HP Restructures, Putting More Assignments In Play

The addition of McCann Erickson to Hewlett-Packard’s global roster last week is the second major account shuffle by the technology giant this month—and it likely won’t be the last.

As HP continues to work out its marketing plans under a newly decentralized structure, roster agencies expect more business to be up for grabs in the coming weeks.

“HP’s marketing organization has been completely transformed from a centralized marketing structure to a decentralized one,” one source said. “Little by little, HP has been opening up its assignments.”

After taking over for Carly Fiorina last year, CEO Mark Hurd began to decentralize marketing so that managers closest to individual products and services are directly involved in their marketing and advertising, giving them a greater hand in choosing their own agencies, sources said.

Under the plan, HP has gone from having a global advertising and marketing department to a structure in which three divisions—the Personal Systems Group...