BNZ dumps Y&R for Sugar/SparkPHP combo
September 5 2009, 2:58 pm | | 43 Comments
Following a strategic review, BNZ has appointed the Sugar/ SparkPHD partnership as its ad agency partners in a pitch against incumbent Y&R.
Says BNZ Head of Brand, Jo Kelly: “We’ve had a very good relationship with Y&R over the last four years and during that time Y&R has delivered some great work for us.
“However we’re entering a new phase of our business and the time is right for us to work with a new agency partner.”
Sugar celebrated the win on their website, comparing themselves to the world’s hottest shops, including Droga5, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Mother and Taxi – which should raise a few eyebrows from CDs of the top creative shops in New Zealand.
43 Comments
Like Droga5 and Crispin Porter?
Cough! Splutter!
In their dreams.
Does that mean changes in creative at Y&R? Someone should tell Todd Waldron
One small problem with Sugar’s comparison of itself to those agencies.
The missing mega tonne of interational creative awards.
Embarassing stuff.
That really is a wank, Sugar. Congrats on bank but I don’t think you’d find any of the names you dropped doing the same thing.
And in New Zealand, we spell it ‘mould’.
And so it begins, first blood by the new breed of dinosaur slayers!
Westpac moves. BNZ moves. ANZ/National about to go to pitch!! What’s happening? They are all now run by Australians who are sent across here for a year or two. What do they all want to do? Make their mark. What’s the easiest way to do this? Change the agency! It’s easier than doing more fundamental things like improving the customer experience, or bringing out a market-leading new product. Or improving customer service.
These three banks (and ASB) got to be amongst the strongest in the world through consistency, especially consistency of leadership. That’s gone now – they change leaders like they change their clothes. Expect more agency changes as a result. Expect ASB to go next. Expect KiwiBank to make even stronger gains.
It all smells a wee bit dirty to me. Good work on the win Sugar, but someone should really explain why such a huge piece of business would just leave a big (somewhat crap) agency – without pitching – for some random little shop?
Won’t there be a conflict with TSB Bank or do they (Sugar) no longer hold that account?
7.48 could be on to something here. How can such a big account conduct a pitch without really going to market properly. Something sneaky going on here.
Darren @ 6.40am –
Heh.
_
T
TSB went to Republik if I remember rightly. An awesome coup de Grace for Sugar. I think the bloggers are concentrating too much on the wanky website and not enough on the account move of 2009. Ashame for Y&R though, pigs might not have won a creative award but was the first consistent and half decent campaign for BNZ in…. well… in… like… ever.
BNZ went to Sugar because they are smaller and more flexible AND the client does not have to pay the 18% extra that Globals have to shift back to home base in profit. Thats what the recession does if you have not worked it out.
Globals still have their place working on global accounts. But local accounts are better off with local agencies. Any accountant will tell you that.
Y&R are a pretty average shop, they never win awards, people have nothing great to say about working their. It’s a one trick pony and thats the facts.
In the end the pigs are nice. But do they work? Ok some people like them but really who can take a bank serious that has a group of animated pigs fronting them. We are in a recession, people want to be assured. These little fellows are not the answer.
Shoot the pigs and come up with something real for the times. This is 2009 and it’s a shit year, if you cannot adapt then you are down the road.
Huh, Y&R “never win awards”? Didn’t they take out NZs only Cannes Film Gold Lion? And I’m sure I keep seeing them pop up in a bunch of other award shows.
Hey Tim get over yourself – awards don’t come first, business does
“Didn’t they take out NZs only Cannes Film Gold Lion?” Yes, thanks to great creatives who aren’t there anymore.
12:03 – hit it on the head – business comes first.
And this seems to be reflected by the current (and increasing) trend that sees old (award-focused) agencies losing out to the newer client-focused agencies.
Rather than starting out by thinking “How can I win an award with this brief” why not start by thinking “how can I sell more product/make my client more money with this brief”.
You will probably find the redundancies in your agency stop over night.
Sorry 2:14, while I agree business comes first in this case it’s probably more ,ore a matter of someone high-up at BNZ being mates with someone at Sugar.
It would appear there was no pitch (unless somehow a large bank coming up for pitch was hidden from the whole industry) and the new appointment nearly matches a new appointment at BNZ’s top levels
Thats how Business is run 2:39, it’s always been based around relations between people at the top.
7:48. Well said and completely agree.
I’m not with Y&R. Wouldn’t work there for anything.
But when all’s said and done, we know what this is.
Someone at Sugar knows someone at BNZ.
I’ve aleady heard it.
Pitch set up.
Account lost by Y&R. Won by Sugar.
And Sugar runs website comparing themselves to Droga. That’s when it all really goes off the rails.
Unbelievable stuff.
Hang your heads in shame Sugar.
You won a nice big account. But you are not Droga 5. Or Mother. Or Taxi. Or God forbid, Crispin Porter.
