O2, sponsor of the England Rugby Union team and Big Brother, has invited outside agencies to muscle their way into its media house.
Despite claiming to be more than happy with the performance of its media team - which includes PHD, the Allmond Partnership and ZenithOptimedia - some, or possibly all, of O2's incumbent agencies could lose their chunk of its £30m media buying and planning account.
O2, formerly BT Cellnet, announced that it is opening the door to its current agencies' rivals as it reviews its media account. It has raised the real possibility of consolidation.
"It's time for us to revisit it and look at the competition," said Susie Moore, O2's head of brands and marketing communications.
"We need to work out whether we need to consolidate."
Moore said at least two other agencies are to be invited to pitch for the business with a decision expected early in the new year, although the way will be barred for those with mobile competitors' accounts.
"We're keeping a completely open mind," Moore said. "Consolidation is obviously an option but we wouldn't want to jeopardise the quality of media planning and buying. We've been incredibly pleased with our agencies."
O2 recently consolidated its direct marketing account after calling a similar pitch among a string of incumbents.
Moore praised the agencies, using, as the most recent example, the "great work" done by PHD - which carries out media planning, strategy and sponsorship work for O2 - on the back of its England tie-up, including a partnership with The Times to plug the mobile giant's video downloads from the Rugby World Cup. TAP has carried out TV buying for the company, with press and radio by ZenithOptimedia.
All three agencies, each of which has worked on the account for more than three years, have been invited to pitch. None were available for comment.
The company claims great success from backing C4's Big Brother for the past three series, which, like the England sponsorship, dates back to its BT Cellnet days.
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