Saatchi & Saatchi Wins Elections NZ and Referendum Campaign

Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand has won the Elections New Zealand advertising account and the Voting System Referendum campaign.

The wins will see Saatchi & Saatchi NZ’s expertise applied to the country’s 2011 general election voter information, enrolment and referendum campaign, the 2012 Maori Electoral Option and the 2013 Local Elections enrolment drive.

Saatchi & Saatchi, working with Starcom Worldwide, won theElections account after a two-stage strategic pitch which included atask brief targeting hard-to-reach audiences.

In a separate pitch process, Saatchi & Saatchi picked up the VotingSystem Referendum campaign, enabling the agency to take a seamless andphased approach to promoting the referendum in conjunction with thegeneral election.

“Saatchi and Starcom demonstrated a deep understanding of our business.We were impressed with their thinking and strong team dynamic, and arelooking forward to getting the early stages of the campaign planningunderway,” said Murray Wicks of the Electoral Enrolment Centre.

“The team’s thrilled to have these wins and are looking forward toapplying some fresh thinking to ensure an integrated campaign thatengages all eligible voters,” said Saatchi & Saatchi’s WellingtonGeneral Manager Livia Esterhazy.

The Elections account includes the combined business of the new Electoral Commission and the Electoral Enrolment Centre. The account will be led by Saatchi’s Wellington office, drawing on expertise from across the agency as required.

Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Nicky Bell said the account win offers agreat opportunity for the team to demonstrate its robust understandingof government communications. “The Wellington team has a strong knowledge and track record in thepublic sector and we are focussed on putting that experience intoaction. We’re delighted to be entrusted with this important account,”she said.