Infiniti chooses CP+B for new global brief – from a rather interesting agency shortlist
Ad Age reports that Infiniti, Nissan’s upscale car brand, is about to move its global account into Crispin Porter+Bogusky from TBWA, which still handles the main Nissan account.
No great surprise there, CP+B has picked itself up following the departure of Alex Bogusky and the big car companies often prefer to have their lux brands in a different agency.
More interesting perhaps is the reported shortlist for the business: CP+B competed against MDC Partners sibling Anomaly (also on something of a roll), Omnicom’s Goodby Silverstein (trying to replace Chevrolet) and BBH (now owned by Publicis Groupe) which has handled Audi in the UK since the agency began in 1982.
BBH doesn’t handle Audi in the US, it’s been with San Francisco agency Venables Bell since 2007 after a pitch that also involved BBH. Even so it’s a bit of a surprise to see BBH on such a shortlist – for a global account that presumably involves advertising in the UK too.
My God… Did Infiniti look at the work the Boulder “Frat Boys” produced for VW? Their original work for “Mini” was very good, but the VW stuff with screaming Nazi engineers and their assistants with “Nurse Diesel” tits was embarrassing. Can we look forward to “subservient sushi” perhaps.
Cheers/George “AdScam” Parker