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The agency won the business after a pitch including BMP DDB, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, M&C Saatchi, Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper and Lowe. Ben Langdon, the regional director of Europe, the Middle East and Africa at McCann, led the pitch on behalf of the agency, which already handles the PwC accountancy advertising task out of the US.

The media task for the consulting business will still be handled by Initiative Media.

A spokesman for PwC commented: "After undertaking a comprehensive competitive review of global full-service advertising agencies, PwC Consulting has decided to retain the services of McCann-Erickson for creative and Initiative Media for media planning and buying."

PwC had been talking to agencies via the AAR about a global campaign to promote a separate identity for its consulting division since last month.

McCann is the incumbent on the PwC business, which it won from Ammirati Puris Lintas in 1999, and it has produced print and radio campaigns for the brand since then. McCann's fellow IPG operation, FutureBrand, created PwC Consulting, a new identity for the company's consulting arm, in November last year.

The news follows the recent rush to rebrand auditors' consultancy operations in response to the scandal enveloping the auditing company Arthur Andersen in the US after the utility company Enron filed for bankruptcy.

Arthur Andersen was charged with obstruction of justice by allegedly shredding Enron documents, triggering a spate of high-profile client departures.

It has been mooted that PwC wishes to separate its auditing and consulting divisions in the wake of the Enron scandal. PwC is acting as auditor for Enron in Europe following the sacking of Andersen.