McCann Erickson clinches 10m ‘in kind’ Olympic task

McCann Erickson has won the pitch for the London 2012 marketing assignment that requires the incumbent to sponsor the games by way of “value in kind”, worth 10m.

The Interpublic agency battled against Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP Group to win the pitch. Chime Communications was ruled out of the running last week and Publicis Groupe last month.

The tender has proved controversial because of the payment terms. Payment will be by way of Tier Three sponsorship rights for the Olympics, and the winning agency will provide 10m-worth of marketing services.

The appointment was overseen by the commercial director of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, Chris Townsend, and a team including head of brand and marketing Amanda Jennings.

Townsend was previously group marketing director for Transport for London and is a former BSkyB marketer. He joined Locog in July 2006.

McCann Erickson, with the support of Interpublic resources, will be expected to work on a range of marketing briefs taking in creative, digital, sponsorship and ticket marketing. The agency was unavailable for comment at the time that Marketing Week went to press.

Chime Communications had previously worked on a 12-month contract for the London 2012 Olympiad, which ran until March this year and included the Olympic handover in Beijing last year.

Interpublic has just posted a drop in first-quarter organic revenues of 5.6% year on year.