DETROIT-DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group has narrowed the list of agencies it is considering for its $50 million minority-directed advertising account to five with a final decision expected by June 1.
A Chrysler representative said the finalists include the incumbent, GlobalHue, Southfield, Mich., the recently formed partnership between Don Coleman Advertising and Montemayor y Asociados, San Antonio, Tex.
Others selected to continue are alliances among the following agencies: Array (Footsteps, Admerasia, Hispan/America LLC); Cooperative (A Partnership, Inc., Concept Farm/LaFinca Creativa, PFI Marketing); PASS Urban Powertrain (PASS, Cultura, Osmosis Media Lab, L3); and SIP, a cooperative between Sanchez & Levitan, Imada Wong Communications Groups and Prime Access.
Racial minorities own at least 51 percent of all agencies within the alliances. Chrysler has told the candidates that minority suppliers doing business with the automaker must be certified or have applied for certification with the National Minority Supplier
Development Council or one of its regional affiliates.
The ad review now moves to the credentials phase, during which teams of Chrysler Group executives will visit the agencies. The top three agencies will be invited to make presentations next month at Chrysler Group headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich.
The automaker began the review March 28 in an effort to "address the urban marketplace as effectively as possible."