TBWA\C\D, Riney Vie For Future With Sprint Nextel

With Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications inching closer to a $35 billion merger, their respective creative agencies find themselves in the early stages of a power struggle over who will handle the consolidated wireless account, sources said.The combined Sprint Nextel is not expected to spend as much together as they did separately—Sprint PCS spent about $500 million last year, and Nextel $325 million, according to TNS Media Intelligence/CMR—but the stakes are still high for both Sprint agency Publicis & Hal Riney in San Francisco and Nextel's TBWA\ Chiat\Day in New York. The budget is expected to top $500 million, and even as it stands prior to the merger, each client is the largest source of revenue for each office. The question of who will steer the bigger telecom is on the back burner for now, however, as the client seeks a campaign to launch the combined brand, sources said. Two weeks ago, client executives briefed both agencies. Among the executives was Mark Schweitzer, svp of marketing for Nextel, who is designated to become chief marketing officer for Sprint Nextel.Each agency is bringing out its biggest guns, acting as if the drill is a tryout for who ultimately will lead the business. Contributing to the effort of Omnicom Group's TBWA\C\D is Lee Clow, its worldwide chairman and chief creative officer, and worldwide creative director John Hunt, who was in from South Africa to attend the briefing, said sources.David Droga, worldwide cd at Riney sister shop Publicis, attended last month's briefing and will play a role in Riney's pitch, sources said. Droga's presence is unusual because Publicis Groupe's Hal Riney historically has operated independently from Publicis (though it now reports to Publicis worldwide COO Rick Bendel) and Publicis' Seattle office handles rival T-Mobile. Last week, Droga said he was assisting Riney with the pitch. "The powers that be have asked me to step up and help them," said Droga, referring to Publicis Group chief Maurice Lévy. Adding that he has never met the T-Mobile client, he said, "I'm very aware that I can't put anyone on a conflict."Peter Dobrow, a T-Mobile representative, said, "We see absolutely no conflict of interest for us" that Droga is pitching Sprint Nextel. "The bottom line is we have the utmost confidence in Bob [Moore, ecd] and his team [in Seattle] to meet all of our needs." Nextel did not return calls. Each shop is expected to present ideas to client executives the week of May 16. The campaign would break around August, when the deal is expected to close, sources said.The merger, announced in Dec-ember, awaits approval from the Federal Communications Commission. If combined today, Sprint Nextel would have nearly 35 million wireless subscribers, making it the third-largest wireless company behind market leader Cingular, which has more than 50 million subscribers, and Verizon Wireless, which has nearly 46 million, according to the companies.

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TBWA\C\D, Riney Vie For Future With Sprint Nextel

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