Centrica set to pull the plug on Ogilvy after 12 years

Ogilvy is set to lose its hold on the British Gas CRM business – which it has held since 2007 – following reports that it has been booted off the shortlist for the Centrica integrated account which was put up for review in January.
The agency, which was repitching for the account as well as the wider brief along with Wavemaker, only made it through to the first round. Three groups now remain; MediaCom and The & Partnership, as well as agencies from McCann Worldgroup and Publicis.
The Centrica account spans creative, media planning and buying, content, CRM, PR and data in the UK, Ireland and the US. In addition to its British Gas, Local Heroes and Hive brands in the UK, Centrica owns Direct Energy in the US and Bord Gáis Energy in Ireland.
Ogilvy won the account in April 2007 following a head-to-head pitch against Rapier. The previous incumbents had been WWAV Rapp Collins (now Rapp) and EHS Brann (now Havas Helia).
The agency group which wins the integrated account will be charged with supporting the company’s digital transformation, which has seen it invest heavily in data science and analytics.
It recently formed a strategic partnership with Microsoft to implement a number of Azure cloud services to ensure its 25,000 staff have the latest technology to help its 25 million customers around the globe.
And, in a recent results document, the company stated: “Across the consumer division, we are investing in the data science that underpins customer segmentation to understand our customers better and create products and services that are tailored to their needs.
“Our enhanced capabilities are allowing us to optimise sales and marketing spend towards the most valuable channels and customers, target personalised offers at high-value customers and develop new customer offers, including bundles, that are tailored to different customer segments.”