Qantas to complete $20m media pitch before end of the year
Qantas is expected to select a media agency by the end of the year as four agencies continue to battle it out for the high profile $20m account.
As Mumbrella revealed last month, incumbent ZenithOptimedia, which has held the account for 20 years, is facing off against three competitors, believed to be Bohemia, Omnicom’s OMD and GroupM’s Maxus which holds the media account for Qantas-owned Jetstar.
Qantas group executive brand, marketing and corporate affairs Olivia Wirth told Mumbrella the media pitch process was “on-going”.
“We are currently going through the process and there should be a decision by the end of the year,” she said. “It’s the right thing to go into the marketplace.”
“The media industry is changing significantly so this is about testing the market to make sure we have the right agency with the right skills. Obviously digital play is more important, and the whole way you bid for media now is changing, it’s very dynamic so all those things are being considered.”
ZO has done the media buying for Qantas’s brand campaign which kicked off last night with a near road block. The ‘Feel Like Home’ TV ads have been generally well received as the airline aims to strengthen its emotional connection with the public.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16RhgfA662k
Now the brand campaign is underway, focus will switch back to the pitch process, Wirth said.
Much of Qantas’s digital media spend is already handled in-house via its social and digital team while the launch of Red Planet in September will also undertake some of the work.
Red Planet is also aiming to sign up other businesses to use data from the Frequent Flyer program in targeted digital advertising.
Steve Jones
If only as much scrutiny went into their cabin crew as it sounds is going in to their media review, perhaps they would be a vaguely enjoyable carrier to fly with.
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