BBDO keeps the pre-paid business, Hotlink, seeing off Grey. Ogilvy beat Y&R and Leo Burnett — which handles the B2B services business — for the post-paid account. Both won four-year contracts.
The decision comes just over a year after the post-paid business was reviewed, which was then also retained by Ogilvy. “It’s ironic that Ogilvy won,” admitted Tom Schnitker, marketing director, Maxis. “But it was a clear winner in terms of creative execution, how it understood our business and what we’re trying to achieve.
In the past, the Maxis brand has been guilty of being a bit fuzzy. We wanted to create a clear and distinct positioning for both Maxis and Hotlink — leveraged across all media as we enter a more developed digital age.”
The pitch was called in January. The first round saw the exit of Saatchi & Saatchi and Lowe; both agencies withdrew as they did not fit the advertiser’s requirements for size and scope.
