Saab Awards Direct to Brann

Havas made an incursion into Interpublic Group territory last week as Brann Worldwide added the $10-15 million domestic direct-marketing account of General Motors’ Saab.

Brann, a unit of the Havas-owned Arnold agency network, won the business following a review that included IPG’s The Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., which handled the account for six years. Brann’s pitch team included members of both its Wilton, Conn., headquarters and its Baltimore office.

Also participating in the pitch, according to Saab direct-marketing manager Al Fontova, were the IPG team of MRM Partners in New York and Austin Kelley in Atlanta; the Omnicom Group team of Integer in Denver and Targetbase in Irving, Texas; and independents Digitas in Boston, Carlson Mar keting in Minneapolis and BKV in Atlanta.

Holding-company affiliations did not figure into agencies’ inclusion in the pitch, Fontova said.

IPG’s Lowe in New York handles creative on Saab’s $40 million ad account.