Which Agency Model is the Best for Global Automobile Brands?

It seems a common question but the answer is probably not straight forward and each client demands a different approach.

However, the latest trend is definitely to move to a digital and data-driven one-stop-agency solution.

Here are some of the latest examples:

• Mercedes-Benz handed over their European account to an agency that didn’t even exit at the time. Together with André Kemper and Tonio Kröger they started building a new agency from scratch, tailored to their needs, only for Mercedes (for now). They made Antoni in Berlin the lead European agency for the car division of Mercedes-Benz.

• Toyota Europe surprised everyone by announcing that they will move their Pan-European account to The&Partnership as a single, integrated agency partner for all marketing, digital and media activities across Europe.

• Jaguar Land Rover A couple of years ago, Jaguar embarked on the bold move of creating a new 50/50 partnership model with the newly created agency Spark44. JLR also looked at its own internal structure and moved from having separate Jaguar and Land Rover communications teams to an integrated approach – Spark44 handles both accounts across all main communication channels globally.

• Ford has been in a WPP agency structure for years now. In the US Team, Detroit was formed to handle the US market, and in Europe, Blue Hive was created to handle the European through-the-line account. Earlier this year both were merged and ‘Global Team Blue’ was born – the hint is in the name – to service the Ford account on a global level.

What are your plans? Have you thought about changing your agency model?

At Flock we have recently worked with 14 different car manufacturers, and run business as clients, and at creative, digital, media, production, and design agencies and have helped McDonald’s to create The Agency Of The Future . If you’d to talk through options, or would like to know more of our work. Please get in touch to find out more here