M&C Saatchi, Sydney snares NRMA Insurance, SGIC and SGIO accounts in shoot-out with Host
In the biggest account move this year M&C Saatchi, Sydney has won mega insurance brands NRMA Insurance, SGIC and SGIO following a two-way shootout against Host, Sydney.
CB understands incumbent Whybin\TBWA, Sydney were knocked out of the pitch in late March, although one source says they did not re-pitch, citing differences of opinion on the future of the brand. The agency created a series of multi award-winning campaigns for the brand including NRMA ‘Car Creation’, which won the Australian Effies Grand Prix in September last year.
Says Anthony Justice, head of marketing for NRMA Insurance, SGIC and SGIO: “We selected M&C Saatchi on the strength of their strategic thinking and creative ideas regarding our direct insurance brands.
“The team at M&C Saatchi illustrated they have the capability to partner with us in developing and implementing a highly creative approach that strengthens the core positioning of our brands.”
Says Jaimes Leggett, M&C Saatchi CEO: “This is a significant win for the agency. As well as being one of the largest accounts in Australia, NRMA Insurance, SGIC and SGIO are all iconic brands. We can’t wait to get started. It’s great to see the bolstered team making their mark.”
In the past few months M&C Saatchi has made significant new talent hires, including appointing Justin Graham at Chief Strategy Officer from Droga5 and its recent luring of Ben Cooper as Group Innovation Director from The Monkeys.
19 Comments
I hope they are nicer to you than they were to us.
They have some great brands that deserve great creative and wish you all the luck cutting through the layers of nonsense that lives inside that building.
This is a great win for M&C, the A team there kicking their 1st big goal.
Big win, well done M&C. When it comes to pitching, the capacity over there are scary.
…that clients don’t give a crap about advertising awards. Oh, it’s a strange industry we work in.
Well deserved M&C and nice to see the account going back “home”.
Dear Mr More proof.
Why,WHY ,would they give a shit about advertising awards.
There is nothing in it for them.
For fuck’s sake grow up!
They don’t even give a crap about effectiveness awards as well
I’m sure there were a few more people involved than just the newbies.
Pitches like that are way too big for a handful – no matter who they are.
Well done to all involved, including the no doubt many usual contributors.
Got the Toms all over it.
No one has kept the account more than 3 years in a long time.
I also don’t think that Whybin’s were not concentrating on the business, they were the most effective client in Australia last year.
It wasn’t the work.
That was kind of my point, Movethemerch. Thought that was pretty obvious.
i used to be with nrma for 20 years until i read last year that they had tripled their profits. i wrote to ceo asking if i could expect a rebate or reduced premium for this year ,on the basis that my house premium had gone up by 25%. No way,the ceo took a $1million + bonus on top of his $4 million salary,and the company increased dividend to shareholders by 25%,which of course would have been an additional bonus to those executives already getting huge bonuses. I felt that i was being taken for a mug,so i got other quotes,and found that all those loyalty discounts totalling thousands of dollars on your premiums don’t mean much at all,as quotes that i got from other reputable companies were cheaper without 20 years of loyalty bonuses.
on the day i switched,I received my nrma gold membership card in the post.
There’s always an Ian.
Wrong blog Dickhead you should be talking to Choice.
Just shows you that clients don’t give a shit about silly awards judged by ad guys
It’s been a long time coming. So well deserved and such great news. Whybin losing the NRMA business that is.
You sound like a bit of a nob.
A lot of people lost jobs because of this. Including me.
And as for ‘it’s been a long time coming’ I would agree with you, while I was there, we pitched the account four times in three years. So this would have been the fifth.
I believe they had that many marketing directors in the same period.
I hope that at some point the CEO has a good hard look at who and how the place is being run.
An agency opting out of a pitch sounds like an agency not getting on with the client.
There is NO way Whybin,s would have opted out of this pitch and sounds like a little white lie to me.
I presume it came down to ‘Sales’ v ‘Awards’….and the GOLD went to ‘Sales’
Congrats Whybin.
Great win, good to see they havent totally lost the plot after having failed to win any significant new business for 2 years until this.
Recent history at m&c:
1. Lost Westfield
2. Lost Woolworths
3. Lost Qantas
4. Lost Lendlease
5. Lost Eftpos
6. Lost David Jones
7. Lost Tennis Australia
8. Won CommBank (then almost got fired for backpack hoax ad)
9. Lost Dick Smith
10. On course to lose Optus???
Reality check, I’m sure M&C are grateful that you take such a keen interest in their business. You’ll no doubt also be aware that during the period in question they managed to replace Qantas with a much bigger airline in Etihad, pulled off a much lauded rebranding of Optus, more than doubled their Melbourne office with a heap of new staff & clients and managed to keep virtually all their Sydney staff in jobs to pay their bills, mortgages etc..
Oh, and as you point out, win the nation’s biggest bank with a brand campaign that’s become a byword for the brand.
Reality check, be interested to know how this stacks up with what you’ve achieved?