It is believed that about five agencies pitched, including Publicis-owned Fallon and Grey Global Group Hong Kong, which pulled out at an early stage.
But sources expect the real battle will be between WPP's Ogilvy & Mather and MindShare and Publicis' Leo Burnett and Starcom.
The US$1.8 billion attraction will be Disney's fifth park after Florida, California, Tokyo and Paris when it opens either in 2005 or '06. But the account will be worth a fraction of what Disney spends in the other markets, according to sources. "Disney asked agencies what they should invest and where, or what the split should be between Hong Kong, Southern China, Taiwan and Japan. The budget won't be what it is in other markets, but it will still be millions of US dollars," said a source.
All agencies are understood to have worked on Disney business in other markets.
However, that will have little impact on the outcome of the pitch because the new park is majority owned by the Hong Kong Government and will not be bound by partnerships in other markets. Said one source: "It means they make up their own minds and are not swayed by the linkages in other markets. Most of the board is Hong Kong Government members. They have a rather aggressive view on this. It means they don't have to use Coke as the drinks supplier, or McDonald's for food, or agencies that they have used in other markets."
The WPP team may also face a client conflict issue; Ogilvy and MindShare picked up the account for rival attraction, Ocean Park, last month.
Roy Tan Hardy, the park's VP for marketing and sales, said: "We are looking for a partner with a long-term commitment to make an impact with creativity and understand our challenges."
See p20.