Audi in a Spin As It Tries to Explain Agency Powwows

If officials at Volkswagen’s Audi of America hope that canceling meetings with ad agencies will quiet talk that the client is restless at McKinney + Silver and looking for a change, they may be disappointed.

The meetings, requested by Audi’s domestic marketing director, Michael Lembke, had heightened buzz that began this summer when the automaker hired an undisclosed consultant to assess staffing levels and compensation at the incumbent.

Then, when client rep Jennifer Cortez confirmed the scheduled meetings early last week, she offered the odd explanation that Lembke, who transferred from Audi’s Wolfsburg, Germany, headquarters last January, was “seeking advice about the U.S.