Enero sees departure of second major client in two days
Enero’s strategy-led agency Naked Communications has lost one if its biggest clients, with airline Virgin Atlantic taking its work in-house from next year.
Enero told the ASX that Virgin Atlantic amounts to 7% of the holding company’s revenues.
The news came in the same week that fellow Enero agency, BMF, reached the end of its long-running relationship with Lion.
Virgin Atlantic vice president of marketing, Hamish Rickman, said the airline was seeking to get closer to its customers by bringing CRM in-house.
“We understand that the need and desire to maintain a competitive edge, coupled with an increasingly challenging market and revenue outlook, has meant Virgin Atlantic has been making some transformational decisions, and this is part of that.
“As we look to create an ever-more personal and relevant communications experience for our customers, we have invested heavily in marketing tools and data capability for the airline, which in turn allows us to begin to reap the benefits of a more heavily in-sourced model for our CRM communications,” Rickman said.
“This insourcing significantly alters our agency dependencies in the CRM space and as such we have given notice to Naked with a view to wrapping up our relationship by the end of the first half of 2017.”
He said that the agency had played a crucial role in developing relations with customers since Naked was first appointed and said that the airline would still consider the possibility of Naked working on a project basis.
“Virgin Atlantic appointed Naked Communications as our lead CRM agency in 2013 and since that appointment they have been instrumental in helping to evolve our CRM communications, delivering award winning campaigns that are loved by our customers and engagement rates that far exceed industry standards,” he said.
Melhuish: “We are saddened by the decision but completely respect the decision and the commercial logic behind it”
Enero CEO, Matthew Melhuish, said it was a tough decision for the agency.
“While we are deeply saddened not to be continuing on the Virgin Atlantic journey, we understand and completely respect the decision that has been made and the commercial logic behind it,” Melhuish said.
“We understand that the need and desire to maintain a competitive edge, coupled with an increasingly challenging market and revenue outlook, has meant Virgin Atlantic has been making some transformational decisions and this is part of that.”
Enero has just come off its strongest year since the company made the transition from Photon Group and underwent a radical restructure.
However, at its AGM in October it warned that it was facing “significant headwinds” from changes in the currency exchange and doubts over the UK economy in the wake of Brexit.
