Ogilvy & Mather has won the three agency shoot-out for the global
Motorola brand account; however, the bulk of the media assignment
remains with McCann-Erickson's media unit, Universal McCann.
The electronics and telecommunications giant previously used O&M for its
interactive unit; McCann for its consumer unit (including mobile phones
and pagers); and Leo Burnett for its semi-conductor and chips
division.
It invited the three agencies to pitch for the account in July with a
view to creating a single brand strategy.
Observers have said that Motorola's overall brand equity had suffered
because its different business units were using different agencies.
The Asia-Pacific region was given high importance by the client, and
this was underlined by the fact that all three agencies sent senior
creative and research personnel to take part in the pitch at Motorola's
headquarters in Schaumberg, Illinois.
Sources from Leo Burnett and McCann expressed disappointment with the
outcome of the pitch; however, they said that their removal from
Motorola's roster of creative agencies did not reflect the state of play
in Asia-Pacific.
"The relationship with the local (Motorola) clients in the region is
very good and has worked well," the McCann's source said.
The global account is worth US$400 million, with about a third of
that earmarked for Asia-Pacific.
While Universal McCann remains in charge of the media spend, sources
close to the latest pitch said a review of the media agency was
likely.
The win boosts O&M's growth in Asia-Pacific.
A source said: "To underline the impact of the win, our Beijing and
Seoul offices would double in size and there would be smaller but
sizeable increases in some of our other major regional bases."
