Stream lands £150m France Telecom brief

Stream, the TBWA/London specialist content division, is believed to have won France Telecom’s £150m global branded entertainment business following a competitive pitch.

Stream, the TBWA/London specialist content division, is believed to have won France Telecom’s &£150m global branded entertainment business following a competitive pitch.

The appointment follows a series of pitches to consolidate its global agency arrangements and is separate to the &£200m pan-European creative pitch announced in March (MW February 16).

France Telecom’s branded entertainment business covers areas such as advertiser funded programming, mobile phone content, internet platforms and sponsorship properties. The global review, which encompassed up to 20 agencies, is thought to be the largest branded entertainment held yet.

Stream previously held UK-based entertainment business including Orange’s film activity and in June last year was tasked with handling the mobile operator’s music activity following a competitive pitch. Cake, which works on the Orange Playlist show screened on ITV1, is not thought to have been involved in the latest pitch.

It is thought that Stream will work across France Telecom’s music and film properties and will be charged with the Paris-based company’s global entertainment strategy. The telecoms giant, which owns the Orange and soon-to-be-phased out Wanadoo brands, also holds a number of sports sponsorship properties in Europe. At the time of going to press nobody at the agency or France Telecom was available for comment.

The appointment would give TBWA a foothold on the France Telecom roster. Earlier this year the network, which pitched through its Paris office, failed to land the creative account after it was split between Publicis Groupe and Havas.