GroupM’s EssenceMediacom wins Specsavers after four-month pitch process
Specsavers has appointed GroupM’s EssenceMediacom as its media agency in Australia and New Zealand; a decision that came after a pitch process that took a third of the calendar year.
In April, the brand invited media agencies to submit an expression of interest, asking them to respond to an RFI and from there, be invited to pitch for the Trans-Tasman media account.
EssenceMediacom, who have worked with the brand in New Zealand for 14 years, won the account, taking over in Australia from IPG Mediabrands’ Initiative, who held the Australian account since 2016.
Shaun Briggs, director of marketing planning ANZ, at Specsavers said: “We want to acknowledge and thank all the agencies that took part in each stage of the pitch process from the initial RFI response to the chemistry sessions and finally, the shortlisted five agencies who took part in workshops to assess their ability to respond in a simulated live environment.
“All agencies came with passion for our business and presented quality work which highlighted the strength of Australia and New Zealand’s media agencies,” he continued.
“We are delighted to continue our relationship with EssenceMediacom and are looking forward to extending our partnership across ANZ. Throughout the pitch process, the team showed their strategic thinking, media expertise, and data and tech capability. They combined their intelligence with a passion for our business that really resonated with our team.”
The appointment takes effect from March 1, 2025, and the account will be run out of the EssenceMediacom Melbourne and Auckland offices.
Keep up to date with the latest in media and marketing
Got a tip?
Nathan Jolly is the Features Editor at Mumbrella. He joined the team in July, 2023.
Linkedin
Four months? Five agencies at the final stage? And proud of the process? It’s a clown show.
User ID not verified.
Clients behaving badly? Seems to be the norm these days.
User ID not verified.
What sort of pitch process is this??
No doubt every agency invovled had to hand over all the ideas they had for Specsavers to roll out with their new appointed agency
Terrible behaviour
User ID not verified.
Odd not to thank your agency partner Shaun.
User ID not verified.
Am I missing something? Seems to me, SpecSavers invited anyone to have a crack – no-one forced or pressured agencies to be involved . @Huh The fact your agency couldn’t fulfil the requirements isn’t the client’s fault surely?
User ID not verified.
Now the media is appointed watch for a brand pitch to follow.
User ID not verified.
an open RFI that only 5 agencies in australia could realistically respond to, anyway…
User ID not verified.
Have your say