Pitch Watch: 7Eleven pitches media; Volkswagen appoints events, Flux taps PR agency, Metricon moves media
Mumbrella casts an eye over the major media, creative and public relations pitches at play in market.
In today’s wrap up: 7Eleven (new media pitch), Volkswagen (event and experiential), Flux (PR), The Footpath Library (PR), Metricon (media appointment).
7Eleven pitching media with new agency set to be appointed
Convenience store chain 7Eleven is pitching its $10-15m media account, Mumbrella can reveal.
The pitch is believed to have come up in the wake of OMD winning significant parts of the Coles business including its supermarkets and Target retail business.
Coles also operates a number of convenience stores around the country putting OMD Melbourne in conflict.
OMD declined to comment on the pitch but it is believed they are not repitching.
It is unclear whether one of the other Omnicom agencies, such as PHD, will line-up instead to pitch for what is expected to a highly competitive pitch out of Melbourne.
7Eleven has been approached for comment.
Volkswagen uses its imagination in new appointment
Volkswagen Group Australia has appointed creative agency Imagination to handle its events and experiential account.
The move comes less than a week after the car maker handed its global media account to PHD.
The win for the agencies came after it successfully completed a project for VW’s Amarok in Victoria where amateur drivers took part in an off-road championship.
Kurt McGuinness, from VW, said the work helped to win the agency the account.
“Imagination’s enthusiasm for the project really shone through during the pitch process; the ideas they presented to us were of extremely high calibre,” McGuinness said.
The agency will handle press and PR launch event program, product launches, drive programs, dealer and fleet programs, training days and Dealer of the Year events, for Volkswagen Passenger, Commercial and Skoda.
Political movement Flux appoints PR agency
Political movement Flux has appointed Sefiani Communications Group to help build its profile in the lead-up to the Federal election on July 2.
Founded by technology entrepreneurs Nathan Spataro and Max Kaye, Flux is running two Senate candidates in each State and one in the ACT.
The party’s stated aim is to transform democracy by giving voters a direct say in legislation voted on by the Parliament. If elected, Flux Senators will vote on every Bill before the Senate only as they are directed by a majority vote of registered voters in the secure Flux app.
Sefiani managing director, Robyn Sefiani, said: “Flux is an exciting new concept in democracy that never fails to capture the imagination of people who hear about it. There’s no more challenging communications environment than a Federal election and our team is loving the work they’re doing with Flux candidates.”
The Footpath Library appoints PR agency for Epic! Short Story Competition
Not-for-profit organisation The Footpath Library has appointed independent PR agency Blackie McDonald Communication Group to spearhead its communication campaign for the 2016 Epic! Short Story Competition.
Founder and managing director, Sarah Garnett, said: “We’re delighted to have Blackie McDonald working with us to spread the word on the Epic! Short Story Competition in 2016.
“Their long-term experience in stakeholder and community relations will undoubtedly help to boost the number and quality of competition entries this year, as well as shed more light on the important work The Footpath Library is doing for homeless people in our community.”
Metricon moves from Nunn to Starcom in Melbourne
Building construction firm has moved its media buying from independent Nunn Media to Starcom Melbourne.
The account is thought to be worth around $12m a year and was awarded to Starcom after a competitive pitch process.
Metricon’s general manager – Victorian Housing, Peter Langfelder, said of the appointment: “We were very impressed with the calibre of people, internal culture and consumer knowledge within the Starcom business.
“Their ability to disentangle the customer journey and use media to help address their needs at each step, was a stand-out for us.”
“We are delighted to be involved with a business like Metricon,” said Peter Toone, Starcom Melbourne managing director.
“Building a new home is a dream for many Australians and we look forward to helping people realise this ambition with the Metricon team.
Starcom Melbourne recently won MYOB, and it’s Sydney office won The Study Group account.
