Telstra has dropped advertising agency Belgiovane Williams Mackay from its roster, with the move to take effect from 31 July.
The termination ends the eight year relationship which saw the agency produce iconic advertising including the award-winning "Rabbits" campaign.
A statement from Photon Group to the ASX said the account would represent between $10 million to $15 million in net revenue for BWM in the financial year ending 30 June 2011, of which approximately 40% would be in the second half of FY11.
The statement said the agency had taken steps to realign its business to the reduced scope of work from Telstra. BWM had previously worked on Telstra's NextG and BigPond brands but has recently only worked on Telstra Business projects.
BWM said the agency's new business wins including Kmart, Selley’s and Department of Health and Ageing would help reduce redundancies.
“With the new business gains in Melbourne and Sydney we will be able to keep redundancies to a minimum,” said BWM CEO Paul Williams.
The move ends months of speculation about changes to the telco's roster and comes two months after Telstra's new chief marketing officer Mark Buckman joined the company.
A Telstra spokesman said: “Telstra has been busy changing behind the
scenes to better connect with our customers and this tighter agency
roster will help us to communicate in the market.”
“We thank BWM
for its work with Telstra over the years and the contribution it has
made in advertising new products and services to our customers.
Williams said: “It’s a brilliant innings by anyone’s standards and Telstra is a fantastic client that understands the power of starting conversations. The work was highly successful for them in terms of business results as well as creative and effectiveness awards."
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