There was also a separate media pitch pitting the incumbent - Batey's
media shop Maximize - against DDB and Burnett's respective agencies OMD
and Starcom.
The Courts account has been at Batey Retail, formerly John Hagley Communications, for more than 20 years.
Terry O'Connor, Courts managing director, said the review "was not due
to any dissatisfaction with Batey Retail". But he added that the
company's needs had changed, and it wanted to explore what other
agencies had to offer. He said Burnett and DDB were shortlisted because
they have retail experience, having worked on the McDonald's and M1
mobile phone accounts respectively.
"We looked for ad agencies that had clients similar to us. It means they are used to working at a fast pace,
he said.
While most of its adspend goes to television and press, Courts has been changing its marketing approach by testing CRM and cyber initiatives.
The review comes as Courts faces stiff competition from Harvey Norman, an Australian furniture and electrical retailer, which launched in Singapore last year.
