Vodafone switches ad agencies to DDB
Loss of telco’s work in ‘biggest account move of the year’ likely to be a tough blow for FCB just before Christmas
One of New Zealand’s biggest advertising accounts has changed hands right before the Christmas break. Vodafone, which regularly places in the top 10 clients in terms of ad spend, has moved its creative account from ad agency FCB to DDB.
FCB has held the advertising account since 2012, when it won a pitch against competitors Ogilvy, 99 and AffinityID.
Before that, the account was on College Hill with Colenso BBDO.
DDB will now lead brand communications and advertising, while Track, its direct marketing agency, will take care of customer value aspects. The move follows a commercial review at Vodafone, and it’s understood there was no pitch involved in the process.
Louise Kuegler, Vodafone’s head of brand and insights, said the timing was right for a change given the current transformation the business.
FCB has over the years developed several popular campaigns for Vodafone. Some of the more notable work used actor James Rolleston as the face of the brand, while another endearing campaign featured the story of a lost piglet named Piggy-Sue.
The Piggy-Sue campaign proved so likeable the Irish arm of Vodafone decided to replicate it for the Irish market.
Vodafone spent more than $45 million on advertising this year, according to Nielsen media spend figures.
Losing a client of this magnitude will be a tough blow to FCB, particularly given it comes so close to the Christmas break.
A source with decades of experience in the advertising business told the Herald this was likely the biggest account move of the year and that a client of this size would normally be serviced by a team of at least 15 staff. But the source said the agency may be able to mitigate some of the losses by moving staff internally or winning new business.
FCB wouldn’t say how many people worked on the account or how many jobs might be lost, but it did say it had recently won three yetto-be announced client wins. At this stage, it is unclear how big these accounts are in comparison with Vodafone.
FCB global vice-chairman Bryan Crawford expressed disappointment at not being able to work with the new Vodafone management team, led by new chief executive Jason Paris.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the unwavering professionalism, commitment and resilience of the FCB team during our tenure,” Crawford said. “I know our team at FCB will show the same level of commitment to Vodafone until the business transitions, probably around the first quarter 2019.”
The move ends a tough year for FCB, with the agency earlier confirming a round of redundancies and parting with former CEO Dan Martin.
FCB said it would shortly reveal who is replacing Martin.
There is also a sweet and sour element to the win for DDB in that it will now have to part ways with telco client 2degrees. The agency won the 2degrees account in September last year.
DDB chief executive Justin Mowday said he couldn’t resist the opportunity to work with Vodafone and thus reluctantly had to split with 2degrees, which is yet to announce a replacement agency. The arrival of a telco on the market will no doubt spark interest from a number of agency suitors in this market.
The Herald is yet to receive comment from 2degrees.