After 24 years Grey, Melbourne dumped by TAC – new agency tipped to be Clemenger BBDO
Grey, Melbourne has confirmed that its long-held relationship with the TAC would conclude at the end of 2013. After a competitive statutory review, the TAC has decided to move its advertising business elsewhere, rumoured to be Clemenger BBDO, Melbourne.
In a statement, the agency says it comes as a huge surprise to them, given the enormous contribution Grey has made to road safety since it began working with the TAC 24 years ago. This year alone the Victorian road toll is down 19% year on year.
Grey’s work for TAC has consistently been awarded both locally and internationally for creativity and effectiveness, recently winning at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity and the Asian Marketing Effectiveness awards. And as a result of Grey’s work TAC has always been in the top 3 client rankings in Australia.
Says Luke Waldren, CEO of Grey Group Australia: “The people at Grey who have contributed to the work over 24 years should forever hold their heads high for making Victorian roads safer for all. Our families and children are safer as a result of the work Grey has done. I am personally honoured to be part of the agency that has had such a profound impact on the people and state of Victoria.”
Waldren said he wished the TAC all the very best and hoped that the new guard at the TAC would maintain the very high benchmark created by Grey.
“Our passion for making Victorian roads safer isn’t like a light switch you turn on and off…it’s always on and therefore we look forward to the next review…whenever that may be,” says Waldren.
38 Comments
Very sad day for Grey.
Bloody Clem”s, also tipped to pick up ADF.
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck…..
A true shame. This will change GREY for the worse.
I just hope they manage to keep the doors open.
I personally think there TAC work has been top notch.
Not only a sad day for Grey, but also for the TAC. They have done excellent work, work that it is unlikely Clems or anyone else can match. Unless there is a reason we don’t know (like Nigel Dawson moving on) this may turn out to be a foolish move by a new broom sweeping a pristine floor but looking useful.
Totally undeserved.
Thin edge of wedge.Grey will go.Melbourne is fast becoming a one agency town.
Not healthy.
Well done Nige, not sure of anyone else who’s created such an incredible folio of work for one client. You’ve left a legacy for that brand, will be big shoes to fill.
What a horrible decision by TAC.
Grey should be proud of what they have achieved.
Last year our Planning Director showed us photos he’d taken of TAC’s Christmas Table. He said, “This is the type of work we should be doing.”
I’m sorry to hear Grey has lost TAC. I like the work Clemenger do but it’s unfair to be fired when the work is good (and has been for years) and when the road toll is down.
I looked up the current road toll and yes it’s 19% less. That’s effectiveness!
The TAC ads are famous. I watched them growing up. We studied them at high school. Year 12 Media.
The new Marketing Director had made a big call. Shown zero loyalty and loads of politics. This is what sucks about this industry. Well done on a fine innings Grey.
That sucks. Feel sorry for them
Not unexpected, but a sad day nevertheless.
Clems is getting so big they’re going to need their own postcode soon.
Really such a shame. This is not good for Melbourne advertising. It will be even worse if Clems get ADF too.
Grey have lead the world in road safety ads. Some truly brilliant work for a long time. No reason to move the account except a marketing director’s whim?
So, are Clems two biggest accounts TAC and the product that causes thousands of accidents and hundreds of death each year, beer?
Unfair, yes. Political, yes. Surprising, no.
New Government. New Marketing head. New agency.
There’s no loyalty in advertising just a bunch of mates looking after each other.
Hope Grey can keep going. They did a top job.
Damn. Very sad to hear that. Grey (Nigel, in particular) – well done on 24 years of incredible work. Not to mention the thousands and thousands of lives you’ve helped save. End of an era. 🙁
Well done, Nigel and Grey. Amazing iconic work that was always affective and effective.
Bet all the other clients at Clems are stoked about this.
Have always admired Grey’s effective and hard-hitting spots for the TAC. Grey should be very proud of their wonderful body of work that has literally helped save lives. Good on everyone there – you don’t deserve to lose the account.
I don’t think an Australian agency has managed to influence a category around the world the way Grey has with the TAC. Nigel and his team wrote the book. The result? There are tens of thousands of people who walk this earth today as a direct result of what one agency in Melbourne did. Hard to have a greater legacy.
This is a very sad sad day for advertising in Melbourne. Yes a one shop town that is for sure. Fingers crossed Patts retain ADF.