Someone at Sugar is having a wet dream. suspect it’s the person who wrote the web copy.
Whoever that is, where’s all your awards man?
Lets not forget, that someone knowing someone was the way that Y&R picked up the BNZ in the first place. It was a similar closed pitch. Losing it that way = Karma, people.
Nige? Please explain. This does sound like the work of a suit though.
Sugar rocks
Nothing like a good thread on Monday to get the industry going. But i will explain a bit more for all of you creatives who have little or no business sense.
Tim is right, it all comes down to numbers. Even if Sugar new someone at BNZ higher enough up the food chain (agree this is how business works and is won) he/she would have still had to go to his/her boss (who would be a numbers man and on the board) and explained why they want to change agencies.
He/she bosses response would have been ” I hate marketing, shut up you not going to make the board with all that communications creative mumble jumble” he would have then added “look give me something real you freak” And his/her response would have been, “18% cheaper”. He/she boss then would have said “That will do me i am off to tell Tony A the good news you got the green light”, we just found another 1.5 million for the bottom line, he will need some good news as he has just given the country another crap housing prediction that again was proven wrong”.
If this was not the case (and you get the point about creative and branding been the last thing on their minds) then there would have been a creative pitch. But let’s face it if you wanted award winning creative and some blond account managers to yell at you would have gone to DDB or Saatchi. Right?
Thats it in a nut shell. The business was won on the monoploy board, not pictonary.
Good on Sugar, you deserve the business. You no doubt understood the clients bottom line.
A lot of people have come to the defense of Sugar, no real need there, they got some business by hook or by crook. It is BNZ’s move that I don’t like. Personal relationships between BNZ and Sugar be damned, assigning such a huge lump of business without pitch (or tender outside of advertising) is just a wee bit strange for such a large, presumably accountable organisation. I would not be at all happy if they shifted that business just because they are mates and would promptly consider moving my $112 to another bank.
If cost is an issue (18% say), then surely re-pitching would be on, after all, someone might just offer 19%.
On another note, will Honda stay now that they are not the biggest dick?
“But I will explain a bit more for all of you creatives who have little or no business sense.”
This is one of the most arrogant comments on this blog I’ve ever read and that’s saying something. I’m assuming you’re a suit when you write this. Do a little digging and you’ll find many creatives out there have had real world jobs before being a creative, so it might be a good idea to ditch your stereotypical thinking. In my experience they not only think better strategically but communicate better, unlike your error ridden rant.
I love all these juniors commenting as if they are MDs or CDs. Reason? Typos, grammar issues and really naive thoughts. This blog should have two versions. CampaignBrief NZ for people who have been in the industry 5+ years and a ‘lite’ version for interns.
Bad spelling and grammer is fine is the blog digital space. It’s the conversation medium. Who cares, back to the topic…
8.34 very funny.
8.34 speaks the truth
“The business was won on the monoploy board, not pictonary.” Best thing written on the blog. Ever. And especially good for someone who writes knew, as ‘new’.
8.34 ‘s god a point, you’ve got to admit.
All the blonde account managers do get yelled (among other things) at DDB and Saatchi.
It’s a documented fact.
Hey 7.48. Didn’t you read the website? It’s not a random little shop. It’s in the mould of Droga5, Crispin Porter and Taxi. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA……
I went to sugar’s site, clicked on ‘tools’, but it didn’t tell me who works there.
At least this will open up a few jobs surely, as last time I heard Sugar had only one creative team which is the CD and partner.
Sugar won a gold block from the financial advertising awards in NY a few years ago for TSB, that must have helped. Perhaps moreso in BNZ’s minds perhaps than a plastic Axis with the letters falling off.
The arrogant muppets at Honda will be gutted their pet agency is no longer at their exclusive beck and call….
11.30. HILARIOUS.
It was a deal. Not a pitch. The two are different.
I await the Sugar campaign for BNZ with anticipation not known since I read that ASB Bank cut their fee by half.
The weather is getting better. People think property is hot again. The paper’s say that the recession is over.
I’m looking forward to Sugar’s opening salvo in the ensuing war for summer mortgages.
I agree with 8.20. Politics, pitches and pigs aside, the proof will be in the work. So it had better be good.
In the clients mind it doesn’t matter if it’s better, it just needs to be cheaper!
“It was a deal. Not a pitch.”
Not the way to win, Sugar.
Same for you Y&R.
How you won the business and now how you lose the business.
“The paper’s say that the recession is over” Oh please.
Cart before the horse much?
PLEASE tell me the owner of the voice in the new BNZ/Kaikoura whalewatch ads.
We have huge discussions ..but the voice has us totally whacked.
The voice is … generic older Maori man, one of those wise ones not the underclass ones. Makes BNZ feel good about itself to be associated with.
Regards,
Johnno