Opinion

BWM: Mumbrella Creative Agency Review – losing Telstra ruined a decent year

The newly published Mumbrella Creative Agency Review examines Australia’s top 30 ad agencies. Today Robin Hicks examines how BWM has fared over the last 12 months.

It is hard on Belgiovane Williams Mackay that after a year to April that saw a record profit, a decent awards haul and the win of Kmart, the thing that BWM will be most remembered for in 2011 is that it lost its biggest client.

Teltra’s departure in May meant eight of the agency’s 120 staff had to go. But more would have left if the agency hadn’t won new accounts such as Selley’s – which won a film bronze at Cannes – and the Department of Health and Ageing in what hadn’t been a bad year thus far. Indeed, before Telstra went, the verdict of Mumbrella’s panel was positive overall.

One noted: “Volatile and interesting founder trio with the capacity and resilience to expand their offering into what’s needed today. Patience and tighter focus than in the past has delivered handsome dividends in the shape of Kmart in particular.”

One panellist reckons that BWM deserves more credit than the industry gives them – although in our survey our panel and Mumbrella’s readers give the agency about the same score overall, both slotting BWM in 14th place.

“BWM creates popular work for ambitious clients and has stretched its services well. A great all round agency with an unsung depth in talent, particularly digital.”

Another notes: “No longer just Rob Belgiovane (as good as he is), they’re projecting themselves as a serious, effective and successful agency.”

However, the work is described as merely “above average” and is not helped by what another calls an “undisciplined” approach to planning. “Despite having a planning partner, planning does not appear to be part of the culture of the agency. Creative rules. Which would be fine, but a communications strategy behind creative is required.”

It is a cruel irony that BWM was given its lowest score in our survey for client stability – before Telstra called time on an eight-year relationship that brought Australia ‘Rabbits’. The following 12 months will be about rebuilding, and redisovering the form that has made BWM one of only five Australian agency start-ups of significant size in the last 20 years.

To read more about BWM, including full details on how it was scored by both our expert panel and Mumbrella’s own readers, to view examples of the agency’s work and read its own assessment of its performance, buy a copy of the Mumbrella Creative Agency Review priced at $75. The book features an assessment of the country’s top 30 ad agencies.

To buy the book, click here.

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