The saga continues at Mitsubishi Motors North America Inc.
The Cypress-based automaker recently narrowed its search for an advertising agency to five shops, including incumbent Deutsch of Los Angeles, part of Interpublic Group of Cos.
But Deutsch, which has handled the account since 1998, has opted out.
The four left: BBDO North America of New York, Temerlin McClain of Dallas and Publicis West of Seattle and Publicis and Hal Riney of San Francisco, competing units of France’s Publicis Groupe SA.
Creative presentations by the shops are set for next week, according to Kevin Mayer, Mitsubishi’s director of advertising. A final decision is expected by March 1.
Deutsch plans to continue to work on the account through March to help with the shift to a new shop, Mayer said.
Mitsubishi’s media buying is set to stay with Omnicom Group Inc.’s PHD. Hamon & Associates of Santa Monica plans to handle collateral marketing materials, according to Mayer.
The review is the latest twist on Mitsubishi’s $200 million creative account.
Earlier this month, Mitsubishi dealers balked at hearing the account had been put up for review.
In a recent Adweek story, Mayer said the review was a chance for Mitsubishi to “re-evaluate” its partners while it was “re-evaluating the company.”
“Yes, there were a few dealers who sent e-mails critical of this, but by and large the dealer body supports it,” Mayer told Adweek.
The move was initiated by Mitsubishi’s former chief executive Finbarr O’Neill, who quit soon after to join auto consultancy Reynolds and Reynolds Co. in Ohio. Chief operating officer Rich Gilligan replaced him.
O’Neill was one of a string of executives to jump from Mitsubishi, which has been struggling to reverse declining sales and revamp its image. Ian Beavis, senior vice president of marketing, left in November and Diane Hong, director of advertising, split in December.
It’s been a rocky road for Mitsubishi.
The company had looked to O’Neill, who came onboard in late 2003 from Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America Inc., to stem market share and financial losses.
But U.S. sales continued to fall, seeing a 40% drop in 2004 to 161,609 vehicles on top of a 26% drop in 2003.
Parent Toyko-based Mitsubishi Motors Corp. recently hired Michigan-based AlixPartners LLC to help fix the North American unit. The consultant has helped turn around various companies including Kmart Corp.
Mitsubishi has made other changes.
Late last month, it said it plans to slash 300 credit jobs at its U.S. headquarters in Cypress as part of a restructuring plan. The company employs 930 here, including 365 in its credit office. Mitsubishi said it expects to outsource its loan services, which include collecting on late payments and helping determine credit risk.
The company made other moves last year, including cutting 200 jobs in its credit and sales departments, and slashing production at Mitsubishi’s Illinois factory from two shifts to one.
Mitsubishi also had put a new spin on its marketing. Last year, it began pushing a beefy warranty and service on its autos. Prior ads showed the cars as cool for the hip crowd.
At the time, Mitsubishi was stinging from a wave of bad loans tied to a financing program that had attracted young buyers.
But the new spin didn’t help much. Mitsubishi’s U.S. market share has shrunk to less than 1%.
The company may revert back to its old advertising ways to help regain some of its mojo.
“There’s still a hipness factor inherent to Mitsubishi,” Mayer told Adweek. “The question is, How do we communicate it and to what degree?”
A Mitsubishi spokeswoman declined to comment on the Adweek report or Mitsubishi’s focus in future advertising.
Blue Book Work
With a name like Honest Mechanics Advertising & Brand Engineering, we shouldn’t be surprised that the Costa Mesa shop was tapped by Kelley Blue Book in Irvine for some marketing work.
Honest Mechanics is helping roll out Kelley’s online dealer advertising program and new dealer services. It also is set to handle Kelley’s guidebooks and other materials.
The marketing work includes a direct mail campaign that was sent to dealers prior to the National Automobile Dealers Association Exposition in New Orleans last month. Kelley Blue Book introduced its products and services there.
Honest Mechanics also created booth graphics and print advertising.
Bits and Pieces:
Word has it that Jaguar Cars, part of Irvine-based Premier Automotive Group, has put its $100 million creative advertising account up for review. Young & Rubicam in Irvine handles the work and reportedly has been asked to defend the account. More to come in next week’s column More than $40,000 was raised for tsunami relief at the recent Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo in San Diego. People bought $5 wristbands, while a number of Orange County surf brands made their own donations. The money benefits SurfAid International, which has set up relief efforts to help people impacted by the recent tsunami in Southeast Asia Foothill Ranch-based J & J; Consulting recently was tapped by Corcoran Consulting in Monarch Beach for public relations and marketing work.
