M&C Saatchi Melbourne: Mumbrella Creative Agency Review – In need of a reboot after losing its biggest client

The newly published Mumbrella Creative Agency Review examines Australia’s top 30 ad agencies. Today Robin Hicks examines how M&C Saatchi Melbourne has fared over the last 12 months.

M&C Saatchi had enjoyed a prosperous existence in the Melbourne market, built on the back of founding client ANZ. Until this year, when the bank switched its $55m account to Whybin\TBWA\Melbourne after a pitch that also saw fellow incumbent DDB lose out.

The end of a 14-year relationship that chairman Tom Dery called “a lifetime in advertising” meant that what was once an agency of 40-50 people is now half the size – a number were relocated to the Sydney office. The agency that gave Australia bolshy banker Barbara faces a year ahead of rebuilding.

In our survey, the agency features well down the order, and fares worse among our panellists than our readers. The agency scores poorly for commercial success, client stability, momentum and particularly for account management, for which it ranks just one off the bottom. Integration and creativity are its highest scores, positioning the agency just inside the top 20.