- Noreen O'Leary

NEW YORK Chrysler has reached beyond lead shop BBDO in Detroit and awarded a fourth-quarter Jeep creative assignment to independent GlobalHue, the Southfield Hills, Mich., multicultural agency behind the launch of the Jeep Compass, sources said.

A Chrysler rep declined to comment, as did a BBDO rep.
 
Omnicom Group shop BBDO will continue to provide account service on Jeep, while media support and digital efforts for the brand remain at the holding company's PHD and Organic units, respectively.
 
Jeep spent $173 million in domestic measured media last year and $35 million through the first half of 2009, per Nielsen. All told, Chrysler spent $840 million on ads last year and $230 million through the first six months of '09.

This assignment going to GlobalHue is not the Q4 creative work the brand put into play in August, per sources.

Last month, when it emerged that the automaker had contacted outside agencies, along with BBDO, to pitch Q4 creative ideas, the company said BBDO remained Chrysler's lead agency. BBDO is under contract to Chrysler until the end of January.

In addition to GlobalHue, which produced the 2007 "bobble-head" spots for the Compass, Chrysler had recently used Omnicom's Cutwater in San Francisco for national creative duties on Jeep. In January, the auto marketer moved national duties back to BBDO after a two-year absence.

Italian automaker Fiat, which owns 20 percent of the Detroit auto company, is known to use multiple agencies. Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne now runs Chrysler as part of its emergence from bankruptcy in June.

See also:

"GM Offers Satisfaction Guarantee"

"4 Remain in Hunt for VW"

"Consumers Still Hostile to GM, Chrysler"