Vodafone awards football ident task to JWT Germany

Vodafone has appointed JWT Germany to develop the sponsorship idents for the UEFA Champions League following a competitive pitch.

The WPP-owned agency won the account after a pitch against sister agency JWT Portugal, digital agency Dare and Italian agency 1861 United.

Last month Vodafone appointed Spanish agency Tapsa to handle a pan-European brief to create a campaign based around roaming (using mobile phones abroad) during the summer (MW April 9). It won the project following a competitive pitch, but it is not know how many agencies were involved in the process.

The practice of pitching pan-European projects bet-ween the mobile giant’s roster of agencies is a departure from the historically dominant hold Bartle Bogle Hegarty has had on Vodafone’s global business.

BBH, which has been Vodafone’s lead advertising agency since 2004, was not involved in pitching for the Champions League project.

In March this year, BBH created a new campaign aimed at bringing Vodafone’s sponsorship of Formula One in line with its brand positioning line “Making the most of now”. The agency launched a TV commercial featuring F1 star Lewis Hamilton.

Earlier this month, Vodafone ended its relationship with its consumer direct marketing agency Lida, consolidating the £5m account with Partners Andrews Aldridge.

The Champions League’s other official sponsors include Sony, Ford, PlayStation, Mastercard, Heineken and Ford.