EE shakes up comms line-up as 4G mobile service launch looms

FTI Consulting has taken over responsibility for EE's corporate and strategic comms, just weeks after the operator of Orange and T-Mobile announced its rebrand from Everything Everywhere. The brief was formerly held by Weber Shandwick and GolinHarris.

The agency will look to build awareness and understanding of EE as a company and its soon-to-launch 4G services, including corporate positioning and reputation management.

FTI's account will be led by strategic comms MD James Melville-Ross, who has significant experience of capital markets transactions and IPOs, particularly in the tech sector. Both Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, EE's joint owners, have been linked with a possible float or sale of their stakes this year.

EE head of PR and corporate comms Mat Sears said: 'This is an exciting time for EE, and we felt FTI, with its wide-ranging expertise in comms consultancy, was the best consultancy to advise us through it.'

WS and GolinHarris will continue working until the end of the year on industry analyst work, while GolinHarris will also continue to handle consumer PR for EE's Orange network.

Meanwhile, on the consumer side, Nelson Bostock and M&C Saatchi have been given expanded roles promoting the EE brand in addition to their current duties for EE's T-Mobile.

Both agencies were involved in the launch of the EE 4G network and Everything Everywhere's rebrand to EE at the beginning of September.

The agency reshuffle follows director of comms and corporate affairs Stuart Jackson's move into a wider business role, reported in PRWeek last week.

EE TIMELINE

September

Everything Everywhere rebrands as EE, announced by CEO Olaf Swantee.

August

Ofcom awards EE a head start on rivals to provide 4G services, a decision that is slammed by rival Vodafone.

June

Ex-Everything Everywhere chief executive Tom Alexander fails in £8bn bid for ex-employer, with US buyout company KKR.

This article was first published on prweek.com