Why BBH said farewell to Sony

million worldwide.

BBH's and Sony Ericsson's press statements regarding the split concurred
that it was an amicable decision, based on creative differences of
opinion regarding the future direction of the brand, although they
differed in that Sony Ericsson's claimed the decision was mutual.

However, BBH is understood to have been angered that it was not informed
that Wolff Olins was working for Sony Ericsson until the new brand
strategy was a fait accompli - five months after the appointment of the
brand consultancy.

BBH is said to disagree fundamentally with Wolff Olins' brand strategy
and the direction in which it would take the advertising.

A spokesman for Sony Ericsson said: "Sony Ericsson is a different
company to the one we were five years ago. We are keen to take a step
back, review and look at what options we have. It's perfect timing for
us."

Sony Ericsson is scheduled to begin an agency hunt by mid-August. While
the manufacturer would not confirm whether an intermediary would be
handling the process, the company did say the search would be for a
single agency or network to handle the task globally, rather than a
market-by-market approach.

In the five years it has held the account, BBH has produced a string of
high-profile ads for the brand. Current campaigns focus on the phones'
music and photographic capabilities as the manufacturer has leveraged
the Sony Walkman and Sony Cyber-shot brands into its phones. BBH's most
recent work features the tennis stars Daniela Hantuchova and Ana
Ivanovic in an ad for the K800i Cyber-shot camera phone and runs with
the line: "Never miss a shot."

Sony Ericsson was formed in August 2001 in a merger between Sony and the
Swedish handset manufacturer Eric-sson. BBH beat Saatchi & Saatchi, the
incumbent on Sony's mobile products in the UK, in a pitch in December
the same year.

The review will not affect any other agency arrangements. Media is
handled globally by Mediaedge:cia. Dare, in which BBH has a 25 per cent
stake, handles the global digital account.