Dublin, 23rd July 2009.

It’s always nice when you win a pitch, but it’s particularly gratifying to win an account like 3, Ireland’s fastest growing network. 3 appointed us as their lead strategic agency on their advertising account last week, after a competitive pitch.

The €10m account is a superb opportunity to ensure that we let consumers know just how good ‘3’ really are, for both mobile and broadband services. One thing we know for sure is that ‘3’ will win in this market. What appealed to us most is their relentless ambition to beat the competition and their focus on doing things that are relevant for consumers. We will work closely with Mindshare, their strategic media agency to ensure we provide insight and ideas that build their business.

You may not know this, but 3 is owned by Hutchison Whampoa, one of the largest companies on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, with a track record of telecoms innovation. 3 is Ireland’s fastest growing network and the market leader in mobile broadband.

Having more than doubled its customer base since 2008, 3 has over 400,000 customers including 150,000 mobile broadband subscriptions, 250 employees, 21 3Stores and over 400 retail outlets. At the end of December 2008, 3 was awarded the National Broadband Scheme contract to connect the remaining 10% of rural Ireland without high speed broadband. So, there are lots of good reasons to choose them. What’s even nicer is the feedback we received detailing why we were appointed to run their account:

Robert Finnegan, CEO of 3 welcomed the appointment:

“McCann’s have a reputation for excellence and a foothold worldwide, as a major player in the international marketing arena, their expertise and insight will help deliver a local brand strategy for 3, whilst leveraging 3’s strengths as a challenger brand across the 3 Group worldwide.”

Elaine Carey, Sales and Marketing Director at 3 commented:

“We’re delighted to appoint McCann Erickson to the 3 account – McCann’s experience with leading brands and their insight into consumer trends and behaviours will be invaluable in further strengthening the 3 brand in the Irish market. McCann’s reputation for excellence in strategic planning and thought leadership will help guide the 3 brand strategy and creative executions across all our propositions.”

So, a superb win for the team at McCann, lead by Sarah Maher and Leo Moore along with creative leadership by Shay Madden and Rory Hamilton and 12 others who contributed to ensuring that 3 chose McCann Erickson Dublin.