Sharp Shifts Gears from McGarryBowen to Olson

By Kiran Aditham 

It looks like Sharp isn’t planning to just work with small roster shops next year after all. Just days after we reported that the electronics brand and McGarryBowen’s relationship was coming to an end, Sharp has announced that it’s named Minneapolis-based Olson as its new North American agency of record. Mark Viken, Sharp VP/brand marketing, says in a statement, “We were deeply impressed by Olson’s strategic thinking and creativity. We’re looking forward to a great relationship.” Olson will handle the usual duties that come with the AOR title including advertising, digital and design for Sharp, which we’ve been told is placing heavy emphasis on the digital portion moving forward.

As we mentioned previously, McGarryBowen’s deal with Sharp will draw to a close at the end of the year, thus Olson, whose CEO John Partilla’s  relationship with the brand dates back to his Dentsu days (which probably didn’t hurt matters), will take over as AOR effective Jan. 1, 2014.

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