Specsavers has concluded a four-month pitching process by appointing GroupM's EssenceMediacom as its media agency for Australia and New Zealand.

The agency, which has been working with Specsavers in New Zealand since 2010, will now extend its services to Australia starting from March 1, 2025.

EssenceMediacom will take over in Australia from IPG Mediabrands' Initiative, which has held the account since 2016. Midway through the pitch process, which the incumbent is understood to have participated in, news broke that Initiative's top three executives would be headed to Accenture Song to lead the firm's new full-service media buying unit.

https://www.mi-3.com.au/15-05-2024/initiative-accenture

"We want to acknowledge and thank all the agencies that took part in each stage of the pitch process from the initial RFI response to the chemistry sessions and finally, the shortlisted five agencies who took part in workshops to assess their ability to respond in a simulated live environment. All agencies came with passion for our business and presented quality work which highlighted the strength of Australia and New Zealand's media agencies," said Director of Marketing Planning ANZ, Shaun Briggs.

EssenceMediacom will work in partnership with Specsavers' marketing teams, creative and PR agencies, with the account to be run out of the EssenceMediacom Melbourne and Auckland offices.

"We are delighted to continue our relationship with EssenceMediacom and are looking forward to extending our partnership across ANZ. Throughout the pitch process, the team showed their strategic thinking, media expertise, and data and tech capability. They combined their intelligence with a passion for our business that really resonated with our team," Briggs said.

CEO at EssenceMediacom, Pippa Berlocher, said: "I'm so proud of the team and the work they have done in NZ. We all loved working on this pitch, it was an incredible and enjoyable process. It was amazing to see the team shine and engage so well with the awesome team at Specsavers from the beginning. I can't wait to demonstrate that same level of passion and knowledge for the Specsavers business in AU,"