BT £17m B2B brief switches to Swarm

BT is thought to be moving its £17m business-to-business account into Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe/Y&R’s new through-the-line sister agency Swarm.

Swarm was established earlier this year, as exclusively revealed by Marketing Week (January 4).

Virgin Media, which rebranded from NTL last month, is BT’s biggest rival in the broadband market.

Several senior Rainey Kelly figures, including chief operating officer Tony Harris, were involved in the launch of Swarm but it is thought that they will return to the main agency once it is operational. It is not clear who will head Swarm. It is understood that the new agency will also be used as a “training centre” for staff being groomed as the next management line-up for the network.

Rainey Kelly won BT’s B2B account in February last year after a final pitch against McCann Erickson. Abbott Mead Vickers.BBDO handles BT’s £40m consumer business and is responsible for the “family” ads featuring actor Kris Marshall.

Last year, BT moved its media planning business in house after parting company with PHD.

It poached two senior PHD executives, Alison Grainger and Stuart Bowden, to run its new in-house team in December (MW December 14, 2006).

Both Rainey Kelly and BT refused to comment as Marketing Week went to press.