Agencies, including incumbent DDB Singapore, have made initial presentations for the business, which includes media, events, activation and digital as well as advertising. Ogilvy & Mather, an HPB roster agency, is expected to team up with WPP sister agency MindShare for the pitch, while DDB will partner Omnicom stablemate PHD.
The HPB pitch comes at a tough time for the Government body, which has been criticised for failing to reach lower-educated groups in the city-state’s heartland areas. The brief is expected to involve finding ways to connect with these groups. Agencies have also been tasked to produce campaigns to warn of the dangers of heavy gambling ahead of the opening of two high-profile casino resorts in Singapore next year.
DDB was awarded the HPB’s HIV/Aids and anti-smoking briefs after a multi-agency pitch in April 2007. The Omnicom agency is HPB’s retained agency-of-record; however, the body pitches projects regularly.
The DDB-Ogilvy head-to-head coincides with OgilvyOne Singapore’s appointment of Rapp Collins managing director Lucy McCabe as the agency’s lead consultant. McCabe replaces Mervyn Badiali, who has returned to his native Australia.
During a two-and-a-half-year spell at Rapp Collins Singapore, McCabe grew the agency from four people to 18. The move marks a return to Ogilvy for the Oxford graduate, who spent two years with Ogilvy as a business director before joining Rapp Collins.
Rapp Collins Singapore has moved to replace McCabe by promoting head of data analytics Huw Hopkins.
David Tang, president and CEO of DDB Singapore Group said: “Lucy has done a great job in a difficult discipline. We want a highly-specialised data-centric approach to direct marketing, and we’re pleased we have Huw in place to succeed Lucy.”
