Page 36 - AdNews magazine Jul-Aug 2021

Feature
Melhuish says there’s a lot to be done before briefing an agency. “My advice to marketers is to invest the time upfront into getting this right. Set up a dedicated team that can focus — it’s not a side-of- the-desk job,” she says.
“To be fair to all partners, you need a clear idea of what your busi- ness needs are, deeply consider which agencies can deliver on that and develop a tight brief.
“These are all critical to achieving a strong pitch. It’s also important to be empathetic to how much time and effort goes into the pitch process.
“Being upfront about the mile- stones and objectives you are hop- ing to achieve saves wasting agency time which, in part, is what the guidelines are all about.”
COVID-19 provided lessons for many brands and their agencies.
“The good news was that our brand and the way we are posi- tioned meant we could focus on dialling up our purpose in pro- viding genuine help for custom- ers in the big and small moments,” says Melhuish.
“What we did was really focus on our channel mix and how peo- ple want to receive information.”
St George, one of the Westpac Group brands, was scheduled to launch a brand campaign as COVID-19 hit. Internally, debate followed on whether to change tact. “However, the pandemic made the campaign even more relevant, as it brings to life the friendly customer service that St George is known for,” says Melhuish.
“With a revised media plan leveraging the shift in media con- sumption habits, we were actually able to achieve record levels of brand recall.”
The team at Spark was backed by the collective group of agencies at Publicis to help win the Westpac account. Of Publicis’s top 20 clients, 15 work with two or more Publicis agencies.
Michael Rebelo, CEO, Publicis Groupe ANZ, says since 2016 the company has pursued a significant strategic and cultural transforma- tion which has seen the creation of a “connected platform”.
“This has meant removing all agency brand silos and breaking
“This connected culture means the best ideas can come from anywhere in our organisation.”
CEO, Publicis Groupe, Michael Rebelo
away from the traditional holding company model and anti-collaborative mindset,” he tells AdNews.
“Our connected platform approach is made possible by our unique commercial structure — having a single country P&L. So unlike tradi- tional holding companies, there are no land grabs between our agencies. We don’t have multiple P&Ls in each brand, and our agencies are incentivised to work collectively.
“While we still compete and there are times when our agencies do pitch against each other, when they’re not, the focus is on collaborating to help our clients’ businesses.
“During the Toyota and Westpac pitches, Saatchi & Saatchi was heavily involved in supporting the Spark team.
“Our connected platform is more than an operational model, it’s an entirely new cultural model built to unite our people in a connected way of thinking and working.
“This connected culture means the best ideas can come from anywhere in our organisation. I know everyone talks about