World: New-Business Analysis - Agencies get a second bite at the Subaru account.

AAR's Subaru shortlist was premature but a decision is due on the dollars 150m business

The ongoing 'are they, aren't they' nature of the Subaru of America global creative pitch was further clouded last month when AAR Partners, the consultancy handling the review, made an early announcement on the finalists, only to retract the statement shortly after. Subaru blamed 'miscommunication' with AAR, resulting in an incomplete list being sent out.

The retraction led to a number of agencies that dropped out at the semi-final stage scratching their heads and looking for a way to get back on the list. Subaru had wanted between four and six finalists; AAR's recall of a list that named only three seemed to provide a glimmer of hope for the unsuccessful agencies.

The success of the New York agencies McCann Erickson and Berlin Cameron/Red Cell serves to prove just how vital relationships with the client - no matter how tenuous - are in the pitching process: Subaru's incumbent is TM Advertising in Texas, an agency that reports to McCann, giving McCann a line of contact with Fred Adcock, the Subaru executive vice-president and a key decision-maker on the review.

Similarly, Berlin Cameron/Red Cell's relationship with the Tokyo-based agency ADK (WPP owns the former and holds a 20 per cent stake in the latter) afforded another angle of approach: ADK handles the advertising for Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries.

 
ACCOUNTS UNDER REVIEW 
 
CLIENT/Task    Budget   Shortlist         Incumbent         Dec-  Cons- 
              dollars                                      ision  ultant 
 
NESTLE/media    1.5bn   IPG, WPP,         Various, incl:     Sep  n/s 
planning &              Publicis Groupe   MindShare, OMD, 
buying, global                            Universal McCann 
 
UNILEVER/media  1.2bn   Initiative,       Initiative,        Oct  Media 
buying, Europe          MindShare, Carat  MindShare               Audits 
 
SAMSUNG/         400m   WPP, Publicis     Foote Cone         Sep  none 
creative                Groupe, IPG       & Belding 
media, global 
 
SC JOHNSON &     350m   Initiative,       Initiative,        Sep  none 
& SON/media             ZenithOptimedia,  ZenithOptimedia, 
buying, global          Universal McCann  Universal McCann  ...