O2 set to hand £24m brief to Archibald Ingall Stretton

LONDON - Mobile phone company O2 is set to award Archibald Ingall Stretton its 拢24m consumer direct marketing account following a four-way pitch.

O2 set to hand £24m brief to Archibald Ingall Stretton

The agency pitched against a final shortlist comprising Proximity London, Tequila\London, 23red and Finex. The pitch was handled by the AAR.

O2 called a review of its entire direct marketing business at the end of last year. Its 拢1m business-to-business brief was awarded to Tequila\London in January.

Before the review, O2's roster of below-the-line agencies included EHS Brann, Proximity, Agency Republic and Tullo Marshall Warren.

O2's above-the-line activity is handled by Vallance Carruthers Coleman Priest, which recently produced its latest 'Talk Simple' ad campaign.

The campaign has landed the mobile phone company in hot water with Sony, because it uses similar symbols to the Sony PlayStation's brand icons.

O2 has backed down and agreed to withdraw its 拢4m TV, press and outdoor campaign before the end of May in an out-of-court settlement with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Neither O2 nor Archibald Ingall Stretton were available for comment.

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