Match Media has established an office in Melbourne to better serve clients and growing interest from Australia's second largest media market.
The team of five will be led by client partner Garth Moring and based out of the Southbank offices of fellow Publicis Groupe members Saatchi & Saatichi and Sapient Nitro.
About 10% of Match's revenue stems from Melbourne, including Nando's. Match Media chief executive John Preston tells AdNews the move was motivated by several factors, including conversations with prospective clients and creative agencies looking to work with Match.
“Now that we've got the infrastructure and the opportunity with the Publicis network to expand really quickly, it makes sense to do so in Melbourne,” he says.
“We have a lot of client and creative agency interest coming out of Melbourne suggesting we should set up there. I can't disclose details but they will come out of the woodwork if they go to pitch.
“We've always had a policy that we should work with creative agencies in or outside the Publicis walled garden, and we've had a lot of enquiry from independent agencies outside to work on pitches.”
The agency, which has no plans to expand into any other states, has moved into Melbourne at a time when the media market has opened up and is booming. The city is known for its automotive sector, retail and a host of banks headquartered there.
Until a few years ago, media agencies shied away from setting up in Melbourne due to the stranglehold Harold Mitchell had on the market.
“Harold is off the scene now and the market is a lot more volatile with a lot of movement,” Preston explains. “There was quite a lot of pitches coming out of Melbourne last year, and that seems to be ongoing this year. It's a very interesting market.”
Match Media has experienced solid growth in recent years and now has annual billings of more than $200 million and 90 staff. Last year, Match took the NRMA account from MediaCom and was a finalist in the media agency category of the AdNews Agency of the Year awards held last week.
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