Agencies wait on Etisalat as firm concludes PR pitch exercise
Etisalat telecommunication is inching closer to the conclusion of its public relations multimillion naira account pitch and will soon release the result of the competitive exercise.
The technical team of the telco firm, it is gathered, has reviewed the submissions made by the five agencies that took part in the contest and narrowed down the agencies to two.
It is not very clear who the successful two agencies are among the five that pitched for the job but out of the duo, one agency which is already close to the heart of the management will subsequently be selected to handle the plum job for the next four years.
According to a source, all the agencies put in good fight for the job but “of course only one of them will be selected”
Etisalat will not likely split the account between two agencies as peddled in the industry as it will possibly stick to one agency which it has done since it entered in to Nigerian market in 2008.
The feeling among the agencies is waiting game as they said “we have made our presentations, we therefore crossed our fingers waiting for whatever result that will emerge”, one of them said.
Recently, BusinessDay reported that six top agencies lined up for the job. One agency, Brooks and Blake later withdrew as it is now handling MTN.
The other agencies invited to pitch for the plum job are Chain Reactions, Xlr8, MediaCraft, The Quadrant Company and C and F Potter Novelli .
The Quadrant Company which is currently handling the PR account for the telco firm took over the job from C and F last four years. In the new pitch, BusinessDay gathered that the Etisalat is looking for innovative PR agency for a stronger partnership to drive it through the competitive telco market and deepen its media relations. The PR job is for the wit as it is gathered that Etisalat will put everything into consideration to select the best strategic agency as partner as the source said “’midnight movement will not be a factor”, the source said.
All the agencies competing for the job are top rated as they have blue chip companies in their kitty but one of them with good PR strategies, brand building innovations and especially good media relations will win the job, the source said.
The Vice President, Regulations and Corporate Affairs, Etisalat, Ibrahim Dikko had earlier told BusinessDay that company will announce the results this month or in August.
Daniel Obi