What must an agency do to keep an account? A damn disappointing day for Grey who simply do not deserve this. Nige, Pete and all the Grey crew, you have led the world in this field and although you may be trudging back to the pavilion, it was a first class century with a standing ovation.
No comment on the decision here. Just a loud round of applause for the terrific work Grey and Nigel have done over the years.
It is one of Australia’s best campaigns for anything, ever. Year after year, more good work. Well done.
After 24 years of great work that lowered the road toll and turned a faceless government body into a well known Brand a new political party comes in and says,
Hey Mr new marketing guy you need to make a mark for yourself. Fire that agency of ours and get a new one.”
Long live this advertising shit. Let’s go client-side.
There’s not enough back slapping in this industry. It saddens and makes me angry that an agency who has produced a body of work and the results that Grey have on this account (and continue to do so), has been cut loose so that someone at the top can look like they’re earning their undoubtedly overinflated pay packet.
Poor form.
Good showing Grey – Hope you can plug that hole from somewhere.
Grey has consistently done brilliant work, famous work, for the same client over decades. I’m not sure how many agencies can say they’ve done that. Plus, it’s saved lives. They can hold their head up high.
Let’s just hope this doesn’t signal the beginning of the end for the agency.
Harper, Dow, Dawson and everyone at Grey who worked on TAC are responsible for creating the most effective campaign Australia has ever seen.
Imagine being able to tell your parent, partner or child that you helped save three or four hundred family members every year for the last twenty-four.
A hard act to follow, but I hope Clems do.
I worked on TAC under Nigel Dawson for a few years.
He was a gruff fellow on the outside but an absolutely amazing thinker, CD and writer. I learned a lot from him. As indeed I did from Peter Becker, another of advertising’s greats. The two have done some fantastic work together on this client.
Nigel and the many creative teams he headed over the years at Grey have done a brilliant job. Hats off also to the suits and planners who worked on the account over the past 24 years.
A sad day for Grey and potentially for the industry if it means fewer agencies in town.
New marketing director, new agency. What’s new? Grey have done great work, lacked in digital a bit, but how are Clems going to help with that? They might make good ads but when it comes to digital they have a long way to go.
A brilliant campaign that saved lives. You should all be so proud.
Nothing to see here.
Agency/Client relationships are only strong when the client trusts the partnership. Grey and TAC must have had it right for many years. You see it in the work. The big things, the small things and the ideas in between. But memories are short.
Clients change. Pitches are called. Relationships end.
Go hug your clients…at least it might stop their wandering hands organising a review.
PS. Well done Grey. Thanks for making us safer drivers.
What I’d like to see from Clems is a campaign that seamlessly combines messages from their brewery client and their new road safety client. Not too difficult, surely.
If Greg Harper hadn’t written and sold, ‘If you drink and drive, you’re a bloody idiot.’ The path would not have been created for all that followed.
A sad day when politics and individuals trying to make a mark affects the entire community of Victoria, and needless to say, the highly talented group of people at Grey who created and year after year delivered such amazing work that literally changed lives. Record low road tolls – no one could argue that the campaigns haven’t been working.
Good luck TAC trying to up skill the team at Clems…
Grey have done an incredible job on this account over the years.
If you lived in Victoria at any point during that time, you would have seen and felt the impact Grey have had on road safety.
To the dozens, if not hundreds, of Grey staff who have worked on the account over the years, thank you all. What an incredible achievement.
Meanwhile, I’m going back to selling sugar and saturated fats to demographically segmented acronyms.
Chin up everyone at Grey – past and present. You can be very proud of what you’ve done. Decision makers at TAC on the other hand, you should beware of kharma.
End of an era.
Huge congratulations to Grey, for decades of great awareness through advertising.
Well done all of you.
This illustrates one of the age old problems of advertising.
Dont blame the new Marketing Director, he has an ego, he’s only human.
Blame the management at TAC who appointed him, not having a clue what was required for one of the most effective campaigns in Oz history.
They’ve lived with it for 24 years and still don’t understand it.
Good luck Clems, with such a dumb client, you’ll need it.
This illustrates one of the age old problems of advertising.
Dont blame the new Marketing Director, he has an ego, he’s only human.
Blame the management at TAC who appointed him, fornot having a clue what was required for one of the most effective campaigns in Oz history.
They’ve lived with it for 24 years and still don’t understand it.
Good luck Clems, with such a dumb client, you’ll need it.
Work is down. Toll is up.
Wrong people fired.