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O2, the new brand name for BT Wireless' operating businesses, is

seeking a heavyweight pan-European sponsorship deal to propel its launch

into the market.

Will Harris, vice-president of marketing for O2, said: "O2 needs to put

itself on the map and I'm looking for a big sponsorship package." He

added that the type of sponsorship had not been decided and that O2

would look at both sports and non-sports events.

The brand, announced on Monday this week, is to supplant the BT Cellnet

mobile phone brand as well as Genie, the brand for BT Wireless' mobile

internet business, as predicted in Marketing (August 9), along with all

its subsidiaries overseas.

The transition to the single O2 brand name will be completed next

spring.

In the meantime, Cellnet, Genie and the other subsidiaries will retain

their names but will be described and suffixed as 'an O2 company'.

BT Wireless, the holding company, will be renamed mmO2.

Harris said advertising and marketing for O2 needed to be radical and

innovative to compete effectively with the likes of Orange and

Vodafone.

"The market we're playing in is ripe for change," he said. "Advertising

for the various mobile networks has become very similar and we need to

make a quantum leap to make the advertising catch up with the technology

in terms of its innovation."

BT Wireless' £150m pan-European account is currently held by

Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO. PHD handles media planning while buying for TV

is carried out by The Allmond Partnership and buying for press and radio

is by Zenith Media.

Harris, a former Abbott Mead Vickers board account director, was

appointed BT Wireless' vice-president of marketing last month after

being Genie's director of global marketing. Kent Thexton was then

appointed chief marketing and data officer, in addition to his existing

role as BT Genie president.

Both report to O2 chief executive Peter Erskine.