Virgin Mobile Places Media Planning, Creative In Review -- Again

Virgin Mobile USA has put its creative and media planning account into review and incumbents Mother and MediaHead are competing. It is the second review in as many years for the brash telecommunications brand, which tapped Mother after previous incumbent Fallon New York ceased operations.

Media buying for the $30 million-plus account, which is handled by Publicis' Starlink unit, is not part of the review. Management consultant Gilbert Co. is handling the review.

Virgin did not say what other shops or how many agencies would participate in the review, but that the goal is find a partner that will help it build "aggressively" on its momentum. Although mobile phone services are a crowded field, Virgin has established a strong niche by marketing its pre-paid mobile phone plans as an alternative aimed at the youth market. Creative advertising and innovative media strategies have helped it get the word out, and Virgin now claims 4.6 million subscribers and one of the fastest growth rates in the pre-paid mobile category.

In a statement, Virgin acknowledged Mother's role in building that momentum, but is nonetheless evaluating the field as it looks to build on that base.

MediaHead, a strategically-focused media and communications planning specialist headed by founded by former Universal McCann executive James Geoghegan, has been operating as Mother's media services arm.

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