Spider D'Arcy, McCann-Erickson and Batey are believed to be pitching for the business. It is understood that the pitch brief mentioned that TimedotCom wanted to do more corporate branding campaigns in future instead of product-based advertising.
Agencies have had to demonstrate creative, strategic and media capabilities.
At the same time, with TimedotCom's plan to better integrate its marketing campaigns, the company has also examined the agencies' direct marketing and PR capabilities. It is understood that TimedotCom is also considering parting ways with Ogilvy PR. A spokeswoman for TimedotCom said: "Ogilvy PR worked with us in the first quarter but I'm not too sure whether we'll continue our contract or they'll continue with us because they also having dealings with Maxis. If the ad agency (we appoint) has a PR agency then we will work with them unofficially."
On the PR front, work is farmed out on a project basis.
Acccording to ACNielsen AdEx, adspend in Malaysia by telcos rose one per cent in the first quarter to RMR41.1 million (US$10.8 million) due largely to Telekom Malaysia, Celcom and Maxis each increasing their spend by double-digit percentages. But TimedotCom and Digi each cut adspend by more than half.
TimedotCom's agency review coincides with a period of uncertainty in Malaysian's telecommunications industry. Talk of consolidation is rife with reports of an imminent merger between Celcom and Malaysia Telekom's mobile company TM Touch. Agency selection is expected to be finalised in late May once the board of directors have signed off on a recommendation from the telco's agency selection committee.
