LONDON — Eaton Corporation, the $21bn power management company, has selected Hotwire to lead its communications across EMEA .

The decision follows a competitive review that featured six agencies, covering eight markets:  France, UK, DACH, Spain and Italy. Hotwire is charged with leading consumer and B2B communications, for an assignment that is estimated at around $90k per month.

Hotwire's UK team, led by MD Matt Cross, will serve as the assignment's hub agency, coordinating local market efforts, as well as leading strategy and content. Agencies from Hotwire’s partner network — Iteo and Yellow Communications — will activate local work in Norway, the Netherlands and Belguim respectively, along with Hotwire’s local teams in the remaining countries the brief covers.

The agency hire comes as Eaton aims to step up brand familiarity as energy issues take centre-stage in the new economy. In particular, Eaton is hoping to showcase its credentials across such areas as energy storage, safety of people and assets, energy efficiency and intelligent infrastructure.

"Hotwire were up against some stiff competition but what made Hotwire stand out was not only the high quality of their proposal but the chemistry in the room between all team members," said Eaton EMEA PR manager Vera Grishchenko. "The team’s strategic, insight-led approach really impressed us, and set the tone for the rest of the pitch. We were particularly excited by the brand positioning work the team had done along with the big creative ideas they presented." 

Accordingly, Hotwire's work will focus on three areas: working with Eaton to enhance its local presence smart local media relations; bringing Eaton’s brand campaigns to life through complementary integrated activity; and developing the company's position as a thought leader in the power management, battery based energy storage systems, IT and data centre, and other energy spaces.

Founded in the US more than 100 years ago, Eaton employs approximately 95,000 people and sells products to customers in more than 175 countries. Last year, the company announced a deal with Nissan to release a new residential energy storage system that they claim will be “the most affordable in the market today.”