Motorola to review its $150m global business

Mobile phone manufacturer Motorola is reviewing its $150m (£100m) worldwide advertising arrangements.

Motorola’s creative $100m (£63m) advertising account has been held by McCann-Erickson for the past three years. The account is run out of McCann-Erickson Worldwide, New York.

But the review is believed to encompass more than the creative advertising account, and it is expected to include all of Motorola’s brand communications.

Leo Burnett works on some of Motorola’s trade communications work and Ogilvy Interactive on its new media business.

Motorola – the world’s number two mobile phone brand, after Nokia but ahead of Ericsson – appointed McCann in August 1997 to its worldwide account. Universal McCann handles the media.

It was the first time the brand had centralised its marketing efforts into one agency. Motorola had previously used agencies such as J Walter Thompson in the US and Partners BDDH in the UK.

The creative centralisation into McCann-Erickson coincided with a decision to unify the brand message after Nokia and Ericsson had done the same.

In April 1998, Motorola launched a £70m campaign through McCann – the first brand advertising campaign in the company’s 70-year history. The global TV campaign “Motorola gives you wings” was backed by the Rolling Stones’ classic song “You can’t always get what you want”.