What you need to know:

• IAG is reviewing its personalised marketing services, with CMO Brent Smart confirming the pitch to Mi3.
• Smart said creative services are not under review but left the door open for the possibility of media pitch at a later date.
• The personalised marketing account is currently held by Clemenger's CHE Proximity.

Personalised pitch

Australia's largest insurer IAG is reviewing its personalised marketing account, which includes martech, data-driven and direct marketing and CX capabilities, currently held by CHE Proximity.

CMO Brent Smart confirmed the pitch is in its early stages but poured cold water on rumours its creative services, held by The Monkeys, may be in play. Yet he left the door open for a possible media review at a later date (IAG's main media account is held by Mindshare).

The marketing boss stressed that the review is "no reflection" on CHEP's creative output, but simply IAG "evaluating the market".

"We gave the account to CHEP without a pitch four years ago. The personalised marketing and martech space is moving very quickly and we want to make sure that we have the best in market solution," said Smart.

"There are many projects that fall between brand, PR (held by Thinkerbell) and personalised marketing, so those agencies have worked across various projects from time to time – but this is solely about the personalised marketing service."

Smart said the account represents a significant chunk of its marketing budget although he has been publicly dismissive about the contribution to business growth that personalisation and marketing technology delivers. It was not a "silver bullet" he said.

"It's not that we don't spend in the space, I'm not that much of a disbeliever – but I do think it's been overhyped," he said. "However, this review might change my thinking after seeing what's really out there.

"I think brand building is the main driver for growth. That doesn't mean we undervalue personalised marketing; we have a lot of customer data and it's important to personalise their experiences."

Smart said the review aims to assess a wide range of providers. He declined to name which agencies are vying for IAG's business but confirmed that CHEP is defending the account.

Smart also declined to comment on whether the review was influenced by the recent departure of long-serving CHEP partners Chris Howatson and Ant White who left the company to start Howatson+White. The pair quickly picked up the Allianz account and some suggested IAG was unhappy with the fast transfer of knowledge the two execs took with them to an insurance rival with their start-up agency.

The review will be a test for the team at CHEP and its new CEO Justin Hind, who sold his agency With Collective to Dentsu for an estimated $10-15m.     

IAG aims to complete the review by the end of this financial year.