Winning ways: IAG appoints Initiative to $50m media account, ending 10-year relationship with GroupM

News Plus 5 Jul 2021 - 2 min read

Winning ways: IAG appoints Initiative to $50m media account, ending 10-year relationship with GroupM

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IAG becomes the second major client win for Initiative in as many weeks, as CMO Brent Smart continue to shake-up his agency roster.

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Tags: NRMA Initiative media pitch Brent Smart

One of Australia's largest insurance groups, IAG, has appointed Initiative to its media account. The pitch came down to the Mediabrands agency and a new hybrid combination of incumbent Mindshare and sister creative shop Whitegrey. The move ends a 10-year relationship between the insurer and GroupM, as CMO Brent Smart continues to "shake up" his approach to his agency relationships. Initiative's IAG win comes after landing Afterpay last week.

What you need to know:

IAG ends its decade-long relationship with GroupM, with Initiative understood to have been appointed its new media agency of record.
IAG did not confirm the move at the time of publishing but a statement is expected imminently.
It's the second major account win for the Mediabrands agency in as many weeks after also securing Afterpay.
CMO Brent Smart understood to have cast a wide net, looking towards smaller indies for strategy-led solutions as well as holding companies.

A new policy

IAG has completed its search for a new media agency, appointing Initiative to its $50m account, Mi3 understands.

The pitch came down to the wire, with Initiative getting the nod ahead of a hybrid model including incumbent agency Mindshare and WPP sister creative shop Whitegrey.

A newly formed collective, the Mindshare and Whitegrey team used strategists from the creative agency, while buyers and planners would continue to come from media.

Despite this, CMO Brent Smart opted for a new agency, marking the end of the 10-year relationship between IAG and GroupM, which picked up the account through MediaCom in 2010.

“We hadn’t reviewed media for more than six years and a lot has changed in the space. The Initiative team blew us away with their energy and cultural fit, but in the end, we want great media thinking, and Initiative demonstrated that they could deliver it," Smart said.

The recent flurry of new business activity has seen Initiative come up trumps, securing both IAG and buy now, pay later juggernaut Afterpay in the space of a week.

As part of the pitch process, IAG also looked outside of the larger holding groups, inviting indie agencies such as Thinkerbell, Speed and This is Flow to pitch, with the latter understood to have made it close to the final round.

Industry insiders close to the review told Mi3 that while some impressed, IAG was overall underwhelmed by the showing from some major holding groups and their respective agencies. Smart and his team were understood to be seeking strategy-led media.

“We were deeply impressed by the respect shown at every stage in the pitching process and the demand for high quality thinking. I am excited to move beyond pitch mode and embrace the opportunity ahead to create career-defining work together,” Initiative MD Sam Geer said.

The IAG business includes insurance brands such as the NRMA, RACV and CGU. Smart has openly discussed his view on agency relationships in recent months, expressing an interest in "evaluating the market".

The CMO has previously denied any intention of reviewing its creative account. However, it is also currently evaluating its personalised services account, currently held by CHE Proximity.

"We’ve been proud to do some amazing and innovative work with IAG over the past 7 years. We have hustled hard for NRMA and CGU through every crisis and remained adaptive through adversity. We are incredibly grateful to all our media partners who worked alongside us to respond to quickly to issues including bushfires, storms, floods and the pandemic all of which impacted Australians’ lives," Katie Rigg-Smith, Mindshare Australasia CEO said.