The agency joins Grey Global Group, Dentsu, McCann Erickson and Lowe in the pitch, with an appointment expected by the middle of April. While Lowe also handles part of the DiGi business, DDB has been servicing the bulk of the account since 1997, and is reportedly tasked with prepaid, postpaid, corporate, promotions and loyalty.
According to sources, the brief calls for through-the-line branding recommendations on the company's prepaid and corporate positioning. In common with its mobile telco rivals Celcom and Maxis, DiGi is one of Malaysia biggest spenders on advertising.
According to Nielsen Media Index, it spent RM$35.4 million (US$9.3 million) on prepaid advertising in 2004, marking an increase of 11.5 per cent over 2003 levels. Its estimated overall adspend in 2004 was RM$80 million, which is expected to rise to RM$100 million this year.
While DiGi is seen as having a branding edge over its competitors, it also has the lowest subscription base of the three.
"It's a publicly-listed company and although it's the third largest of the three operators, its subscriber share has been growing rapidly which makes it a (lucrative assignment)," said a source.
DiGi currently has more than 3.4 million subscribers, compared to Maxis' 6.02 million and Celcom's 5.4 million. However, the company lags in the postpaid market, with Maxis and Celcom possessing market shares of 50 and 43 per cent respectively in this space. While 12 million of Malaysia's 14.5 million mobile subscriber base is prepaid, the postpaid market is of considerably higher value to mobile operators.
Accordingly DiGi recently launched an aggressive advertising campaign to boost postpaid numbers.