WPP evidently isn’t giving up with Ford and its bespoke ford agency GTB. It may have lost US creative to a combo of BBDO and Wieden+Kennedy but GTB trucks on, appointing Robert Guay (left) from Publicis-owned Digitas as its new CEO in place of Satish Korde.
GTB still handles media planning and buying, shopper marketing, CRM and dealer advertising. To add another element to this intriguing cocktail WPP now handles VW creative in the US through a new agency grouping with part-owned Johannes Leonardo in the creative driving seat.
In the olden days such seeming conflict would have been anathema to major car brands but these days traditional car manufacturers are forming alliances all over the place as they struggle to produce electric and driverless vehicles – so why not share agencies?
Announcing Guay’s arrival WPP CEO Mark Read called Ford “our biggest client worldwide,” which muddies the waters further. W+K has already made its debut for Ford with a much-praised fall campaign. We’ve still to see anything of note from BBDO and it’s not clear who will be handling Ford in major markets like the UK.
