 Tourism Australia has selected 11 agencies for its new public relations panel. The panel will provide all PR services for the organisation and were chosen after a tender process taking more than six weeks.
The 11 agencies are: Pinque (tendered in association with Avviso), Haystac Public Affairs, Hill & Knowlton, Horizon Communication Group, Ogilvy Public Relations, Red Agency, Royce and Sefiani Communications Group, The Reputation Group, CPR Communications and Public Relations and Gavin Anderson & Company.
The agencies will work on strategy development, media liaison and training, through to social media networking and advocacy. However, panel members will still have to bid for individual projects as they arrive, similar to other government rosters.
Tourism Australia's managing director Geoff Buckley said: 'Having a diverse range of agencies with a variety of skill sets will ensure that we are able to work with the right agency as each project arises, relying on their tailored skills to achieve the brief.'
More than 130 companies accessed the tender documents and 28 submitted tenders.
The panel of agencies will service all four Australian-based business units of Tourism Australia including corporate communication, domestic marketing, business events Australia, and global PR, however, Tourism Australia will work with PR agencies in other countries for some global projects.
'Tourism Australia will be able to call on the expertise of these agencies to assist with the rollout of a range of future internal and external communication activities, in a way that offers us the best value for money,' Buckley said.
2008 has seen a number of changes for the tourism authority including the launch of a global campaign on MySpace.com, in what is claimed to be the first global campaign by an Australian brand on the site. TA also put the creative ad account and media account out to tender this year, with the results to be announced imminently.
Saatchi & Saatchi and DDB are in the process of making final presentations having made it to the final stages for the $180m account, while incumbent M&C Saatchi failed to take the final round.
The media account is also undecided and is down to Carat and MPG, with results expected late July.
The public relations panel will be in place until 30 June 2011. |
