Euro RSCG fear over global Intel brief
Euro RSCG’s grip on Intel’s £200m global advertising business is understood to be in doubt following a decision by the computer-chip manufacturer to secretly review its agency.
Euro RSCG’s grip on Intel’s &£200m global advertising business is understood to be in doubt following a decision by the computer-chip manufacturer to secretly review its agency.
Euro RSCG is thought to be battling against Intel calling for a full-scale review of the business, which could lead to other global networks pitching for the account.
The review follows Intel’s hiring of a vice-president in charge of global marketing. In March, Don Macdonald took over as vice-president and director of worldwide branding and campaigns from Pam Pollace, who was given new responsibilities for worldwide PR and investor relations.
It is believed that Macdonald, who had been in charge of marketing for Intel’s mobile computing division, may have put Havas-owned Euro RSCG on notice.
Euro RSCG has had the Intel global business since 1996, when it was worth about $120m (&£66.2m). At the launch of its Centrino processor last year, however, Intel said it would be spending $300m (&£165.5m) on a global campaign for the Centrino alone. In addition to Centrino, Intel is also putting a significant marketing budget behind the Pentium 4, Itanium and Xeon chips and the corporate “Intel Inside” campaign.
A spokeswoman for Intel at its US headquarters says: “We don’t comment on rumours or speculation”, but did deny the account was under review, saying Euro RSCG was still the agency of record.
