Omnicom Media Group wins $1.4 million Zong 4G digital media account
The pitch starred an oddly conservative number of bids, due to a brief that phrased media as a cost vs an investment, unrealistic expectations, and an unprofitable retainer fee.
Following a digital media review, the Omnicom Media Group franchise in Pakistan has successfully won digital media buying duties for Zong 4G, the GSM network under CMPak Limited. Led by Dara Bashir Khan, Manhattan International is a creative agency that owns the Omnicom Media Group franchise in Pakistan, which in turn serves clients of OMD and PHD – specialized media agencies under the holding group – in the country.
Sources told Profit that digital media buying duties for Zong 4G were with Orient McCann since mid-2019 and with IO Digital since mid-2018. In a rare twist, very few agencies participated in the CMPak Limited digital media review, according to two people familiar with the matter. Only GroupM, Brainchild Communications Pakistan (Pvt) Limited, and the Omnicom Media Group franchise in Pakistan were shortlisted. Sources told Profit that CMPak Limited fired Orient McCann in April 2020, with Brainchild handling digital media services in the interim period which stretched from May 2020 to September 2020.
The brief shared by CMPak Limited featured a simulation-based case study and a number of demands that made it clear that the Pakistan based mobile data network operator views media as a cost instead of as an investment for sentiment and conversion lifting.
The low industry interest to participate in the digital media review has to do with the way in which procurement teams at CMPak Limited set key performance indicators (KPIs). Sources told Profit that the annual digital media brief from CMPak Limited fails to understand the nuances of digital media, locking rates, and conversion rates for a year which historically has compromised media agency deliverables. This explains the annual change in media agencies.
Another reason for the low agency participation shared with Profit was the demand for a monthly retainer under Rs. 250,000 (USD 1,500) a month, which is under a third of what large media agencies usually charge, and barely covers the cost of a dedicated resource. Under the leadership of Fouad Husain, the Omnicom Media Group was able to meet all of the above demands set by CMPak Limited.
As a result of this archaic approach - which is often reserved for above the line (ATL) media briefs such as the Reckitt Benckiser media review - procurement teams at CMPak Limited hold a pitch every year. An industry expert noted that time will tell how long Omnicom Media Group can sustain CMPak Limited and deliver against unrealistically high expectations. The digital media account is reportedly worth $1.4 million and represents 28% of the total annual media spending by CMPak Limited across ATL and digital combined for performance and branding.
According to the Pakistan Broadcasters Association client-agency database, Brainchild has been the conventional media agency for CMPak Limited since Q4 2016. A subsidiary of Z2C Limited, Brainchild has not participated in the digital media review since 2018, for being unwilling to commit to the fixed cost of customer acquisition and a fixed conversion rate throughout the year, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Sources told Profit that the digital media brief from CMPak Limited lists demands which go against the very nature of digital media buying and conversion optimization, which changes every year as evidenced by multiple case studies and reports. Individual reports published by both Merkle and Kenshoo concluded that the Google cost per click fell 22% in the 2nd quarter of 2020, for instance.
This, according to reports from both companies, was due to the austerity measures taken because of Covid-19, during the second quarter of 2020. It was around this time that the Atif Aslam campaign for Zong 4G was featured in the YouTube Top 10 campaigns for the APAC region, with low costs of online advertising playing their part in lowering CPMs and CPVs.