By Ntia Usukuma
Daimler has awarded Publicis Groupe the global network and digital agency account for Mercedes-Benz, following a six-month pitch against rival holding groups, WPP and Omnicom.
Mercedes-Benz: last year’s ‘Grow up’ campaign, created by custom agency Antoni Publicis Groupe is creating a dedicated agency to handle the business, Publicis Emil, named after Emil Jellinek, the automotive magnate credited with pioneering the development of the modern car and introducing the Mercedes brand, named after his daughter.
The Berlin-based agency will be headed up by former Saatchi & Saatchi executive Justin Billingsley, who moves over from his post as chief operating officer for ‎Publicis Communications in Europe and Latin America, a role he has held since September 2016.
Ex-R/GA and SapientNitro client services director Maggie Lonergan will lead “Region Europe”, while Claire Molyneux, previously chief transformation officer at Publicis Communications Europe and client-side marketer at Procter & Gamble, will oversee “Region Overseas”.
The account covers 37 international territories, excluding the large US and China markets, many of which were previously handled by Omnicom’s BBDO. Mercedes-Benz USA uses Merkley & Partners as its creative agency of record, while the carmaker will continue to work with BBDO in China.
The new arrangements come into effect on 1 July.
