EssenceMediacom – GroupM’s newest and largest agency – has retained health insurance brand nib after a competitive pitch.
The agency first partnered with the Newcastle-based health insurance brand in 2011. The renewed partnership will see EssenceMediacom continue to lead media strategy, planning, buying and digital transformation for nib across all channels, including performance.
nib set a clear transformation agenda throughout the tender, calling for best of breed portfolio management, creativity and performance.
EssenceMediacom’s integrated capability delivered a three-year vision for nib to Breakthrough in the category, transforming into the Health Enabler of the future by predicting customer needs, leveraging GroupM’s privacy first data spine, Choreograph.
Pat Crowley, EssenceMediacom CEO, said: “Nib is committed to better health and wellbeing for all Australians and it’s a great honour to continue working closely with them to achieve their goals and help its members access the health information and services they need.
“This is the first major pitch where we truly explored our new approach to Breakthrough Thinking for Brands and the new products and planning system that underpin it.
“All agencies know that it can be challenging to pitch as an incumbent, but this really proves the strength of our relationship and our promise to deliver breakthrough thinking that will drive brands forwards.”
Chris Donald, head of marketing, nib Group, said: “EssenceMediacom really impressed us with their strategic thinking, media execution as well as their detailed data and tech capability. They brought the smarts we were looking for and cultural values that align with ours.
“We’re excited to extend our relationship with the talented and passionate team at the newly merged agency and bring their breakthrough thinking to our brand,” Donald added.
nib was founded in 1952 and is one of Australia’s largest and fastest growing health funds.
This comes after EssenceMediacom recently named Pippa Berlocher as the new CEO in Australia & New Zealand, taking over the role from Crowley.
Berlocher joins from IPG Mediabrands’ performance marketing agency Reprise, where she was APAC president.