Vodafone global chief attacks Millward Brown

Vodafone global marketer David Wheldon has attacked Millward Brown Research for not being “relevant” in this “new age of marketing”.

David Wheldon

Vodafone global marketer David Wheldon (pictured) has attacked Millward Brown Research for not being "relevant" in this "new age of marketing".

His tirade against the research company was made at the ISBA annual conference on Thursday. The global director of brand and customer experience of Vodafone said that the research was 35 years old and therefore out of date, at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to reach audiences in a "multi-platform age".

Millward Brown, a global marketing research agency, is owned by the WPP Group. Wheldon was responsible for the recent loss of WPP-owned JWT’s UK Vodafone account to Bartle Bogle Hegarty. WPP-owned JWT continues to be the mobile operator’s network partner. A former agency man, Wheldon was the chief executive of Team Vodafone at WPP, before he joined the client in 2004.