Telecom group Nortel Network has asked agencies to pitch for an
account to handle its UK and European corporate and business-to-business
PR, for fees believed to be over pounds 300,000.
The review comes in the wake of the company’s acquisition of data
networking specialists Bay Networks in an estimated pounds 5.7 billion
transaction earlier this year.
The move is an attempt to consolidate the companies PR with no more than
two agencies. Nortel and Bay currently use five PR agencies between
them.
Last week eight agencies were asked to pitch, four of which were
Nortel’s incumbent PR suppliers. Fees are understood to be between
pounds 300,000 and pounds 500,000 a year.
Following the pitch, Nortel’s incumbent agencies Hill and Knowlton,
Noiseworks PR and Brodeur A Plus have been short-listed to present
programme proposals next month. Hi-tech specialists Text 100 is the only
new agency to be shortlisted.
Nortel’s senior manager of communications Julie Aquilar said: ’We want
to align and streamline ourselves better. It would make it simpler for
ourselves and others and would also be more cost-effective.’
The four agencies will compete for two separate PR roles, the lead
agency role which will focus on business media programmes and work with
other agencies for Nortel’s European campaign and the second role will
focus on the trade media and technical issues.
