Surprise As Bank Reappoints Outsider To Media Role

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday September 4, 2008

Paul McIntyre

THE Commonwealth Bank confounded its critics yesterday by reappointing Ikon Communications to handle the bulk of its $60 million media buying and planning contract while breaking with tradition to appoint the creative agency BMF to handle media and communications strategy for the bank's large youth segment.

After a protracted review in which Ikon was viewed by many to be an outsider to win back the contract, Commonwealth Bank's chief marketing officer, Mark Buckman, confirmed to the Herald yesterday that Ikon and BMF had been appointed to run its media business.

He said it was too early to detail what changes were afoot in the way the bank would deal with media companies but did not rule out a "radical shift".

He said the bank had already "reweighted" its spending this year towards more digital marketing through search engine marketing and search engine optimisation and this would continue. "It's too early to say what we're going to do," Mr Buckman said. "The review has given us access to some capabilities we didn't have before so as we go though the next planning cycle we will certainly be analysing all of that.

"There's definitely been a shift in our spending towards more digital and direct media but that doesn't negate the importance of TV and print in our mass marketing, particularly with regards to our brand awareness work."

Ikon, owned by listed STW Communications, is understood to have wheeled out senior STW executives in its pitch to the bank and offered some media technologies developed by the London-based global communications group WPP, which holds a large stake in STW and has joint ventures with the company via advertising network brands Ogilvy & Mather and JWT.

Apart from the surprise reappointment of Ikon, the Commonwealth Bank's decision to appoint BMF to handle its youth segment - it has 3.5 million customers aged under 24 - will also cause a stir in the market as debate rages about the need for creative agencies to become more involved in media strategy.

Heavyweight media agency players such Harold Mitchell, the executive chairman of Mitchell Communications Group, are unconvinced about more creative agency involvement in media strategy but Mr Buckman said closer ties between the two sectors was long overdue.

"The link between creative execution and [media] channels has separated more than we would like to see," he said. Mr Buckman said both BMF and Ikon were investing heavily in the broader idea of channel planning, which encompasses every point in which a brand interacts with consumers - such as the retail floor, scripting of phone conversations and merchandising.

"We saw a completely reinvigorated commitment to our business from Ikon," Mr Buckman said. "They've evolved in my mind into a world class channel planning agency. It's a great evolution for them."

He said appointing BMF was unconventional but a "great move" for the bank. BMF already handles the bank's direct marketing business and Mr Buckman said he expected to see the bank exploit the ability of BMF to understand new customer selling opportunities through its "data mining" of customers.

"Media planning in most businesses today is pretty much dealing with mass marketing in above-the-line media," he said.

"Channel planning goes way beyond that to take into consideration every point a customer or consumer interacts with us. It's a good win for BMF. We want to test some new models."