ANZ creative agency pitch narrows as Special withdraws
Sian Chadwick: "The decision was mutually reached by both organisations."
Incumbent agency Special Australia has withdrawn from ANZ Bank's creative agency pitch, leaving the competition to the shortlisted agencies: Leo Burnett, dentsu, The Monkeys, and BMF, Mediaweek can confirm.
In a statement to Mediaweek, the big four bank's general manager, marketing Australia, Sian Chadwick, confirmed the creative independent's move.
"Special is not participating in ANZ’s current RFP. The decision was mutually reached by both organisations," said Chadwick.
"We continue to work with Special on a number of projects and are grateful for their support and collaboration over the last three years."
ANZ called the pitch on Thursday 16 May, beginning a tender process with an RFP that focussed on creative strategy and development.
In a statement made Mediaweek at the time, Chadwick claimed the bank will hunt for an “alliance” of agencies.
“We’re constantly reviewing the ways in which we work with our Australian agency partners. As part of this, we are building an alliance of trusted agency partners which will allow us to achieve the best creative outcome for each campaign,” she said.
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Special originally won the account in 2021 after a four-way shoot-out against CHEP, Hero, and incumbent TBWA\Melbourne.TBWA had held the ANZ account for 10 years, producing work like the Cannes-winning GAYTMs.
TBWA\Melbourne went on to win the creative account for another big four bank, NAB.
In April, Special released its latest work for ANZ, working with media agency PHD to bring back the ANZ Falcon, first introduced in Australia in 2006. The DoppelFalcons campaign aimed to educate customers about ANZ's upgraded fraud protection technology.
The campaign featured customers and their lookalike falcons in a film directed by Steve Rogers from Revolver, with VFX produced by Alt.VFX.
ANZ’s media contract with PHD Melbourne, worth a reported $50+ million, was extended in February.
Special declined to comment on its withdrawal from the pitch.
