iiNet safe and sound at home, OMD WA holds on

James McGrath
By James McGrath | 16 March 2015
 
iiNet.

OMD WA has beaten out a shortlist of at least five agencies to hold onto its $20 million iiNet account.

The OMD brand, which operates under Marketforce in WA, beat out the likes of Vizeum, Mindshare, ZenithOptimedia, and Initiative WA to retain the account.

Chief operating officer at iiNet, Maryna Fewster, said the Internet Service Provider is looking forward
to continuing its strong working relationship with OMD WA.

“We’ve worked with OMD for a couple of years now and have complete confidence in their new leadership team,” Maryna said.

"Angela Nutton, who assumed responsibility for the iiNet account in 2014, is now MD of OMD and has brought a new level of commitment and innovation to our account. She leads a team who really deliver and we look forward to further strengthening our brand presence around the country as we continue to grow as a business.”

Doubt was thrown on the status of the media pitch last week as a $1.4 billion bid for iiNet from TPG had both Initiative Perth and OMD WA confused as to how it would all play out.

OMD WA scooped the account, despite overcoming an internal overhaul, with managing director Bob Goodge departing the agency as a result of a dispute with Marketforce CEO John Driscoll.

Driscoll told AdNews at the time that the agency was seeking to simplify operations, and integrate its offerings.

“Perth is a market you need everything integrated, you can't have planning and investment being independent from each other," Driscoll said.

"You need that all integrated”

The early indication was that iiNet was seeking an east coast agency to take on its media buying as it eyes up a national push, but it soon emerged that one of the key stipulations around the account was that the agency have a Perth office.

That thinned-out the field to a shortlist of Mindshare, Initiative, and OMD WA, but soon Mindshare was forced off the list due to a conflict of interest as it picked up the Foxtel account from GroupM stablemate MediaCom, which is currently being audited.

ZenithOptimedia was welcomed back onto the shortlist after offering up a Perth office, but it wasn't enough as iiNet elected to stay the course with OMD WA.

 

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