NEW YORK -- Cadillac today named Publicis Worldwide its new global advertising agency of record, replacing agencies controlled by Interpublic Group of Cos., which held the account since July 2013.
The decision comes less than two months after the dissolution of Interpublic's Rogue, which was created to handle Cadillac. The now-disbanded shop originally consisted of Lowe & Partners; Boston creative agency Hill Holliday and Detroit-based Campbell Ewald -- the last of which has now merged with Lowe.
“This appointment is designed to accelerate the global expansion and elevation of Cadillac into a truly global luxury brand,” Cadillac Chief Marketing Officer Uwe Ellinghaus said in a statement. “We have spent much of this year refocusing on the core values of our brand. Adding Publicis Worldwide to our team -- with its undisputed expertise in luxury brand building -- will further our progress globally.”
According to Kantar Media, Cadillac spent $280 million in measured media in 2013.
Publicis Worldwide, owned by Paris conglomerate Publicis Groupe, handles creative work for Renault as well as consumer brands such as Cartier and L'Oreal.
Lowe & Partners' creative responsibilities will be moving to Publicis, according to executives familiar with the matter. The agency is still handling below-the-line work for the auto brand, including customer relationship management, though that may change as the account transitions over to Publicis.
Cadillac's U.S. sales have struggled all year, falling 6 percent to 154,600 vehicles through November in a strong overall market that gained 5.5 percent. Sales plunged 19 percent in November.
Several major changes have taken place at the brand this year.
First, Ellinghaus joined the company as CMO in January. Later that month, the company changed its logo. Ellinghaus succeeded Don Butler, who had been in the position for nine months. In July, former Infiniti president Johan de Nysschen was appointed president at Cadillac. Most recently, the company announced its plan to move its headquarters to New York City's SoHo neighborhood.
This is the latest in a number of agency shifts for Cadillac in recent years. Since ending its relationship with Publicis Groupe's Leo Burnett in 2006, the company has worked with Modernista, Publicis' BBH, Publicis' Fallon and Rogue.
What's next for C-E
The loss of Cadillac is the second iconic American automotive brand to exit Lowe Campbell Ewald. In 2010, it lost the Chevy account that it held since 1919.
The 103-year-old ad agency was known for its Chevrolet TV commercials such as “Like a Rock” and “See the USA in Your Chevrolet.” It also helped coin perhaps Chevy's most memorable tagline, "Baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet."
The loss of the account raises the obvious “what’s next?” question for the Detroit agency, which moved its 500 employees to office space inside Ford Field in downtown Detroit in January to work on the General Motors luxury brand.
Lowe Campbell Ewald CEO Jim Palmer was blunt in a statement issued this afternoon about the change.
“While it’s the nature of our business for clients to move to other agencies, this decision was still unexpected, not to mention very hard on those of us who have poured our love of the brand and our nonstop hard work into this partnership for the past 18 months,” he said.
“Fortunately we have a talented pool of employees, a diverse roster of more than 35 clients and a number of exciting new business opportunities that will allow us to move forward with determined resilience and a commitment to continued success. We wish all our friends at Cadillac the best of luck going forward.”
Shifting work
The loss of Cadillac is the latest move for an account that has bounced around in recent years, both among rival agencies and within them.
On Sept. 8, Lowe Campbell Ewald parent Interpublic announced that the U.S. agencies of its London-based Lowe and Partners Worldwide brand would handle the Cadillac marketing work.
That move amounted to stripping the Cadillac creative work from Boston-based IPG-owned agency Hill Holliday and giving it to Lowe Campbell Ewald, which is Lowe’s U.S. hub.
Lowe and Partners has a network of 90 offices in 65 countries.
The shift ended Rogue, the name given to the consortium of Hill Holiday, Campbell Ewald and Lowe in June 2013 when GM awarded IPG the Cadillac work, estimated then at $244 million annually.
A month later, IPG shifted Campbell Ewald from a standalone agency to becoming the Lowe and Partners’ U.S. hub in a move that saw the agency add Lowe to its name, and Chief Client Officer Palmer replace Bill Ludwig as CEO.
Under Rogue, Lowe Campbell Ewald managed the Cadillac account, Hill Holliday did the creative work, and Lowe handled the digital and export work.
Hill Holiday was responsible for the concept of the “Poolside” ad campaign with actor Neal McDonough that drew criticism for being smug and tone-deaf. The ads were later parodied online by rival Ford Motor Co.
Rogue replaced incumbent Minneapolis-based Fallon Worldwide Inc., which got the work in 2010.
Prior to that, the Troy office of Chicago-based Leo Burnett had Cadillac.
Former GM marketing boss Mark LaNeve dumped Leo Burnett without a review and parked the work at Boston-based Modernista to do the creative work in 2007.
The New York office of British creative agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty got what was a $270 million Cadillac advertising account in January 2010 after Modernista reportedly chose not to defend the account in a review handled for GM by New York City-based Ark Advisers.
Bill Shea of Crain's Detroit Business and Mike Colias of Automotive News contributed to this report. For additional local coverage from Crain's Detroit Business, click here.
