BBDO's Proximity Worldwide agency network struck a deal with Ericsson's developer program to offer marketing content and applications for the wireless environment.

Under the partnership, Proximity's group of agencies will have access to Mobility World, Ericsson's network of "several hundred" application developers and content providers. Ericsson helps developers build applications both for the Symbian OS, in which it is a shareholder, and for more open platforms like WAP and MMS.

The relationship will first be explored in four markets, including the U.S., Germany, Italy and Singapore.

Proximity, which is focused on relationship marketing and CRM, said its access to Ericsson's developer network means clients can more nimbly tap the mobile channel to support customer communications.

"Relationship marketing campaigns increasingly include mobile response applications as a powerful interactive one-to-one communication instrument," said Mat Mildenhall, COO for Proximity Worldwide. "Working with Ericsson enables us to offer innovative end-to-end mobile marketing solutions and create a strong benefit for advertisers."

The agency partnership is unique for developer programs like Ericsson's. Nokia, which maintains a similar effort, has not announced any agency partnerships, according to a spokesperson.

"With Proximity as our global partner for mobile marketing campaigns, we combine our technology leadership in mobility with a world-class agency excelling in customer relationship management," said Ericsson VP of Marketing Johan Bergendahl. Ericsson is primarily an infrastructure provider. Its well-known joint venture with Sony is responsible for its reputation in the handset market.

This article originally appeared on ClickZ