What you need to know:

• The Victorian Government has appointed OMD as its media agency, ending its relationship with MediaCom. PwC was involved in managing part of the Victorian Government review process. 
• NSW's media account remains in play, as Australia's two largest states plot recovery.

Big win in Vic

OMD has landed the $100m Victorian Government account following a drawn-out process disrupted by Covid impacts.

Insiders told Mi3 the pitch was paused after continued outbreaks of the Covid-19 virus, making it difficult for the state to outline a clear brief for the remaining agencies involved – MediaCom, OMD and Publicis.

The Victorian Government had the option to extend MediaCom's contract by another 12-months but elected to move the account, with OMD taking over from June. 

"This follows a rigorous and highly competitive tender process to ensure the contract delivers optimum value for money in meeting media strategy and buying needs across all Victorian Government departments and agencies," a spokesperson for the Victorian Government told Mi3.

"We would like to thank MediaCom for its hard work and commitment to Victorian Government advertising over the past three years."

The partnership with OMD is also intended to deliver additional benefits in priority areas aligned with Victoria’s Social Procurement Framework.

This includes employment opportunities for those most impacted by the pandemic with a commitment by OMD to hire 12 young people to work on the Victorian Government account and, on an annual basis, employ an additional 15 young people across the agency.

Other social benefits of the contract include a commitment to employ a person with a disability to work on the government account, internship opportunities for Aboriginal people, and purchasing from Victorian social enterprises and Aboriginal businesses.

According to real-time TV analytics and data business Adgile, which pulls its audience data from overnight and consolidated OzTAM reports, the Victorian Government generated  over 400m advertising impressions in 2019, rising to 1.1bn impressions in 2020 for audiences 25+ across the major TV networks.

The figures from 2020 highlight the increased spend the government funnelled into Covid-related messaging. The most frequently advertised campaign categories included education, health, safety, transport and general public service announcements.

The state is also expected to bolster its media spend over the next 12-months, with sources indicating major planned investment in campaigns to drive Covid vaccine uptake, as well as a recovery plan for the City of Melbourne.

"It is an absolute privilege to be selected to partner with the state and testament to the team and product we have built. As an agency, we are driven by delivering real change and impact for our clients – working with the Victorian Government offers that opportunity in spades," said OMD Australia CEO Aimee Buchanan.

NSW next

With the Victorian pitch concluded, all eyes are now on the future of NSW's media account, understood to be worth around $10m more in annual billings than its neighbours to the south.

Like the Victorian account, NSW has the option to extend its current media arrangements by 12-months.

A hybrid GroupM and WPP model was created to service negotiating rates, non-campaign work and government expenditure reporting for the account, while buying was split out across a roster of media agencies in 2017.

OMD, UM, Havas Media and Atomic 212 handle media buying, each with an assigned area of the state's operations.

Behind the master media account for the Federal Government, the NSW account is one of the highest spender of media dollars in the country. While less impacted by lockdowns than Victoria, it will likely have similar strategic priorities.