News

Agencies form consortia for Singapore Tourism tender, incumbents JWT and Mirum withdraw

Singapore Tourism Board logoThe contenders for Singapore Tourism Board’s global creative pitch have been revealed, with a number of agencies clubbing together in consortia to strengthen their positions.

Ogilvy has formed a collective of two agencies, and Saatchi & Saatchi has formed a consortia of three. Another consortium called Ad Planet Group is made from five companies.

Leo Burnett, Publicis, Dentsu, Comwerks and DDB are also on a list of nine runners and riders, which has been uploaded to government tender portal GeBiz.

Comwerks has submitted the most competitively priced proposal, with creative, digital and production for two years priced at S$5,075,686 (US$3,592,885). The highest priced is Publicis Singapore’s at S$8,848,973 (US$6,262,529).

Tender price proposals for competing agencies (Sing dollars):

  • Publicis Singapore: $8,848,973
  • TBWA\Singapore: $8,618,253
  • Dentsu Singapore: $8,067,275
  • DDB Singapore: $6,894,465
  • Ogilvy & Mather consortium: $6,767,758
  • Leo Burnett Singapore: $6,407,322
  • Saatchi & Saatchi consortium: $5,912,179
  • Ad Planet Group consortium: $5,284,447
  • Comwerks: $5,075,686
STB tender doc extract

STB tender doc extract

J. Walter Thompson and digital sibling Mirum, which have handled the STB business for the last two years (Mirum, formerly known as XM Asia, for longer) until a review was called at the end of July, have withdrawn from proceedings.

JWT won the Singapore Tourism Board account in 2013.

A joint statement from both agencies, shared with Mumbrella, reads: “J. Walter Thompson Singapore and Mirum Singapore have both decided to withdraw from the current STB tender process. J. Walter Thompson Singapore and Mirum are proud of the role they have played in helping build a world-class tourism brand for Singapore and remain committed to continuing to help STB achieve its business objectives in 2016.  It’s been a stimulating account and an enjoyable partnership. Both agencies have recently won significant new accounts and plan to reallocate resources to these accounts in due course.”

Previous incumbent BBH held the business for four years. Before BBH, Y&R was STB’s agency. Neither agencies are competing for this tender, which is to find a global network agency that can integrate creative, digital and production capabilities for the next two years. The contract will be extended for a further year subject to performance.

A shortlist has yet to be drawn up, an STB spokesperson confirmed with Mumbrella.

Media, which is handled by MEC, is not part of the review. The GroupM agency’s contract was extended until March 2017.

ADVERTISEMENT

Get the latest media and marketing industry news (and views) direct to your inbox.

Sign up to the free Mumbrella Asia newsletter now.

 

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing