McCann scoops £50m Vodafone

Vodafone has appointed McCann-Erickson World Group as its first global brand advertising agency. The account is believed to be worth up to £50m.

The search for a global media agency will now begin.

McCann won the account after a pitch against Ogilvy & Mather and BMP DDB, which is Vodafone’s agency of record in the UK.

In the UK alone the telecoms giant spends £41m on advertising. Media is handled by OMD UK.

Vodafone claims McCann’s appointment will not affect the position or advertising revenue of its local advertising agencies.

However, McCann will create a global brand for Vodafone’s disparate businesses, while local agencies will work on tactical advertising reflecting the local markets. The agencies will be expected to work together, according to a Vodafone spokeswoman.

The spokeswoman says: “McCann will be supporting us during our transition to a single global brand,” but she refused to say how long that period would be or how long the agency’s contract would last.

She confirmed a global media agency would be appointed: “Now we’ve appointed a creative agency, that service [media] will be required too.” According to industry sources, the pitch list involves Universal McCann, MindShare and OMD.

McCann will handle the account from its London headquarters and will produce work to run across Europe in the initial phase.