Creative for the business will be led by Lowe Worldwide, although it is believed that a number of other agencies from the group will be involved in the assignment.
FutureBrand is likely to assist on branding, and Powell Tate Weber Shandwick on public affairs, with Initiative expected to handle media. Lowe won the business following a pitch that included Ogilvy & Mather, Saatchi & Saatchi and Dentsu. China Mobile’s domestic agency relationships are not believed to be affected by the decision.
FutureBrand is likely to assist on branding, and Powell Tate Weber Shandwick on public affairs, with Initiative expected to handle media. Lowe won the business following a pitch that included Ogilvy & Mather, Saatchi & Saatchi and Dentsu. China Mobile’s domestic agency relationships are not believed to be affected by the decision.
At present, China Mobile’s overseas presence is limited to Pakistan, where it acquired Paktel for US$460 million in mid-2007. It is believed that the brief used Paktel as a test case for marketing communications strategies in emerging markets where China Mobile hopes to expand its footprint.
“These guys are looking to make big acquisitions,” said a source. “They are going to be the champions of telecommunications in the developing world - it’s a very sophisticated strategy.”
China Mobile has seen some of its potential deals go awry, most notably a $5.3 billion purchase of Paktel’s parent Millicom International Cellular, which operates in 16 countries across Latin America, Africa and Asia. “Externally, the China Mobile brand is non-existent,” added the source. “At present, it has 350 million customers. If it could bump that up to one billion, the power it would have to connect, communicate to and engage people would be incredible. The model will no longer be a share of retail, but share of commerce.”
It appears unlikely that China Mobile will heavily leverage its internal brand when it comes to formulating an overseas brand strategy.
“Internally, it’s less of a brand in itself than an umbrella for the sub-brands,” said the source. “At the moment, it’s really a bag of independents that manages to service everyone’s mobile phone needs.”
The development comes as talks between China Mobile and Apple break down over the launch of iPhone handsets on the mainland. It is believed that the two could not agree on revenue-sharing terms, with China Mobile unwilling to accept Apple’s request for a 20 to 30 per cent share of China Mobile’s user fees.
Sources have noted that the breakdown in talks may pave the way for China Mobile’s key rival China Unicom to form an alliance with Apple. China Mobile has an approximate domestic market share of 67 per cent, compared to China Unicom’s considerably smaller proportion.
