World Vision appoints AKQA to media account
World Vision Australia has appointed WPP’s AKQA Media to handle its media account for an initial two years, following an open tender that received significant commentary from the industry in April.
The account had previously been with Havas Media for the past four years.
World Vision Australia put its media account up for tender in April via online procurement platform Procurement Australia, which charges a fee of $80 (including GST) to access the tender documents.
Former Initiative chairman and now global CEO of Huge, Mat Baxter, has labelled the $80 fee to access the pitch documentation for a World Vision media tender, “exactly the sort of bad behaviour that needs to disappear from our industry”.
Baxter’s comments on a LinkedIn post come as industry leaders express concern about the precedent that could be set by the $80 fee to access tender documents for World Vision Australia’s media pitch.
A World Vision Australia spokesperson said of the tender outcome: “It means the world to have AKQA partner with World Vision to help share our stories of change to World Vision supporters and the broader Australian community.
“We are grateful for the relationship we’ve shared with Havas Media… and thank the team for their support during this time of transition.”
AKQA Media executive client and business director, Sive Buckley, said: “AKQA Media is so excited to be partnering with World Vision Australia.”
World Vision Australia appointed M&C Saatchi to its creative account in late 2020 following a pitch process launched in July. The Royals had previously worked with the charity for almost a decade, but declined to defend the account by participating in the pitch.
In December 2020 the organisation released a campaign called Chosen, supporting a new program to allow children to choose their sponsor.
World Vision Australia is a Christian organisation that works with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice. It was established in 1969 and has since grown to become Australia’s largest international non-government organisation.
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Olivia Kruimel is the managing editor at Mumbrella. She has more than 15 years of experience in journalism, communications and marketing. Her journalism career began at Fairfax Media (now part of Nine) and includes various B2B publications such as B&T, Travel Today and ALB. As a marketer Olivia has worked for Standard Chartered and various global law firms.
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