BBDO snatches prized Visa A-P account from Saatchi & Saatchi

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."

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