Bupa Australia announces creative and media partner appointments
Thursday, 18 June 2009
Bupa Australia has concluded a thorough creative and media agency pitch process, announcing the successful agencies today.
Leading edge full service agency Clemenger BBDO has been appointed as the creative partner for Bupa, and internationally renowned global media communications specialist OMD has been selected as the company's media partner.
The announcement comes off the back of a six-month-long competitive tender process, where Bupa’s creative and media accounts were up for grabs following the mid-2008 merger of Bupa Australia (HBA and Mutual Community) and MBF.
Bupa's Director of Marketing, Product and Corporate Affairs, Mark Engel said that the media and creative pitches were open only to the current incumbents - Clemenger BBDO, BMF, OMD and Mitchells, and that in the end the decision came down to the wire, with each agency performing extremely well against all the key pitch criteria, including people and approach, strategy, creative, and commercial terms.
"Each of these agencies has contributed enormously over the years to Bupa's growth, evolution and success. We have come to rely on the strategic vision and superior creativity of each team as we work ever closer towards our goal of being Australia's favourite health and care provider.
"Following the merger, it made commercial sense to consolidate our agency arrangements and we did that via what has been an incredibly competitive and professional pitch," Engel said.
He went on to say that due to the quality long-standing relationships the business had with each of the agencies, as well as their exceptional reputations and expertise and their deep knowledge of Bupa's respective retail brands, "...we knew that whichever agencies we ended up selecting, not only were we ending up with some of the industry's best, regrettably we would also be letting go of some of the industry's best."
"The final decision was extremely difficult to arrive at - we are sorry to be ending our formal relationship with BMF and Mitchells, and we wish each of them ongoing success," Engel said.
"I would like to thank every individual involved in this process, and to congratulate Clemenger BBDO and OMD on the tenacity and passion they showed throughout this process. Together, I’m confident we will continue to develop and strengthen our premium private health insurance brands - HBA, MBF and Mutual Community, and form ever closer relationships with our customers," he concluded.
Bupa also confirmed today that it will retain informal relationships with a small number of specialist digital agencies who will be selected to work with Bupa and the newly appointed creative agency from time-to-time on various digital initiatives.