SUNNYVALE, CA--NetApp, the IT storage giant that last month began consolidating its 17-agency global roster, has issued RFIs for EMEA and Asia-Pacific.
In the EMEA region alone, the company has invited 20 firms to take part in the RFI, according to a copy obtained by the Holmes Report. The company has previously allowed agency selection decisions to be made at a local level, with nine firms currently overseeing 20 markets across EMEA.
Instead, NetApp is now seeking one firm each for EMEA and Asia-Pacific, after selecting Porter-Novelli to oversee the Americas region last month. The latter decision follows NetApp’s lengthy relationship with P-N subsidiary Voce Communications. NetApp is also seeking a global lead agency based in New York, and a firm to handle US public sector activity.
For both EMEA and Asia-Pacific, NetApp is seeking a firm with a range of capabilities - including public relations, internal comms, social media and crisis management - and broad geographic coverage of its key markets. Firms will report to the relevant regional PR and marketing heads, and work with local PR managers and NetApp’s global lead agency.
The review is being overseen by NetApp’s senior corporate comms director Jodi Baumann. In an interview last year, Baumann told the Holmes Report that the previous “best of breed” model was “tough to manage.” Baumann did not respond to request for comment as this story went live.
The company recently completed a year-long exercise to implement a new global awareness strategy, in a bid to bring more cohesion to its overall PR efforts.