Pitch Watch: Presto appoints media agency; Energy Australia names new creative agency
Mumbrella casts an eye over the major media, creative and public relations pitches at play in market.
In this wrap-up: Presto (new media agency appointed); Energy Australia (creative agency appointed).
Presto appoints Match Media after a ‘quiet’ media review
Streaming video on demand player Presto has appointed Match Media to handle all of its media buying after what it describes as a “quiet review” of the market.
The move is a loss for incumbent Mindshare, which holds parent company Foxtel’s media account, and comes as Presto finds itself in the midst of a marketing war against rivals Netflix and Stan with Nielsen putting their spend last year at $14.8m.
In a statement, Presto marketing director Sally Kiernan said: “Presto’s first year has seen huge growth and success, with thanks to the incredible support throughout this critical launch phase from our shareholder’s in-house media team and supporting media agency, Mindshare. We are thrilled to welcome Match Media as our dedicated media partner as we enter our second year, and look forward to working closely together.”
John Preston, CEO of Match Media, said “Presto is now one of Match’s biggest clients, and we are hugely excited about working with the Presto team. The category is challenging, highly competitive and continually evolving. Bringing all the media services under one roof gives Presto the ability to move swiftly to deliver Presto its rightful share of the streaming category.”
The appointment is immediate with Match now working closely with Presto’s creative agency, Whybin\TBWA Sydney.
Energy Australia appoints Cummins & Partners
Energy Australia has named Cummins & Partners its creative agency after a review of the account which had been with Leo Burnett Sydney.
The loss of the business is the second blow to Leo Burnett in as many weeks after the agency’s Sydney office was dumped from the the Woolworths account in favour of M&C Saatchi.
Mumbrella reveal the pitch back in October, with EnergyAustralia’s chief customer officer, Kim Clarke last week declaring the agency would be responsible for developing and “bringing to life” campaigns to attract and retain customers in the highly competitive retail energy market.
The review came after a complete management overhaul at energy business and a resetting of its strategic outlook.
It is still conducting a review of its media business with Mediacom.
Clarke said the power of creative was vital in the sector with consumers spending just 11 minutes each year thinking about their energy supplier.
“That 11 minutes is precious so we will be pushing Cummins&Partners for an approach that is sharp, meaningful and compelling, one that makes it clear how EnergyAustralia stands apart from its peers,” said Clarke.
“We have some exciting plans for 2016 and we’re looking forward to working with our new creative agency to really bring them to life – watch this space.”
Nic Christensen and Simon Canning
