TAC formally announces Clemenger BBDO Melbourne as creative agency
One of the longest relationships in Australian advertising has officially been severed with the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) officially naming Clemenger BBDO Melbourne its new creative agency.
It was reported in November the relationship between the TAC and Grey which stretches back 24 years was set to end, but today the TAC confirmed Clems will take control of the main ad account on January 1, on a three-year contract.
According to the TAC 26 agencies put their names forward when the contract came up for statutory tender in June, and a “rigorous process” saw them ditch Grey, which has produced several award winning campaigns for it in the last quarter century.
The win is a further boost to the burgeoning Clemenger Melbourne office, but leaves question marks over the future of Grey in Australia as the TAC was its biggest client.
The statement:
The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) has today confirmed Clemenger BBDO has been selected as its new creative agency.
TAC Chief Executive Officer Janet Dore said the tender process opened in late June and 26 Expressions of Interest were received. Four agencies were short-listed and an exhaustive process was undertaken to select Clemenger BBDO.
“I am delighted today to confirm that after a rigorous process, Clemenger BBDO has been selected to be the TAC’s lead agency for public education campaigns,” Ms Dore said.
In keeping with past practice, the arrangement is non-exclusive and will allow the TAC to continue to work with a range of specialist communication experts in the field of public education.
Ms Dore also paid tribute to Grey, with whom the TAC has had a strong partnership for the past 24 years.
“Grey should be rightfully proud of the contribution it has made to making Victoria a safer place. Grey has been a wonderful business partner and have set a very high benchmark for effective public education campaigns,” Ms Dore said.
Merger between GPY&R and Grey now surely has to happen?
User ID not verified.
I guess this is an opportunity (or maybe the only option) for Grey to re-invent itself?
No doubt they will have to let go quite a few of ther staff. And given $$$ is what counts, some of the bigger heads will have to roll too. It’s not a good result for their CEO to have on his CV.
Another thing Grey do well (apart from ads) is their Eye on Australia report. Perhaps Grey should re-position as much as an insights lab as a ad shop? Backing up their arguments about creative with data, research, analytics, etc…
User ID not verified.
I hear mccann almost pipped them. Would have been a gamechanger on many levels.
Although with clemengers ‘non-exclusive’ contract, doesn’t sound like they’ll be able to breathe easy any time soon.
User ID not verified.