Samsung Australia Puts $120M Clemenger BBDO Partnership Under Review
Samsung Australia puts $120M in Clemenger BBDO billings under review despite award wins. The move reflects Korean corporate discipline prioritizing business metrics over creative recognition.
Samsung Australia has launched a periodic review of its creative and media accounts currently held by Clemenger BBDO, placing approximately $120 million in annual media billings under evaluation. The review comes despite the agency winning six awards at the MFA Awards in 2025, including the Grand Prix for its "Clash of the Commuters" campaign.
Routine Evaluation Supersedes Creative Recognition
A Samsung spokesperson described the agency review as standard business practice conducted every few years to ensure "best outcomes for our business," emphasizing that the move does not indicate dissatisfaction with Clemenger's performance. The partnership began in 2020 when Samsung consolidated its creative, media, digital, and social accounts with Clemenger Group's CHE Proximity (later integrated into Clemenger BBDO), making Samsung the agency's largest media client.
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The decision reflects a broader pattern in Korean corporate decision making where systematic evaluation takes priority over relationship longevity or creative accolades alone. Samsung has previously shifted partnerships from Publicis Group's Leo Burnett for creative services and Omnicom's OMD or PHD for media, demonstrating consistent discipline in reassessing marketing partnerships regardless of investment scale.
Clemenger BBDO's award-winning work for Samsung included the socially driven "Clash of the Commuters" campaign for the Bespoke AI Jet Ultra Stick Vacuum, which earned top honors at the MFA Awards. Despite this recognition, Samsung's periodic review process proceeded as scheduled.
Comprehensive Metrics Replace Awards-Focused Evaluation
The review aligns with evolving evaluation frameworks across Asia Pacific that prioritize measurable business impact over traditional creative metrics. Campaign Asia-Pacific's 2024 Agency Report Cards evaluated 25 APAC agency networks using five weighted criteria: business growth (20%), innovation (25%), creativity and effectiveness (25%), DEI and sustainability (15%), and management (15%).
Notably, award-winning agencies received B+ grades in these evaluations, while creative leaders often scored B or B- due to market pressures. This grading pattern indicates that creative excellence alone no longer guarantees top evaluation scores when business growth carries significant weight in assessment frameworks.
Samsung Ads predicts that agency success in 2026 will depend on efficiency and data integration connecting exposure to business outcomes as "table stakes," with AI augmentation becoming critical. This signals how technology brands expect marketing partnerships to demonstrate measurable business impact beyond creative output.
Agency Restructuring Meets Asian Brand Demands
Clemenger Group underwent internal restructuring in late 2025, merging Clemenger BBDO, CHEP Network, and Traffik to deliver what it describes as "big and measurable ideas" through integrated creative, media, digital, and commerce services. The restructuring aimed to meet demands from clients including Samsung, Asahi, Mars, and Michael Hill for unified capabilities and measurable business outcomes.
Asian brands evaluating APAC agencies prioritize specific regional capabilities including local market presence with physical offices, native speakers with platform expertise on Baidu, Naver, and WeChat, and cultural and regulatory compliance. Performance measurement emphasizes APAC-specific KPIs such as mobile engagement, local search performance, and social referrals rather than Western-centric metrics.
The Samsung review will assess agencies' ability to deliver these comprehensive capabilities while demonstrating measurable business impact. B&T reported that the review process is underway, with Samsung expected to evaluate both incumbent and challenger agencies against its evolving partnership expectations.
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