Agencies either referred calls to the client or couldn't
immediately be reached.
Nationwide spends about $300 million on measured media in the
U.S., said Nationwide CMO Matt Jauchius .
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The insurance giant invited incumbents and outside firms to
pitch for either the entire scope of the business or only pieces of
it. "Some bid on a piece while others bid on the whole set," said
Mr. Jauchius. "It was during this process where we finalized our
perspective that in truth, piecemealing this [work] didn't make
sense for us anymore."
The consolidation is in line with a strategy to create more
"economies of scale," which is necessary not just in terms of cost
efficiencies but also in attracting top talent, he said. "I spent
six months to a year looking at the broad media space. What's
happening with the digital world, and the availability of data and
analytics, has made scale and highly skilled practitioners coming
together more important."
Mr. Jauchius made it clear back in March he wanted to keep his
options open during the pitch, and that the company reserved "the
right to consolidate all traditional and digital planning and
buying -- or to keep it piecemeal as we deem appropriate." That
said, it's not the first time Nationwide decided to stick with an
existing agency. When the Columbus, Ohio-based insurer last
reviewed media and creative in 2009, it held onto both UM and
McKinney.
What made UM attractive for the broadened scope-of-work this
time around was the shop's scale, the team it presented during the
pitch and its media optimization capabilities, especially as
Nationwide prepares to boost its analytics activity, said Mr.
Jauchius.
Going forward, that budget could grow, he added. He also expects
the team to focus more on analytics. Currently, TV spending
accounts for about 70% of the company's marketing while 30% is
spent on digital.
