The pitch was hotly contested, with a number of agencies slugging it out
for one of the biggest accounts in town. Hutchison says it has not
signed off on an agency yet, while DDB is declining to comment.
The win caps off a good start to the year for DDB, which also looks set to be the agency to relaunch collapsed airline Ansett under its new owners.
Hutchison is one of the first telecommunications companies to market a
3G offering globally. Australia is slated to launch 3G services either
at the end of this year or early 2003. Hutchison is taking a $3
billion punt that 3G will take off in Australia.
The company has not had a global branding campaign for some time. Its last campaign, which ran internationally, was for its Orange brand, which featured hot air balloons. Late last year, it signed a five year, $25 million sponsorship deal with the Australian Cricket Board, which gives Hutchison exclusive rights to market 3G mobile phone services with the board.
Hutchison plans to offer cricket fans instant replays, highlight clips, player interviews and profiles and results and statistics via mobile phones.
