• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, December 22, 2015

Bose, the high-end audio equipment maker, has appointed WPP's Grey as its global creative agency following a review.

Prior to the appointment, Bose created ads in house or used agencies on a project basis.

The review was led out of London, although the account will handled out of both London and New York.

The decision to hire an agency full time comes as Bose is locked in a heated battle with Beats By Dre, now owned by Apple for share of the high-end audio headset market.

Ironically the selection comes as Grey’s top creative Tor Myhren prepares to depart the agency next year for a new position at Apple.

The decision to hire a global creative agency comes a little more than a year after the client consolidated media agency duties with three shops—Interpublic’s MediaHub/Mullen and Initiative for North America and WPP’s MediaCom for Europe, Asia and other markets outside of North America.

According to RECMA, Bose spent an estimated $275 million on ads globally in 2012. Most of that spending occurred in the U.S., according to Kantar, which estimated the company spent $216 million here in 2012 and about $206 million in 2013. Updated figures weren’t immediately available.

Grey declined to comment on the win referring calls to the client. A Bose marketing executive didn’t immediately respond to a query about the selection.