News
BBDO Toronto gets SMART
Agency to handle mass, direct, event marketing and digital for the brand
TORONTO, April 7, 2009 – After a competitive review with two other agencies, BBDO Toronto came out on top and was awarded the Mercedes-Benz Canada smart brand. The TotalWork assignment includes mass, direct, event marketing and digital for the smart fortwo and smart BRABUS edition models and begins in early spring with the launch of the enhanced smart BRABUS edition.
“We’re very pleased to be expanding our relationship with Mercedes-Benz on their smart brands,” states Dom Caruso, President and CEO, BBDO Toronto. “It’s a testament to our work and performance on our existing Mercedes-Benz business and BBDO’s strength of being a TotalWork creative agency. We look forward to doing more great work for Mercedes-Benz.”
For the competitive review, Mercedes-Benz invited three agencies to compete, all of which had done work for Mercedes-Benz or smart.
Since early 2008, BBDO Toronto has created campaigns for a number of Mercedes-Benz models including the GLK-Class, E-Class, M-Class, B and C-Class. The smart brand is a new assignment for the agency.
"We’re confident in BBDO Toronto’s marketing and execution expertise because of their performance on the Mercedes-Benz business over the last year,” says Marcus Breitschwerdt, President and CEO, Mercedes-Benz Canada. “The pitch convinced us that BBDO was the best choice for smart too. The work was intelligent and, we believe demonstrated great insight into the potential of the smart brand."
For its first assignment, BBDO Toronto will launch the smart BRABUS line – an enhanced smart fortwo with additional styling elements and performance. The campaign will be a TotalWork effort across all media including mass, direct, events and digital.
Paul Reilly, Senior Vice-President, Managing Director will oversee the account while Steve Groh, Vice-President, Account Director and Rebecca Flaman, Account Supervisor will manage its day-to-day activities. Ian MacKellar, Executive Vice-President, Creative Director will be responsible for all creative.
About Mercedes-Benz Canada
Mercedes-Benz Canada is responsible for the sales, marketing and service of the four brands within the Mercedes Car Group in Canada; Mercedes-Benz, smart, AMG and Maybach. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Mercedes-Benz Canada employs approximately 1,050 people in 19 locations across Canada. Through a nationwide network of 18 Mercedes-Benz owned retail operations and 39 authorized dealerships, Mercedes-Benz Canada sold 24,117 vehicles in 2008, the best year ever reported for Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc.
About BBDO
BBDO Canada manages the communication needs of some of Canada’s largest and best-known brands. BBDO Canada is a subsidiary of BBDO Worldwide, which is part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC) (www.omnicomgroup.com), a leading global advertising, marketing and corporate communications company.
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For further information, please contact:
Shari Balga
Manager, Agency Media Relations
BBDO Toronto
416-972-5306
shari.balga@bbdo.ca
