Is all well at WPP’s GTB agency, formerly Team Detroit, which handles Ford globally?
Ford itself has been struggling in some respects, highly profitable but saddled with a rather moribund model line-up and valued at less than the (admittedly overvalued) Tesla.
Now GTB has hired car industry veteran adman Tito Melega (below) as its new global CCO, replacing Toby Barlow who left in February after 15 years. Melega, who’ll be based in Ford’s home town of Dearborn, has held lead creative roles on Nissan, Mitsubishi and Lexus for various agencies.
GTB global CCO Kim Brink says: “We’re very excited to have Tito on board. His work speaks for itself, and he’s a complete creative in every sense. We aim to do the best for our client and Tito is proof of that ongoing commitment.”
Car companies like their in-house or dedicated agencies: Jaguar Land Rover has Spark44 while Hyundai has Innocean.
The danger with such entities is that they become stale: Volkswagen has arguably fared better in the ad stakes by using mostly DDB with other agencies, like Deutsch LA, handling significant chunks.
