Publicis Media Australia wins Westpac media account after closed agency pitch
Westpac has appointed Publicis Media Australia to its media account following a closed agency pitch process, ending a near 10-year working relationship with Group M.
A spokesperson for Westpac confirmed to Mumbrella that Publicis had been awarded the account after a pitch process between the aforementioned and former account holders Wavemaker/Media Lab of Group M.
Publicis won an agency pitch process over Wavemaker/Media Lab
“Westpac conducted a closed agency pitch for its media account between Group M’s Wavemaker/ Media Lab and Publicis Media Australia, and can confirm that Publicis Media Australia is the successful agency. We thank Group M for their support and collaboration,” its spokesperson said.
The account was first revealed as being up for review in July this year.
Westpac Group brands including RAMS, St George Bank, Bank of Melbourne and Bank SA already have a relationship with Publicis through Saatchi & Saatchi, which acts as their creative agency.
Mumbrella understands that Spark Foundry and Performics Mercerbell are the Publicis agencies that have been appointed to the account.
Westpac’s financial results this week saw the bank report a 66% fall in net profit and a 62% decline in cash profit. The bank appointed a new CFO, former KPMG partner Michael Rowland, in July.
For the past four years, the account was serviced by bespoke Wavemaker offering Media Lab. Prior to that, the account was run by MediaCom.
In a statement, CEO Peter Vogel said Wavemaker is proud of the work it was able to deliver for Westpac.
“We have enjoyed a strong and collaborative partnership with the Westpac Banking Group, but we understand their need to consolidate in these times,” he said.
“We co-created the bespoke Media Lab unit with Westpac to meet their Group’s evolving media requirements and are very proud of the great work we were able to deliver for their business and brands over the past four years.
Vogul went on to thank both the Wavemaker and Westpac teams for their work over that period.
“We were fortunate to develop some great work in collaboration with their other agency partners for their 200th Anniversary and for the award-winning ‘Help’ campaign,” he added.
“We were also there to support them and their customers through more difficult times too, like the devastating Victorian Bushfires. I’d like to thank all our people for their commitment and dedication to the Westpac business, and to the Westpac Marketing team for being great partners.”
Westpac’s primary creative account remains with Omnicom’s DDB.
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Zanda Wilson was a reporter and podcast producer at Mumbrella, specialising in radio reporting. He left Mumbrella in September 2021.
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topics
Group M
Media Lab
Michael Rowland
Peter Vogel
Publicis Media
Publicis Media Australia
RAMS
Spark Foundry
Wavemaker
Westpac
Westpac Group
