VMLY&R wins Defence Force creative account
The Department of Defence has appointed the recently merged VMLY&R to handle its creative and digital account.
The eight agencies who made the shortlist, and were paid a pitch fee of $13,000, were Host/Havas, VMLY&R, TBWA Melbourne, M&C Saatchi, BWM Dentsu, JWT, Clemenger BBDO and BMF.
Australian Defence Force recruiting prepared to tender its creative and digital account in October 2017.
Six months after it put its proposed tender out to market, Host/Havas held onto the account for another year as the Department of Defence rolled over its current contract with the agency.
Mumbrella understands Host/Havas and VMLY&R were the final two agencies left in the pitch process.
This is the first major win for VMLY&R since communications holding company WPP consolidated creative agency Y&R and digital agency VML to create one agency in September last year.
Sue McGready, director of general defence force recruiting, said in a statement: “VMLY&R bring experience and expertise that will enable DFR to recruit Australian Defence Force members into the
future. We look forward to developing a strong partnership with the team at VMLY&R over the coming months to set us up for the years to come.”
“I would also like to thank Host/Havas for their achievements with DFR over the past four and a half years in an industry that has seen rapid expansion and change.”
VMLY&R’s leadership team, which includes Paul Nagy, Aden Hepburn and Peter Bosilkovski, said: “We’re honoured and delighted to be partnering with the Australian Defence Force (ADF) – a modern, innovative, people-focused organisation and one of Australia’s largest employers. This is both a new business win and a homecoming for our agency group, with Y&R previously having held the account for more than a decade.
“We’re thrilled to be once again partnering with the ADF and of course, very proud to be entrusted to provide our services to support the recruitment of members for all three Services of the ADF.”
Big win.
I hope they’ll be hiring a lot of people, say maybe 70 or so.
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A very well deserved win, coming full circle.
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Good win but I’m struggling getting past that pitch fees paid by agencies is even still a thing…
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The AGENCIES had to pay a $13,000 pitch fee?????
WTF???????????
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Hi Robert,
Sorry for the confusion. I had missed the word ‘were’. The agencies didn’t have to pay to pitch, they were paid to pitch.
Hope this clears things up.
Abigail – Mumbrella
“The eight agencies who made the shortlist, and paid a pitch fee of $13,000…”
Agencies had to PAY to pitch? If so, that is insanity writ large.
Must be another of Slo-Mo’s ‘budget savings’.
What next? Workers will have to pay for the privilege of turning up every day?
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Well I hope they are defence friendly employer and hire defence partners? I used to be global media account manager due to being defence partner out of work last 7 years! Real issue that no one talks about!
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Not a bad gig. In peacetime, the account is very low key, almost passive. there is no worry about market place rankings, and there are no competitors. Nearly all inner support mechanisms are contracted out, and (oddly for a defence force) security is covered by a car parking company.
In the event of a war, most of the gig can be replaced by a single poster. :o)
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There’s nothing clever about being ignorant Richard Moss.
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You’re struggling to read, mate.
They didn’t pay. They were PAID.
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Why is what he said being ignorant?
Granted the last line is a bit cheeky, but this isn’t the US… Please don’t make us start doing the “thank you for your service” nonsense in aus.
Apart from that, the rest seem fair points?
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“In peacetime the account is very low key, almost passive” What does that even mean? Define ‘peacetime’. You clearly don’t understand the account and what is required every year, regardless of the political climate.
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‘Low key’ in peacetime. It’s pretty ignorant to imply that the ADF only needs to recruit when there’s a war on the horizon. ‘No competitors’. What, no competition for talent in the recruitment market? More ignorance. And defence force security being run by a car parking company?!? Maybe the security in an office in Canberra perhaps? But I don’t think you’ll find Wilson running around with guns looking after the security of airfields and navy bases! ‘Fair points’ you reckon Huh??. Just more ignorance I reckon…
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Got to admit I’m a little embarrassed to have to have had it broken down like that for me to get the full joke. But now I do – kinda funny, no? Surely typing all that out you realised he was taking the piss the same way I did reading it?
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Ack.
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Peace time nope ??
There are currently in excess of 2,500 ADF personnel deployed on operations across the globe.
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