Orange Appoints Underwired to Lead B2B Digital Business

05 May 2006 - Press Dispensary - Orange Business Solutions has appointed independent digital specialist Underwired (http://www.underwired.com) to manage its digital B2B support. Underwired won the Orange business following a three-way pitch managed by the UK's leading search and selection consultancy, AAR.

Underwired has been briefed to handle all B2B digital creative and production for Orange Business Solutions campaign support. Planned activity will include online advertising, email marketing and tactaical online promotions for all aspects of Orange's B2B operations. The win comes as Orange is challenging the B2B communications marketplace by simplifying the tariff system for businesses.

Felix Velarde, Underwired's managing partner, comments: "We've wanted to work with Orange since we started our first agency in 1994 - the same year Orange was founded. Working with one of our 'hero' brands is a business milestone for Underwired and will help us deliver on our ambitions for the future."

Leigh Davidson, marketing and communications manager at Orange Business Solutions said of the appointment: "Right from our initial meeting, Underwired stood out from the other agencies with its understanding of the market, our brand and objectives. The Underwired team brings digital passion and expertise to our communications mix."

Underwired won 74% of its pitches in 2005 and increased its fee income by more than 50%. This growth was helped by a rapid expansion in its eCRM work for clients, including Virgin Holidays which won the BIMA Award for Best eCRM/Email Marketing Programme in 2005.



Notes for editors
Underwired is an independent digital specialist and was set up in 1996. It is headed by Felix Velarde (managing partner), Jason Holland (creative director) and Lazar Dzamic (planning director).

The agency creates websites, eCRM programmes and online advertising and marketing campaigns for clients including Virgin Holidays, Harrods, the Barbican, AXA PPP Healthcare, Start-rite Shoes, Penguin Books, Friends Reunited, Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign, National Missing Persons Helpline and AAR. Underwired’s fee income grew by 50% in 2005, helped by the expansion of its eCRM activities, which earned the agency a BIMA Award for Best eCRM/Email Campaign, along with commendations at both the New Media Age Awards and Campaign Digital Awards. Underwired is also a sister agency to Integrated Advertising Agency, Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw; both agencies retain their independence.

B2B Wales speaker and one of the UK's most successful female :B2B UK

B2B Wales speaker and one of the UK's most successful female entrepreneurs, Jacqueline Gold, of Ann Summers, goes under the Q&A spotlight May 3 2006

Sion Barry, Western Mail


What is your top tip/piece of advice for running a successful business?

Believe in yourself and don't let others deter you or put you down.

Do you have a business mantra or catchphrase?

No, but the best piece of advice I have been given is 'the greatest fear is fear itself'; ie, don't fear the competition. You can spend too much time worrying about the competition and not enough time focusing on your own business and what you are good at.

For you, what is the most difficult aspect of running a business?

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Running a large business like a small business. I like to run my business like a small business so I am hands-on, and am able to get feedback and respond and change things straight away. But sometimes it is hard when you are such a large business.

If you were setting up again is there anything you would do differently?

Yes, be myself. When I started in business as a woman in a male-dominated industry I emulated men and dressed like men. It was a mistake. Now I am myself.

Who has influenced you in business the most?

My father. Unfortunately there were no female role models when I was starting.

Do you have a business tool you find invaluable?

I can't live without my mobile phone and BlackBerry.

Is there any business/idea you wish you'd thought of?

I wish I had invented the battery. Our customers get through a lot of them!

Are there any mistakes you've made?

yes trying to launch a women's magazine, Bite, in the '90s which didn't work as newsagents kept putting it on the top shelf when actually it was a women's magazine targeted at the Cosmopolitan reader. It folded after a year, costing me a cool million pounds!

Most embarrassing business moment?

Many occasions of being stopped going through security at airports and getting searched and them pulling out Ann Summers products from my bags!

What would you have done if you hadn't been in this business?

Been an interior designer or something creative.

Next week Q&A with B2B speaker Simon Woodroffe