Pitch Update: Multiple destinations on offer in IAG pitch

New Business Rankings

Initiative has been surpassed at the top of Campaign's latest media new business ranking – but by which agency? See the full tables here. 

Ongoing

Five holding companies have tickets for the International Airways Group pitch process that started in January. Teams from WPP – the incumbent on British Airways media and creative – plus Omnicom and Interpublic are going for the all-inclusive option, pitching for the integrated media account for IAG as well as the advertising account for BA and the combined Vueling/Iberia business.

Havas is only opting for half board, and is in the running for IAG media and BA creative. Dentsu is hoping for the self-catering option (iProspect is in the running for the media account) after it failed to make it through in the creative contests.

IAG invited Publicis Groupe to pitch for the media and creative but the French-owned group has withdrawn. Uncommon Creative Studio has also met with IAG marketers. Pitches are set to take place at the end of May. A spokesperson for BA declined to comment.

South Western Railway is holding pitches in its advertising review next week. The rail operator is understood to be plotting a campaign that will encourage commuters to make one additional trip a week into work. Given that it runs routes between London Waterloo, Surrey and south west England, the target market for this “back to the office” push would include the Campaign editorial team, often spotted lurking around the head office of Haymarket Media Group in Twickenham. Incumbent Engine will be hoping the account doesn’t leave its station at the end of the process, which AAR is overseeing. 

Eight agencies will be looking for all the energy they can muster (clean or dirty) as they prepare to pitch for Ovo Energy’s creative and media accounts next week. Lucky Generals, McCann London and Saatchi & Saatchi London will contest the creative account, while Goodstuff Communications, iProspect, OMD UK and Wavemaker will battle it out for media. AAR is assisting the process.

Ovo's incumbent agencies are 20Something and The Specialist Works.  

Wins

Medialab has been appointed to lead “events and community fundraising” support for the World Wildlife Fund. The appointment reflects the renewed focus in this area by WWF as UK lockdown restrictions continue to ease. It is a new scope for WWF with no incumbent.

Mineral water brand Aqua Pura, owned by Roxane UK, has appointed Total Media to its media account, and Shoot the Moon to handle its creative, website and organic social media. Both appointments follow competitive pitches and there were no incumbents. The agencies will work on a campaign including TV advertising that will launch in August.

Pitch Marketing Group has been appointed by online used car marketplace Cinch as its retained sponsorship activation agency after a competitive pitch. Cinch did not have an existing sponsorship shop.

Car insurance brand Cuvva has appointed creative agency Hell Yeah! following a three-way pitch. Hell Yeah! will support Cuvva with the creative for its above-the-line campaigns in 2021. It is the brand’s first agency appointment.

Trouble Maker has been chosen by global tech brand Oppo as its digital, social and media comms agency of record in the UK, following a competitive pitch. The incumbent was We Are Social. 

LG, the multinational electronics company, has appointed iCrossing UK as its global SEO consultancy, covering 74 global locations. iCrossing won the business after a competitive global pitch, taking over the remit from incumbent iProspect Australia.

Asda has hired Havas London as its creative agency after a “highly competitive” pitch. Havas London beat a Publicis Groupe team led by Leo Burnett in the final stage of the process. The incumbent, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, and FCB Inferno were involved earlier in the review.

Heinz Beanz has appointed Dentsumcgarrybowen UK to handle its advertising business without a pitch. Bartle Bogle Hegarty London, which has overseen advertising for the Kraft baked beans brand since 2015, will continue to work with Heinz on other brands. 

Jaguar Land Rover has appointed Accenture Interactive to “join forces” with Spark44, its 10-year-old joint-venture agency, as the car brand aims to digitally transform its global marketing.