RMG faces review of 2m Vodafone business

Vodafone is reviewing its 2m retail direct marketing account, which is held by RMG Connect.
The mobile operator has already moved its 47m UK advertising business out of RMG’s sister agency JWT and into Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) at the end of last year.

VodafoneVodafone is reviewing its £2m retail direct marketing account, which is held by RMG Connect.

The mobile operator has already moved its £47m UK advertising business out of RMG’s sister agency JWT and into Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) at the end of last year.

The review, which will be overseen by head of brand and marketing communications Dominic Chambers, is the latest in a series of changes to Vodafone UK’s roster. In March, the company moved its £4m consumer direct marketing account out of Harrison Troughton Wunderman and into M&C Saatchi-owned Lida (MW March 29).

Dare won a digital strategy brief for Vodafone Retail in February following a pitch against RMG, which had previously handled the account. The win came a year after Dare had been appointed as Vodafone’s first digital agency of record. Kinetic was reappointed to handle the company’s £19m outdoor account earlier this year after a review.

A Vodafone spokeswoman confirms the retail review, which includes all of the mobile operator’s point-of-sale and some direct response activity. However, it is not clear whether RMG will be involved in the pitch.

Vodafone called the above-the-line pitch in October last year, asking incumbent JWT to pitch against BBH, which was already the company’s lead global creative agency. BBH now handles all of Vodafone’s advertising apart from some local markets where the agency does not have a presence.

Partners Andrews Aldridge is also on the company’s below-the-line roster, having been appointed to handle its business-to-business account two years ago (MW June 23, 2005).