SingTel puts $30m media brief to pitch

SINGAPORE: The US$30 million Singapore Telecommunications media account is under review as the telecom giant moves to boost cost efficiencies in a recessionary climate. Sources close to the pitch said that SingTel was moving to "make its advertising dollar work harder and it is looking at achieving its goal by possibly consolidating with one media agency". Agencies said to be pitching include The Media Edge (TME), Starcom, Carat and Zenith. TME is believed to have an edge over rivals because it currently handles the bulk of the media. It is estimated that TME and its parent, Dentsu Young & Rubicam, handle as much as 70 per cent of the entire SingTel account. "It would be the safest decision," said a source The existing set-up is far from clear to determine who would pose a major challenge to TME. Starcom, which handles youth brand Pod and places some of the retail ads for mobile services, also looks after the planning and buying for SingTel's global corporate advertising outside of Singapore. This is split further as TME handles ad rate negotiations for press, while Starcom does television rate negotiations. Although no review has been called on the advertising side, this is again handled by a mish-mash of agencies. Additional reporting by Leithen Francis.

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