David Jones has appointed Maud and Medium Rare following a competitive pitch, AdNews can reveal.
Maud is now the retailer's brand agency and Medium Rare has been appointed as its content agency, leading the development of the David Jones magazine and catalogues.
Maud, a part of The Monkeys now owned by Accenture Interactive, will be the lead agency on David Jones' awaited Christmas ad.
Medium Rare, partly owned by News Corp, has been working with David Jones since 2016 when it launched the David Jones magazine 'Jones'.
A David Jones spokesperson says the new partners are well placed to elevate the business' "customer engagement" and will delvier a new creative direction.
“David Jones is focused on finding new ways to connect with our customers and we believe Maud and Medium Rare are the right partners for us to collaborate with on this. Maud will be driving bigger, bolder moments for David Jones, whilst Medium Rare will lead our content strategy and approach; already via Jones magazine, but additionally in driving content led campaigns for key categories," a spokesperson says.
AdNews understands the retailer has opted to take various creative capabilities in-house after having a significant reduction to its marketing budgets following dismal financial results.
David Jones has been without a creative agency since parting ways with TBWA Sydney. The creative agency, significantly larger than Maud and Medium Rare, held the account for five years, winning it from M&C Saatchi back in 2013.
David Jones was expected to transitioned to TBWA Melbourne but AdNews understands TBWA opted not to participate in the review, picking up the creative for Amazon instead.
The media account, thought to be about $25m, is run out of Carat Sydney.
David Jones confirmed in 2016 that after 179 years in Sydney it would uproot its head office and move to Melbourne. The decision has led to a huge staffing shakeup with most of its staff unwilling to relocate from Sydney.
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