Euro agencies face Motorola 12m centralisation threat

International electronics manufacturer Motorola is believed to be planning a global centralisation of advertising work for its mobile phone brands. The move threatens accounts worth up to 12m held by a dozen or more European agencies.

The company’s US bosses are thought to favour a shift away from existing local European agency arrangements, by planning to invite a small number of US agency networks, probably as few as three, with international coverage to pitch for the business. JWT Chicago is one of the agencies believed to be involved in the pitch.

Future advertising strategy will be handled out of the US offices of the winning agency, with implementation of campaigns handled by local offices worldwide. It is understood the company is offering local agencies some input in the account after it is awarded.

The move by Motorola, which along with Nokia and Ericsson leads the international market in the manufacturing of mobile phones, comes soon after an announcement in February that it planned to take on an additional 300 staff at its UK plant.

In the UK, BDDH, Marr Associates and Initiative Media have each worked on the account recently, handling ads worth an estimated 2m.