The Marketing Store wins Vodafone integrated retail account

Vodafone has appointed The Marketing Store (TMS) to handle its £2m integrated retail account following a two-month review. The business was previously handled by RMG Connect, which is thought to have declined to repitch.

TMS will be responsible for above-the-line retail communications, direct and indirect point of sale, high street events and literature. In addition, DAD has been appointed to handle Vodafone’s offline direct response work. Both agencies start working with the telecoms giant from October 1.

The review, which was overseen by Vodafone UK’s chief marketing officer Tim Yates and head of brand and marketing communications Dominic Chambers, was called in June (MW June 14). It is not known which other agencies pitched for the business.

Yates says: “Both the direct and indirect channels are extremely important to us and TMS’ proposals showed the creativity that is needed to make us stand apart from our rivals in a very competitive marketplace.”

The appointments are the latest in a series of changes to Vodafone’s roster. The company moved its £47m advertising account out of RMG’s sister above-the-line agency JWT and into Bartle Bogle Hegarty at the end of last year.

In March, Vodafone appointed Lida to handle its £4m consumer direct marketing account, which had previously been with Harrison Troughton Wunderman (MW March 29). Dare won a digital strategy brief for Vodafone Retail in February following a pitch against incumbent RMG, while Kinetic was reappointed to handle the company’s £19m outdoor advertising account earlier this year after a review.