Iris hangs on to T-Mobile channels account

Iris has retained the retail and channel development component of T-Mobile’s &£15m below-the-line account following a protracted review.

It emerged in February that T-Mobile was reviewing the business, ahead of the expiry of Iris’ contract in May (MW February 24).

The mobile giant, which is owned by Deutsche Telekom, held “chemistry” meetings with at least ten agencies before drawing up a shortlist of three.

However, it decided not to hold a pitch and put Iris on a three-month trial. It has subsequently handed the agency a new two-year contract.

Iris has worked with T-Mobile for more than three years and was appointed to handle the brand’s channel development in 2003.

It delivers all the company’s channel development promotions, through retailers including Carphone Warehouse, Phones4U, Argos, Comet and Tesco.

Tullo Marshall Warren, which handles the bulk of T-Mobile’s direct marketing and customer relationship management work, was unaffected by the review.

Earlier this year, T-Mobile head of consumer marketing David Grint left the company to take up the position of international brand and planning director at private healthcare provider Bupa (MW August 11). Phil Barden replaced Grint, in an internal move.

The mobile company announced last month that it had signed a six-figure deal to sponsor GCap Media’s first syndicated show.