Telstra’s near 20 year alliance with Ogilvy for mainstream advertising is over but the agency is about to enter a last ditch scrap to retain a role with the telco giant for its crucial customer relationship marketing (CRM) contract.
Telstra confirmed to AdNews yesterday Ogilvy was no longer on its advertising roster – DDB, Droga5 and The Monkeys are now Telstra’s three ad agency partners – but Ogilvy currently retains CRM.
It is understood Telstra will start a sweeping CRM review around October with a decision due before year’s end.
Ogilvy executive chairman Tom Moult told AdNews yesterday: "Telstra is conducting a [CRM] review and we have been invited to pitch. We are eagerly looking forward to showing Telstra what we can do."
Telstra would not comment on the CRM contract but its newly appointed director of CRM, digital and social media, Nick Adams, is understood to be preparing now for the CRM tender.
The CRM budget is expected to rise significantly as the telco prepares for a new competitive environment under the NBN in which customer engagement and goodwill becomes more critical than ever.
Telstra’s mainstream media budget, however, is also said to be increasing for the coming 12 months – north of $110 million is a figure being touted in industry circles.
Nick Adams, previously with Westpac, has been charged with driving Telstra’s CRM agenda which some say has been treated with less importance than it will under the new regime of chief marketing officer Mark Buckman.
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