South Australian Government pitches media as incumbent MEC moves into Melbourne
The South Australian Government is pitching its master media buying contract putting incumbent of five years MEC on alert.
The contract is one of the biggest in the state, with a main media spend of $21.6m in the 12 months until October according to Nielsen data.
An announcement of a tender for the contract comes the same day as MEC announced it has launched its fourth Australian office in Melbourne which will be headed by Jenny Pham, with GE Money and GE Capital as foundation clients.
Pham
Pham moves over from sister GroupM company Mindshare where she was a director leading several accounts. The office has also won a pitch taking the $3m personal care products Combe business from Starcom, and will service the healthcare part of the recently won Nestle account from there, as well as the Michelin account.
CEO Peter Vogel said: “It’s a great time to be opening our doors in Melbourne. It’s is an established market but there is a great opportunity for growth, which we plan to tap into. With Melbourne now in the fold in addition to Sydney, Adelaide and Brisbane, MEC is a truly national agency with a rich offering of resources across all offices.”
The SA Government account was handed to MEC’s Adelaide office, which also handles media duties for Mitsubishi, in 2009 and renewed for a further two years without a pitch in 2013. Vogel confirmed to Mumbrella the agency will be retendering for the business.
The new contract will run from July 2015 for an initial three year period, with an option to extend it for a further two, and submissions close on December 24.
Alex Hayes
The release in full:
A Request for Proposals for the provision of Master Media Agency services for all advertising by South Australian Government agencies is now being sought.
The Master Media Agency agreement, managed by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, covers services such as media planning, placement and buying for all advertising by the Government of South Australia.
It will commence on 1 July 2015 for three years with the option of a two-year extension.
Submissions close on 24 December 2014 at noon (ACDT).
Further details about this Request for Proposal are available on the South Australian Tenders and Contracts website at www.tenders.sa.gov.au.
An industry briefing session relating to this Request for Proposal will be held on 21 November at 10am. Those wishing to attend must register via a form contained in the ‘Invitation to Bid’ document found at www.tenders.sa.gov.au.
