This is bad news. Mullen, who has had the Nextel account for seven years, has lost the account. The account has been in review for months with incumbent Mullen in the difficult position of trying to retain a client who has decided to have a review. Incumbents rarely win. Sad news personally too as Mullen is geographically very close to me and I know several people who work there.
The account represents about 15% of Mullen’s billing and that is sure to have an effect on head count, a situation Mullen has been mostly lucky to avoid in these perilous economic times. Joe Grimaldi, Mullen’s Chief Executive, hopes that over the next few months as the account transitions to a new shop, there will be some account wins to offset the loss of Nextel.
If it’s any constellation to the New England region, Boston’s Arnold is still in the running for the account. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for them.
I wish Mullen all the best. Boston Globe article here.
