More Than a Name Change

PentaMark's decision to restore its old name, BBDO Detroit, in the U.S. was a sym bolic move by CEO Mike Vogel to signal the end of what he called "probably the toughest year of my business career."Vogel was the top executive at FCB Worldwide when it lost its share of DaimlerChrys ler's Chrysler Group bus iness to BBDO in a $1.5 billion shootout in Novem ber 2000. Almost immedi ately, Vogel joined BBDO, and the shop, renamed PentaMark, hired 270 FCB staffers. Vogel said his biggest challenge was getting his people over the "us vs. them" mentality that the tug-of-war encouraged during the nearly 20 years the two agencies jointly handled the auto marketer.Before the consolidation, BBDO handled Dodge, and its PentaCom subsidiary also handled Chrysler Group and Mercedes-Benz assignments around the world. FCB handled Chrysler, Plymouth and Jeep, as well as Chrysler corporate ads. FCB and BBDO shops worked under an uneasy détente, but were locked in what Vogel described as "fierce competition" over the carmaker's business.Through layoffs and retirements, the agency has lost 900 employees and is down to 1,800, which includes the main office in Troy, Mich., and field offices around the world.Meanwhile, Chrysler's marketing team in the past year has undergone its own makeover, with nearly all top marketing executives replaced by a crew of former Ford Motor Co. executives led by Jim Schroer.Industry insiders have speculated that the transition might threaten BBDO's position with the brand, talk that was fueled when the auto maker enlisted shops that included Omnicom sister Arnell Group and non-Omnicom Fusion 5 for marketing projects. But Schroer has designated Vogel as the gatekeeper for Chrysler marketing concepts, meaning the other agencies have been asked to go through him.Vogel said he worked for six months to implement the name change, instituted last month and motivated by BBDO's stronger brand recog nition. PentaCom, the media-buying unit for Chrysler, was folded into Omnicom media network PHD in March. K DETROIT—PentaMark's decision last month to restore its old name, BBDO Detroit, in the U.S. was a symbolic move that CEO Mike Vogel hoped would signal the end of what he called "probably the toughest year of my business career." He said he worked six months to implement the change because of BBDO's stronger brand recognition.Vogel was the top executive at FCB Worldwide when it lost its share of DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group business to BBDO in a $1.5 billion shoot-out in November 2000. Almost immediately, Vogel joined BBDO, and the shop, renamed Penta Mark, hired 270 FCB staffers. He said his biggest challenge was getting his people over the "us versus them" mentality the tug of war encouraged during the 20 years the two agencies shared Chrysler.Before the consolidation, BBDO handled Dodge and its PentaCom subsidiary handled Chrysler Group and Mercedes-Benz assignments. FCB worked Chrysler, Plymouth and Jeep, as well as Chrysler corporate. FCB and BBDO shops co-existed under an uneasy "détente," as one executive described it, but were locked in what Vogel described as "fierce competition" over the business.Through layoffs, retirements and the loss of people who Vogel said couldn't handle the stress of the transition, the agency has lost 900 employees, down to 1,800, which includes the main office in Troy, Mich., and field offices worldwide.Chrysler's marketing team in the past year has undergone its own makeover, with nearly all top marketing executives replaced by a crew of former Ford Motor Co. executives led by Jim Schroer.Industry insiders speculated the transition might threaten BBDO's position with the brand, fueled when the automaker enlisted agencies that included Omnicom sister Arnell Group and Fusion 5, a non-Omnicom shop, for marketing projects. But Schroer has designated Vogel as the gatekeeper for all Chrysler marketing concepts, meaning the other agencies have been asked to go through him.PentaCom, the media-buying unit for Chrysler, was folded into Omnicom media network PHD in April.

Brand Marketing

More Than a Name Change

Tanya Irwin

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Tanya Irwin