Uninor to sign on Bates CHI & Partners

The telecom brand was reviewing its creative duties since April.

Telecom service provider Uninor will appoint Bates CHI & Partners to handle its creative mandate. The brand will officially bring the agency on board early next week, according to sources.

It may be recalled that afaqs! had reported about Uninor reviewing its creative agency in April. Leo Burnett India had worked on the creative duties of Uninor.

The brand was in the middle of legal troubles in the recent months. In March, Uninor promoted Rajiv Sethi, circle business head, UP East, to take on the role of chief marketing officer of the brand.

Launched in 2009 in nine circles, Uninor is a joint venture between Unitech, the infrastructure developing company, and Telenor, the Norwegian telecom brand. The brand claimed 20 million subscribers in 2010, with figures doubling in 2012 to 41.5 million. It has more than 16,000 distributors and more than 3.5 lakh retail outlets.

However, the brand faced problems early last year, when as per a Supreme Court judgment, 22 of its 2G licenses were cancelled. Interestingly, Uninor launched a campaign titled 'We Love Uninor' despite legal troubles, where it reinforced its commitment to continue operating in India.

Uninor's outdoor advertising has been handled by Storyboard Brandcom, a division of Milestone Brandcom Group, while ZenithOptimedia has handled its media duties.