by Herman Manson (@marklives) Ireland/Davenport (a WPP agency) has suffered its third significant account loss in just over two months as South African Tourism follows Vodacom and BMW out the door.
On 31 July, SA Tourism announced the appointment of FCB South Africa as its new lead marketing agency. Ireland/Davenport had worked on the account since 2010.
In June, it was announced that Vodacom would be consolidating its advertising and communication portfolios into one agency group, moving its ATL account from Ireland/Davenport to join its digital and retail portfolios at Ogilvy & Mather South Africa. Ireland/Davenport won the Vodacom account from Draftfcb SA (now FCB SA) in 2013. The Vodacom loss accounts for about 40% of Ireland/Davenport’s revenue.
In July, BMW, its largest remaining single piece of business and Ireland /Davenport’s founding client, left for Openco (majority-owned by TBWA\South Africa) after a decade of working together.
MD Sue Napier confirmed after the Vodacom account loss that the agency would be contracting in size. It’s unclear how many staff members are being affected.
Current Ireland/Davenport clients include Avis, Budget Car Rental, Plascon, Discovery and Fox International.
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