Hewlett-Packard has selected Publicis Groupe (Modem and Geneva) to handle its personal-computers division across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Big win. They've stolen the account from McCann Erickson who did try to defend.

McCann is battling on all fronts these days, at least in the U.S. Zicam, the maker of cold remedies with an account $25M, is searching to replace McCann Erickson, Los Angeles. They are currently engaged in a battle for some Microsoft business despite being the "lead agency."

HP is already the biggest personal-computer maker worldwide, and now, has surpassed Dell in the US market Dell for the first time since 2001, according to research firm Gartner Inc. Dell is just slipping all over the place. Dell's research strategy clearly isn't helping the company, nor is its advertising.

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