Markham & Stein, the Miami agency launched by two CP+B veterans back in May, has posted its first headlining account win by picking up Latin American agency of record duties for Porsche after a creative review.
This means that the shop will handle the luxury auto brand’s integrated marketing work for 17 importers in 23 countries across Latin American and the Caribbean. Cramer-Krasselt has been Porsche’s creative AOR since 2007, beating out McKinney, CP+B and Droga5 in a 2013 review to retain the business. Agency principals Markham Cronin and Jeff Steinhour both worked on Porsche while at C-E, with Cronin as a creative director and Steinhour on accounts. They also handled Mercedes Benz, MINI and VW work during their tenures at CP+B.
The review was the end result of an effort by Porsche to reorganize its promotional operations in Latin America by centering all related efforts in Miami.
Sebastian Hölzel, director of marketing for Porsche Latin America, said: “We were looking for a smaller, more nimble agency partner with global brand experience to support us in further strengthening the Porsche brand experience in our region – Latin America and the Caribbean.”
“As a life-long Porsche enthusiast, I am thrilled to get this opportunity to work on the iconic Porsche brand with Sebastian and his team,” said Cronin in a statement. “We can’t wait to get started.”
Interestingly, Markham & Stein was the only agency in the review that does not identify as Hispanic. It does, however, employ many Latino Americans in Miami and also has operations in Puerto Rico. Other agencies in the pitch included Omnicom’s Alma and GrupoUno, which had been Latin American AOR on the brand since winning a 2003 review.
The agency has already begun work on planning and initial projects, with its debut campaigns set to launch over the next few months.
Markham & Stein named its first global client, Mercury Marine, when announcing its launch back in May. To date, the team has also produced a variety of work for companies such as pizza chain Mellow Mushroom, Popcorn Indiana and Oriental Bank.