TBWA picks up worldwide £25m BenQ-Siemens brief

TBWAWorldwide has been appointed to handle the &£25m global advertising account for BenQ-Siemens.

The agency won the business, which was previously held by Springer & Jacoby, following a pitch against a number of undisclosed agencies. It is not known whether the incumbent was involved in the pitch.

TBWAGermany will lead the account but McCann Erickson will continue to adapt work for the brand in the UK.

BenQ-Siemens, which has previously worked with TBWA on a project basis, called the pitch earlier this year (MW April 20). BenQ said at the start of the year that it was putting “significant” marketing spend behind the launch of the first handsets since its purchase of Siemens’ mobile division last year (MW January 19).

The company also unveiled the first phones to be co-branded BenQ-Siemens in January. It is permitted to use the Siemens name for five years as part of the takeover deal.

Siemens Mobile had been criticised for being slow to get involved in the 3G market, but BenQ says at least one-third of the products it will launch this year will be 3G compatible.

UK managing director Philip Rambech, who joined the company last October to launch BenQ Mobile in the UK, admitted to Marketing Week earlier this year that Siemens had not been strong enough in the UK and had focused too much on pre-pay and entry-level models.