by Herman Manson (@marklives) The advertising account of financial services group, Liberty, has been out to pitch since 26 May 2016, when a Request For Information (RFI) was issued; this is only expected to be concluded at the end of November, according to a spokesperson for the group.
The pitch is for above-the-line agencies to manage the advertising business of the following business areas: Liberty Holdings Limited, Liberty Individual Arrangements (personal markets), Liberty Corporate and Liberty Africa & Liberty Health.
Number of stages
The pitch process has been through a number of stages, says Shirley Koaho, divisional director: customer governance, brand & communications, group strategic services. “Agencies were invited to submit their proposals to indicate their interest in the Liberty account. The agencies that went through to the next stage underwent an initial assessment based on the business’s advertising requirements.
“This was followed by commercial and transformation assessments by Liberty’s Group Procurement and Preferential Procurement departments. Agencies that go through to the pitch must meet Liberty’s procurement, commercial and transformation requirements.”
Contract had expired
Koaho says the incumbent agency’s contract had expired and, as per procurement governance processes, the account had to go out to pitch. Fourteen agencies were invited (including incumbent, FoxP2 Johannesburg) in the first round and 11 agencies have been shortlisted through the RFI process.
The procurement process is being managed by Liberty Group Procurement and pitch consultants, Yardstick.
Herman Manson (@marklives) is the founder and editor of MarkLives.com. He was the founding editor of media.toolbox (1998–2006) and Mobile.Works, and the co-founder of Brand magazine. He has served on the editorial boards of The Journal for Convergence, as well as of Fast Company South Africa. Winner of the 2011 Vodacom Social Media Journalist of the Year award, he was also a finalist twice in the Highway Africa Award for the Innovative Use of New Media in Africa (2003 and 2004). Over his 20-year-plus career, Herman has contributed to numerous journals and websites in South Africa and abroad, including the Mail & Guardian, .net, Intelligence, AdVantage, Men’s Health, Computer World and African Communications. He has consulted on web architecture to several financial institutions.
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