BC Tel Mobility has split the advertising assignment for its wireless business and given Cossette Communication-Marketing the cellular account while incumbent BBDO Vancouver keeps the paging assignment.

Michele Gaudette, director of marketing communications for BC Tel Mobility says the communications business is evolving so quickly, the company decided it made sense to assign different agencies to different parts of the business.

She says the company has worked tactically with a number of Vancouver agencies, including bbdo, Cossette, Palmer Jarvis and Wasserman & Partners, and will continue to do so until at least 1997.

Advertising plans for the launch later this year of personal communications services (pcs) have not yet been decided, says Gaudette, nor has an agency been chosen to handle it, although she does expect some crossover with the cellular business.

(PCS communications are achieved through radio frequency waves transmitted at 1.9 GHz – higher than existing cellular services. The higher frequency allows for smaller antennas and smaller, lower-power handsets than conventional cellular.)

The look and feel of BC Tel Mobility’s cellular advertising is expected to change under Cossette, but Gaudette says the target group will remain constant.

Overall, the wireless market is very young, and advertising will continue to be targeted to the 18- to 35-year-old age group, says Gaudette, although the company will be looking for ways to expand beyond that market.