Arun Sudhaman 31 Oct 2011 // 12:00AM GMT
LONDON--Nelson Bostock has won PR duties for T-Mobile, as the telco brand's parent company Everything Everywhere concludes its lengthy communications review.
The UK's largest telecommunications company, which also owns the Orange brand, began the review in late 2010, drawing submissions from numerous firms before an exhaustive three-stage pitch between three contenders: Red Consultancy, Nelston Bostock, and a joint team fielded by Interpublic Group siblings GolinHarris and Weber Shandwick.
GolinHarris was already incumbent on Orange’s UK PR account, with Brands2Life previously handling T-Mobile. The latter agency opted out of the review at the start of this year.
Nelson Bostock has been tasked with overseeing T-Mobile and with providing digital consultancy, a significant win for the independent UK firm. Brands2Life's T-Mobile brief was worth around £400,000 per year; Nelson Bostock's assignment will be similarly funded.
“Following a competitive pitch, Everything Everywhere has appointed Nelson Bostock to its agency roster, with a responsibility to run the T-Mobile brand’s consumer, business and press office PR activity for the UK," said Everything Everywhere head of PR Mat Sears. "The new team, drawn from both Nelson Bostock and consumer division Fever, will also provide digital consultancy and work on a brief to promote T-Mobile’s brand values, products and services to UK media and influencers.”
It is understood that the GolinHarris/Weber Shandwick team is in contract negotiations regarding the bulk of the £1 million account, including consumer PR duties for the Orange brand and corporate communications for the Everything Everywhere parent company. M&C Saatchi will continue to handle sponsorship activity for both brands.
The decision to split the assignment comes despite Everything Everywhere’s initial goal of a “unified” brief, covering a centralised core press office and campaigns for Orange, T-Mobile and Everything Everywhere.
"Nelson Bostock impressed us immensely from the first contact we had with them, demonstrating some of the best credentials we saw for multi-disciplined agency," added Sears. "From day one they will be picking up general press fffice responsibilities, as well as working on some briefs around B2B and consumer Christmas products."
The final outcome has been delayed by the arrival of new Everything Everywhere CEO Olaf Swantee, amid reviews of its three separate brands, and overall consumer branding strategy. The company has also restructured its senior management team, resulting in the recent exit of corporate comms director Robin O’Kelly.