Omnicom's TBWA\Chiat\Day said it would not defend its share of U.S. creative duties on the Sprint Nextel account as the client prepares to meet this week with about six shops, writes AdWeek.
Taking meetings with Sprint are MDC Partners' Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami, Omnicom's Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco and WPP Group units Ogilvy & Mather and Young & Rubicam, according to sources. The other shops could not immediately be ascertained.
The incumbent on the B2B portion of the account, Publicis & Hal Riney in San Francisco, has reportedly offered to pitch the entire assignment in partnership with Publicis Groupe sibling Saatchi & Saatchi. Whether the client would accept the offer is unclear; it has said it wishes to consolidate the account at a single shop.
Sprint spends $1.2 billion annually in measured media, and TBWA\C\D's consumer portion of the business accounts for an estimated $30 million - and is the largest client in the shop's New York office.
