project basis.

Qantas has also appointed Subnine to support key sports sponsorships and Play Communication will support a range of arts and entertainment properties.

The new roster will commence in the new financial year. Qantas would like to thank Enth Degree for their independent facilitation and all those involved in the extensive pitch process.

The pitch – which saw agencies shortlisted back in November – took a number of twists and turns along the way. Mediacom dropped out of the media race in February after a global alignment to Etihad. Last week, the Qantas marketing team was taken by surprise with a shock decision to restructure the company with international and domestic as two separate business units.

Craig Davis, co-chairman of Publicis Mojo, put a brave face on Mojo losing its role as lead creative agency. He said: “We’re really excited that Qantas has added three Publicis Groupe companies to its new agency roster.

“Zenith Optimedia has worked really hard to retain the media planning and buying, Amnesia Razorfish has been appointed to the roster and Publicis Mojo will be retained on major strategic and creative projects. This is a great outcome for the group.”

“We’d also like to thank the great team of people who have worked tirelessly on the Qantas pitch to make this happen.”

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