DALLAS Publicis Group's Publicis in Mid America and independent shop Hoffman/Lewis made the final cut for Western Wireless' estimated $15 million creative and media account, the client confirmed.
Interpublic Group's Temerlin McClain in Irving, Texas, was eliminated from contention. A fourth shop, Carmichael Lynch in Minneapolis, dropped out of the review last week.
The two finalists, located in Dallas and San Francisco, respectively, will make "minor tweaks" to their presentations and meet with the Bellevue, Wash., company's senior leadership team this week. A final winner may not be selected until next week, said Paul Borselli, executive director of marketing and communications for Western Wireless.
"Both of these agencies did an excellent job in presenting their strategies, showing us two different ways to present this brand," Borselli said.
Western Wireless is the owner of the Cellular One brand. The winning agency will work on a national branding campaign aimed at bringing consistency to the marketing of Cellular One for both Western Wireless markets and its licensees. Western Wireless serves more than 1 million customers in 19 Western states under the names Cellular One and Western Wireless.