Saatchi & Saatchi has lost the multi-million dollar regional Visa
account to BBDO and its media agency OMD in a pitch that was clouded by
"unresolvable issues".
The account covers Asia-Pacific, excluding Australia and Japan, and its
billings, including Australia and Japan, is said to be worth at least
US$20 million.
The roots of the dispute can be traced back to October 1997 when
Saatchis - led by David Droga, who is now head of creative at Saatchis
London - won the business in dramatic fashion after entering the pitch
at the last minute.
Senior sources at Saatchis said that when the agency won the account in
1997, the brief did not include Australia and Japan, currently handled
by Clemenger BBDO and Asatsu respectively.
"But at the time they assured us we would eventually get Australia and
Japan; the two biggest markets in Asia, where Visa spends 70 per cent of
its advertising budget," one source told MEDIA.
However, cracks appeared in the Saatchis/Visa relationship in the
summer, when the credit card giant put its account up for review.
To Saatchis' dismay, Australia and Japan were not included in the
review.
"If you think about it, we only had 30 per cent of the Visa adspend pie
and 30 per cent of about US$20 million is not very much," another
source said.
Despite this, Saatchis went into the pitch with recommendations that
included Australia and Japan.
Visa's regional director, brand management and marketing services Rob
Hennin countered by saying: "Saatchis did pitch in Australia and Japan
in 1997, but the incumbents Asatsu and Clemenger were found to be far
stronger and for strategic reasons we felt no need to disrupt the status
quo (now)."
One Saatchis source said, "But while we worked on our pitch, we
continued a dialogue with them to include at least Australia.
"Finally, we told them that they had to make a decision and choose one
agency overall in order to make it worthwhile for that agency."
However, the sources said they didn't think BBDO won the account because
of what they described as "these unresolvable issues".
"It was a hard-fought battle and the guy with the best recommendation
won," one said.
Nevertheless, the loss of the Visa account deals a blow to Saatchis
because it is a major worldwide brand name.
The pitch was focused on strategic including media, a senior BBDO
executive said, who added that strategists from both the agency and OMD
played an important role in winning the account.
Mr Hennin said: "Three agencies were invited in May to present
strategic, creative, media business development strategies to Visa in
July.
"The agency responses were reviewed and consumer tested. Following an
assessment of the relative strengths and weaknesses in the servicing
levels of the three agencies, BBDO was chosen in August 2000 as Visa
Asia-Pacific's new agency of record."
