Z Energy appoints Saatchi & Saatchi as new ad agency

Z Energy has a new creative partner. Photo / NZME

Z Energy is relying on the creative firepower of Saatchi & Saatchi to tell its story.

The energy company has confirmed the appointment of the advertising agency, following a three-stage pitching process involving a number of advertising agencies.

Z Energy has historically worked with a number of agencies across different, but the company said it is looking to consolidate its creative strategy with a single agency.

"The shift to Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand comes after Z chose to consolidate the overall number of supporting agencies, ideally looking for a partner that could provide a suite of services in-house to generate additional synergies and creative ideas," a Z Energy spokesperson said.

"This new partnership will see Z and Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand work together to bring the brand to life, enabling Z to expand on its promise of 'solving what matters for a moving world' as we look to help shift Aotearoa to a low-carbon future."

The partnership will see Saatchi & Saatchi provide creative services across the entire Z platform, including brand, retail, digital, POS, content, social and CRM.

In May the company, which also operates the Caltex brand, delivered a net profit after tax of $57 million for the 12 months to March 31, an increase of 165 per cent on the previous year.

Revenue fell 29 per cent to $3.52 billion, reflecting the continuing pressure of reduced demand and a squeeze on refinery margins.

The appointment comes at a critical point for Z Energy, given the large-scale effort to reduce the carbon footprint of New Zealand's vehicle fleet.

The Government earlier this year launched a range of measures the would reward consumers who buy cleaner vehicles.

The challenge for Saatchi & Saatchi will be to present the Z Energy narrative as progressing rather toward lower carbon emissions rather than remaining stagnant.

Saatchi & Saatchi NZ chief executive Mark Cochrane told the Herald that the company is keen to set itself apart and show New Zealanders how it plans to evolve.

Z Energy also outlined ambitious plans in August to grow in-store retail revenue by 20 per cent to $500m by 2025.

This is to make up for the decline in tobacco sales, which currently make up more than 40 per cent of total non-fuel revenue.

Saatchi & Saatchi will no doubt play a key role in driving that growth by encouraging consumers to spend more in stores.

Saatchi & Saatchi is owned by the Publicis Groupe holding company, which has had a good week with the announcement that it had also picked up the Westpac media account.

That account will be managed by Spark Foundry, a new agency that Publicis has launched in the local market.