Sources inform “Globes” that international branding firms Identica, Wolff Olins, and Pentagram will compete for Cellcom’s re-branding budget. The sources added that senior Cellcom executives, including president and CEO Dr. Yitzhak Peterburg, would visit London in the coming days to meet with the firms.
Cellcom is expected to present a new marketing concept in 2004. Cellcom decries the fact that the branding company that led its brand building in recent years, using a “you’re the star” concept, has gone bankrupt, leaving Cellcom with a half-finished campaign. A new agreement with a branding company to build the company brand is now expected.
The choice of a branding firm is part of Cellcom’s restructuring in advertising and marketing, in which Cellcom is considering the hiring of an additional advertising agency for its advertising campaign. Cellcom is scheduled to meet in the coming days with representatives from the Geller Nessis D'Arcy, Tamir - Cohen (Jacobsohn) J. Walter Thompson, and Gitam/BBDO advertising agencies.
In recent years, Cellcom’s advertising budget has varied from $10 million to $12 million per year. Since Cellcom was founded seven years ago, the Bauman-Ber-Rivnay Saatchi and Saatchi agency has handled its advertising account.
Cellcom has also been considering the separation of its media planning and monitoring from its media buying. Candidates for handling its media monitoring include Carat Media One, Muse, and Top Media.
Cellcom declined to comment on the report.
Published by Globes [online] -l www.globes.co.il - on October 27, 2003