Publicis scoops Indon telco account

Publicis won the business in a competitive pitch against Lowe, McCann-Erickson and Perwanal Saatchi & Saatchi. Lowe is thought to have been the major incumbent. Other parts of the business are understood to have been handled by McCann and several local agencies, while media is shared by ZenithOptimedia and Universal McCann. The consolidation is part of a major relaunch by Excelcomindo, Indonesia's third largest mobile services provider. The telco was unable to comment on its plans for the future or on its hire of Publicis. It is thought that Publicis will work on raising the profile of Excelcomindo's flagship proXL brand, as well as support a move by the telco into untapped areas of the market. Excelcomindo's ratecard adspend on proXL was Rp49.51 billion (US$5.5 million) last year, according to estimates from Nielsen Media Research. Publicis expects Excelcomindo's total above-the-line outlay to exceed US$9 million in 2004. Publicis Metro's managing director, Henry Saputra, said: "We are looking forward to working together with Excelcomindo in bringing about sustained marketplace success and raising the bar for all Excelcomindo's products and services." Excelcomindo becomes one of Publicis' largest clients in Indonesia, alongside Nestlé, Hewlett-Packard and L'Oréal. Excelcomindo has set aside US$200 million to bankroll expansion of its network. The telco is looking to build more than 1,000 extra phone masts this year, mainly in Sumatra and Sulawesi. It first entered the Indonesian mobile phone market in 1996.