Rainey Kelly drops Ionica as ads break

Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe has resigned Ionica in the week the company’s new TV campaign breaks.

The move coincides with sister agency Harrison Patten Troughton Brand Response winning the business for Telstra, the Australian telecoms company.

Telstra said it did not see Ionica as a conflict during the pitch process, which involved St Luke’s, Wieden & Kennedy, Bean Andrews Norways Cramphorn and direct marketing agency Finex.

The company aims to raise brand awareness in its key European markets – the UK, France and Germany.

Rainey Kelly is thought to have resigned the Ionica account because of general dissatisfaction with the way it was being managed.

The company is in serious financial trouble – its share price dropped 31 per cent to a yearly low of 24p earlier this month, although it is understood to be close to finding an investor to plough 850m into its business.

Rainey Kelly managing partner Jim Kelly says : “We have believed for some time that we’re not the right agency for Ionica. We wanted to wait until it had a campaign in place before resigning the business so as not to leave it in the lurch.” The agency will work out a three-month notice period.

A spokesman for Ionica says: “The new ads give us breathing space. The relationship had come to a natural cross-roads and without another campaign in the pipeline we decided to part ways.”

He says the loss of Rainey Kelly will have no operational impact. Ionica recently appointed Mike Olson as marketing director.

Rainey Kelly’s campaign will run in two of Ionica’s three operational areas – East England and the Midlands, but not in Yorkshire where the company has only operated for seven months.