Each way bet: Tabcorp splits agency remit handing WPP's Ogilvy customer, Accenture Song creative, brand, platform

News Plus 22 Jan 2023 - 2 min read

Each way bet: Tabcorp splits agency remit handing WPP's Ogilvy customer, Accenture Song creative, brand, platform

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Tabcorp's overhaul under customer chief Jenni Barnett continues. The firm is hedging its bets on agency partners, with WPP's Ogilvy scooping CX duties and Accenture Song taking on brand strategy and creative. That outcome may raise some eyebrows, given both firms tout end-to-end capability, though Barnett told Mi3 last year she was open to splitting the business, describing both firms as "world class".

Tabcorp has split its creative and customer experience accounts, hiring Accenture Song for the former with Ogilvy picking up the latter.

The review kicked off last September with incumbent M&C Saatchi subsequently stating it would not be pitching to retain the business.

DDB and Saatchi & Saatchi were also understood to be vying for the account.

Of the two winners, Ogilvy may be the happiest, given earlier indications by Chief Customer Officer Jenni Barnett that much of the work lies in CX as she bids to overhaul Tabcorp’s approach, going all out for digital growth in a bid to see off nimble rivals that have cut its turf in recent years.

She ruled out going toe-to-toe with those rivals on big spending ad campaigns.

“The competitors go really hard on free-to-air television … I have no intention of significantly boosting our advertising spend to compete with that, I’m just not interested,” said Barnett. “What I’m interested is really understanding our customers and focusing on the stuff we can control.”

Hence shaking up Tabcorp's marketing capability and strategy, adding more data and digital firepower in place of some "more traditional types of marketer", per Barnett, while seeking out a new agency.

“The pitch is for combined creative and CX,” Barnett told Mi3 in October. “I'm not looking for an advertising agency as such, I'm looking for a partner that can stretch across creative and customer experience, because it's all so interlinked. We need to make sure that customer experience strategy is stitched across the seams … and bring some best practice thinking into that”.

While it may not have been plan A, Barnett indicated she was open to taking on two partners. "I’m just after the best outcomes, so I’m really open to how all that plays out,” she said.

The upshot is that Ogilvy won one-to-one customer experience and always on, while Accenture Song will now handle brand strategy, platform and creative.

While both agencies will take the win, the split remit underlines the competitiveness in market for end-to-end services touted by both firms. Accenture Song has amassed an army of specialist agencies under the umbrella brand, while Ogilvy has similarly been bulking up CX muscle under the global stewardship of former Deloitte Digital boss Andy Main. Both aim to squeeze out rivals by providing broader, deeper services. Now the two will work alongside each other.

Confirming the new roster, Tabcorp described both agencies as "world class" with each playing a key role in transforming the business since its demerger from the Lotteries and Keno business last year.

"We can’t wait to partner with the Accenture Song and Ogilvy combination, along with our talented internal team to take us to the next level as a company as we continue to transform our iconic Australian company at pace," stated Barnett, adding that all agencies that pitched for the account were "incredible". Tumbleturn Media ran the review, a process Barnett described as "first class".

OMD remains Tabcorp's media agency.

Update: Headline and intro amended to clarify Accenture Song appointed rather than its creative agency The Monkeys. "We are working with them more broadly," per Jenni Barnett.