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Chicago Ad Firm Gets Porsche Account
By STUART ELLIOTT
Published: September 5, 2007

Porsche Cars North America is changing advertising agencies after eight years, awarding its estimated $40 million account to an agency that has never before handled a national automotive assignment.

Porsche Cars today chose Cramer-Krasselt in Chicago to handle tasks that include creating campaigns, media planning and buying, direct marketing and event marketing. Since 1999, the account has been at Carmichael Lynch in Minneapolis, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies.

The Porsche Cars decision came after a six-month review that began with as many as 20 agencies under consideration. The list was pared to six agencies and then trimmed to four finalists in July.

In addition to Cramer-Krasselt and Carmichael Lynch, the other finalists were the Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., also part of Interpublic, and Shepardson Stern & Kaminsky in New York.

Porsche Cars is the last of five automakers to have placed their accounts in review in the last year. The frantic — and intensifying — competition in the automotive industry is taking its toll on the relationships between clients and agencies.

Indeed, in all five instances, including Porsche Cars, the automakers changed agencies.
Although Cramer-Krasselt has worked on automotive assignments over the years, the Porsche Cars account is its first full national account that includes factory and dealer campaigns.

Porsche Cars, part of the German automaker Porsche, is the second account that Cramer-Krasselt has landed in the last six days; the other was the creative assignment for Bissell, the maker of vacuums, sweepers and other home products. The Bissell work, with spending estimated at $35 million, will be handled from the agency’s Milwaukee office.

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The review was spurred by the recent promotion of Pryor and the company's planned launch of a four-door sedan in 2009.

In a horrible mix up of accounts, the ad "Porsche Sucks" ran on WGN TV...

Proposed Jingles:

I'd Like to Buy the World a Porsche

My Porsche has a first name...

I wish I were a Porsche Carrera

Just Do It! Spend $100K on a car!!



Get your sedan out of my sports car! Get your sports car out of my sedan!