Genuine Parts Company moves ‘significantly under-serviced’ media account from Mediacom to Initiative
Initiative Melbourne has won a competitive pitch to win the media planning and buying account for automotive parts and accessories provider Genuine Parts Company, ending the brand’s relationship with incumbent Mediacom.
The search for a new media agency began after an internal evaluation of its agencies revealed that GPC’s media services were being “significantly under-serviced”.
The handover has occurred and the appointment is effective, with Initiative’s remit stretching across both the Australian and New Zealand markets and covering a portfolio of brands including Repco, NAPA, and Sparesbox.
“Not all agencies are equal. Finding the right media partner for our business is key to our continued success,” said general manager of marketing across Australia and New Zealand, Diana Di Cecco.
“It is quite a cluttered media market out there so it’s important that our future agency met our business needs and were a perfect fit from a values perspective. We’re delighted to appoint Initiative Melbourne as our media partner and excited about how they will deliver in the key areas.”
Di Cecco said the pitch process was “intense”, and quipped that “I wouldn’t want to be the agency going up against them [Initiative] in a pitch”.
“It showed us who Initiative really are and provided a lens into their approach to media and business,” she said.
“They showcased high levels of professionalism and superior strategic thinking, balanced with tactical and integrated communications. It was easy to see they were passionate and performed well under pressure.
“Most importantly, there was genuine chemistry between our teams from the very first meeting. The sum of this made the decision obvious.”
Di Cecco
Work has begun on the account, with formal planning and activation to commence in coming weeks. It won’t be a transactional relationship, Di Cecco explained, adding: “Agencies should be an extension of the marketing team and not simply ‘book spots’. There’s more to it than that.
“We want to more effectively communicate with existing customers, engage prospective customers and build customer-based brand equity. That’s what marketers do. We can’t do it alone. We need exceptional partners.”
Initiative Melbourne’s managing director, Sarah James, said its a pleasure to work with a brand that “generations of Australian motor enthusiasts have grown up” with.
“We are thrilled to be selected to help them accelerate their customer connectivity,” James said.
“Like most organisations, GPC is adjusting to new parameters of customer relationships across their brand portfolio and we are focused on helping lead the way.”
So far this year, Initiative has won Goodman Fielder, Aussie Home Loans and Pernod Ricard, adding to a string of wins last year including Carnival Australia, Lotterywest, Deliveroo, Fujitsu, Australian Radio Network, Remedy and KPMG. In the past 12 months, the agency has retained 100% of clients as the incumbent in reviews.
Last month, the IPG Mediabrands agency also promoted chief strategy officer Sam Geer to national managing director, and elevated national strategy director Chris Colter to fill the chief strategy officer role. The holding company is still dealing with reduced hours, a hiring freeze, a pause on pay rises and discretionary spending, and a small number of redundancies in response to COVID-19.
Brittney Rigby was Mumbrella's deputy managing editor - news and analysis. She left Mumbrella in April 2021.
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I don’t work at mediacom, they are a rival, but it’s a bit unprofessional to make those comments when you’re leaving.
They sound like one of the many D-Grade clients in this country who think they are as big and as important as a business like Telstra, CBA, Qantas etc.
Had many in my time; low spends, low levels of professionalism (deadlines, briefs, creative), difficult to work with due to attitude issues and overall make only a marginal difference to the bottom line and tend to cause staff to leave because the work isn’t rewarding.
Some marketers in this country really need a reality check.
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what a parting shot jesus
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Yes it’s pretty poor form to bag the departing agency like that. Always fault on both sides when there is a problem and if you need to trumpet stuff on departure it makes a statement about the type of client you are.
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There’s some serious issues at MediaCom.Their retention rate is appalling and their record on new business wins (local) is even worse.
With Vic Gov out the door soon they really need to turn the corner.
Congrats to Initiative.
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Can we get a bit of clarity on where the “under servicing” headline comes from as it looks a bit mean spirited.
If you just read the quotes from Di Cecco it sounds like Initiative were just the best fit.
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I worked at MediaCom with this client in my broader business group. It was generally managed my one exec with a $10mn spend. Management never went above and beyond, barely meeting the client.
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Maybe the client got what they paid for, and so they sacked them.
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Hi Hol Up,
A press release issued by both Initiative and GPC included the line: “GPC has been evaluating each of its agencies and found media services were being significantly underserviced.”
That claim from GPC is the basis of the headline and paragraph 2.
Thanks,
Brittney – Mumbrella
How many clients have they lost in the last 3 years? What is left outside of Vic Gov and Mars? Drinkwise going direct and Deakin more in-house….
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‘Under-serviced?’ More like overinflated self-importance
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Thanks for clarifying. That’s pretty damming in that case.
Of course there’s always two sides to every story but I wonder if there’s any other MediaCom clients reading this and thinking the same…
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‘The pitch process was intense’ So while Initiative were involved in this intense pitch what is the chance they were ‘under servicing’ existing clients in order to secure new ones? Funny how marketers never seem to think about that when they are being pandered to by a whole heap of agencies in a pitch.
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No doubt Initiative smashed this pitch but Sounds like a nightmare client. Probably underpaying and wondering why the account isn’t resourced.
You get what you pay for. Not surprising a MediaCom didn’t try to hold onto this client
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Who did they pitch against if Mediacom didn’t participate?
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AdNews article spoke about “intense” pitch … SO DRAMATIC. It’s a media tender for a client <$5m … let's relax/
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No matter what you might think of your previous agency, nothing gives you the right to write them off publicly.
It does nothing for the company reputation and, if it were me personally making the statement as a CMO or CEO, I’d be deeply concerned about my own reputation too.
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Always healthier to look in the mirror than throw stones
If they have allowed themselves to be ‘under-serviced’ for that long maybe the marketing team should take some responsibility
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It’s not often you see a Marketing GM come out and publicly shame the previous agency. Unfortunately it does say an awful lot about this person though and the organisation that continues to support such average behaviour. A little more class would be nice.
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Is this just a case of brand blaming agency for poor business results?
1. Could it be that car sales have declined 3-8% YOY since 2017 (bit.ly/2N18RAy) so that less people own a car to service in the first place?
2. Or perhaps that the average age of Aus cars is only 10 years (bit.ly/2N28dTp) and so people don’t need to do a whole lot of self-servicing, buying parts and whatnot?
3. Or maybe that the cost of keeping a car on the road (incl maintenance) rose 1.1% in 2017 (bit.ly/30NlPd4) versus the CPI increase of 1.9% (bit.ly/2AI9dcK), so in perspective, the cost of keeping a car on the road decreased = less money for retailers
4. Orrr, that 2006 through 2018 saw a 5% decrease in kilometres driven per vehicle (bit.ly/3d8YO75) and so people need to service less.
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