DDB dumped as Colenso BBDO snares creative duties for insurance group IAG and its AMI brand
General insurance group IAG has completed an internal assessment of its agency partnerships and has confirmed that AMI’s above-the-line advertising and media work will move to Colenso and Spacestation respectively, sharing the agency stable alongside IAG’s other direct insurance brand State.
The decision means that AMI will move its marketing relationships from DDB and OMD (Media).
IAG’s head of marketing and communications, Michael Pryor, says the opportunity is to ensure that a strategic portfolio approach is at the forefront of how IAG maintains its market leadership position with its direct insurance brands.
Says Pryor: “The insurance industry is going through a significant period of change. It is important for us to ensure a well coordinated strategy borne of a deep knowledge of the value propositions of our direct insurance brands. In our view this can best be achieved by consolidating work with marketing partners who can support our portfolio approach and broader strategy.
“The strong existing relationships we have with Colenso and Spacestation will work well to serve AMI and State equally. As a result of us working collaboratively across AMI and State we are also expecting to see benefits in terms of greater coordination and marketing efficiencies with our chosen agency partners.
“Both DDB and OMD have contributed strongly to the success of the AMI brand over many years. The relationship has seen some memorable campaign work- but circumstances since IAG’s purchase of AMI earlier this year present the opportunity and need for change.”
IAG says it chose not to follow a pitch process in the view that these can often be disruptive, time consuming and cause a loss of marketing momentum.
11 Comments
“IAG says it chose not to follow a pitch process in the view that these can often be disruptive, time consuming and cause a loss of marketing momentum.”
Take a note, Vodafone.
Apparently DDB are having a big party in their flash new bar tonight, to celebrate their worst client leaving. Sounds like fun.
Colenso dropped their pants and did another silly financial deal to win this, much like the shocking deal that is keeping Fonterra there. They sure know how to devalue their own great creative product, and bring down the industry as a whole while they’re at it.
Normally an agency would hire people at this point, but what’s the bet Colenso expect the existing numbers to do it? Something is fundamentally wrong with their business when people are regularly working through the night (literally) to get work done, multiple people are on medical stress leave, and its been going on for months. I guess the creative product hasn’t suffered, but humans are.
And BNZ also….!?
I would make three comments to your one rather naiive one.
1. That ‘worst’ client as you say, was their client for over 20 years and hails from the grand old days of Doug Faudet. If it was indeed their ‘worst’ client, presumably they would have been gone long ago.
2. The marketing client running AMI from IAG is one I’ve worked with while he was in other roles. He is a smart marketer and business person and definitely nobody’s fool, least of all DDB’s.
3. Thanks for letting us all know that the agency has turned to booze following this loss. That hardly serves them well either.
Doug Faudet did a great job bedding in AMI at DDB, and in my opinion, DDB did some pretty good work over the 20 years.
A lot of the work was done after-hours, due to the client being in ChCh, which meant many late nights and early morning flights. Doug, to his credit, did a lot of that work.
AMI wasn’t their worst client, AMI suffered from the ‘quake, loss/destruction of head office, a government bailout, loss of brand status/public confidence, and AMI staff morale was virtually zero.
The fact that the client/agency relationship was in trouble was broadcast to the industry via the most recent AMI TV ad, namely
– By having members of AMI staff fronting the ad in an effort to gain empathy
– having the logo on screen right through the length of the commercial
– lack of production values (looked like it was made by the TVNZ production offshoot)
– the dumping of TV sponsorship (which, to be fair, is ridiculously cheap these days)
I hope the AMI brand survives IAG. Premiums are about to go up 30% across the board (more for those poor Cantabrians) and the market will be defined by price wars, not brand. One just has to look at the health insurance market to see what will happen.
To Paul.
Did you know that CAANZ now has a Code of Conduct? Did you realise that your comments sit well and truly outside of that Code? And are you also from DDB by any chance? I thought so.
I assume your comments will make you the first to be hauled in front of CAANZ’s Code of Conduct panel. Hang on. Isn’t your CEO also the President of CAANZ who presides over misconduct?
That’s a problem isn’t it.
It’s only a problem if you expected any negative outcome for ‘Paul’.
It’s called Conflict of Interest. Do you reckon there’s a section in the code to cover it?
Mr Wise One, perhaps you should try to get better contacts within the industry. The loss of Fonterra brands from BBDO to the ‘other’ agency had been happening for a while. It was well known that cost was a major factor, that’s why so few other agencies also went after the business. The fact that Fonterra stayed (but for how much longer?) could only be put down to rampant cost savings in the face of the new CEO.
As for the CAANZ COC – jeez, this is advertising. You’ve obviously never enjoyed the pleasure of screwing another agency whilst smiling politely to their face. The COC is only there to give an outward appearance of being a responsible industry.
See you at the Effies…
2:07
You can throw a party if you want but it looks more a case of the client getting rid of their worst agency.