ZenithOptimedia Canada has topped RECMA’s 10th annual “Compitches” report, which assesses the country’s media agencies on their competitiveness in business pitches.
The report is not a measurement of agencies’ new business activity or billings growth said RECMA. Instead, 14 Canadian agencies were evaluated according to their level of competitiveness in winning (or retaining) accounts after a pitch in calendar 2010.
RECMA claims to have refined the assessment process by introducing the concept of “key pitches,” which it says were “crucial” in determining the final grade. According to RECMA, “key pitches” are defined by two parameters: Identification of the contenders (major players in the country), and an estimated budget of more than $5 million.
The Paris-based research firm noted 117 account moves or retentions in Canada in 2010, 24 of which met its “key pitches” criteria. RECMA then assigned each of the 14 participating agencies a letter grade ranging from C to A+.
ZenithOptimedia led all Canadian agencies with a grade of A+, followed by Cossette Media with an A. Four undisclosed agencies received a grade of B+, followed by four with a B, one with a C+ and three with a C grade.
ZenithOptimedia was extremely active in pitches in 2010, with account wins including the Government of Ontario’s consolidated media planning and buying assignment, as well as the George Weston/Loblaw buying assignment that president and CEO Sunni Boot said puts the agency firmly in the retail category (and to which it recently added Quebec duties). ZenithOptimedia also picked up the Reckitt Benckiser (Canada) assignment as part of a global review.
“We’ve been very privileged since the latter part of 2009 and into 2010 to actively participate in all over the major reviews,” said Boot. “We’re very privileged that clients put us on their candidate list and clearly when we win, we win against excellent competitors that have been shortlisted.
“I think we’re very privileged to have won the business we won, but things are cyclical – we’ve had years where we’ve worked just as hard but haven’t been that successful.”
The RECMA “Compitches” report also includes a mid-term report that assesses agencies on their competitiveness between 2008 and 2010, assigning grades of “successful,” “stable” or “underperforming.”
RECMA converted scoring for the latter assessment to a numerical value, awarding five points for each grade of A+, four for A etc. for a maximum of 15 points over the three years.
Only two Canadian agencies were graded “successful” by RECMA: Cossette Media (11 points) and ZenithOptimedia (10 points). RECMA deemed seven agencies “stable,” while five were considered “underperforming.”
“The competition’s just getting tougher – man I hate that,” said Boot. “I wish I could say there are a few core agencies, but they’re all very good. If you’re on a roll, go with it.”
RECMA analyzed more than 3,000 account moves – including 550 “key pitches” – across 422 media agencies in 35 countries to come up with a global “Compitches” ranking. WPP’s MEC topped the global list with 108 points, followed by sister agency Mindshare with 102 points and Publicis Groupe’s Starcom MediaVest and Aegis Media’s Carat in a tie for third.
