If you’re inside Warren, Michigan based Campbell Ewald advertising, you’ve spent the last few months praying for Chevy to stick around. Today it seems the shop still has some friends upstairs; we hear they’ve retained Chevy trucks, the Olympics and probably the most important piece, Volt (and possibly the entire upcoming line of vehicles in the alternative fuel arena).
The Volt is Chevrolet’s entrant to the all electric vehicle market, and though it does have a gas engine for backup, its 40 mile electric-engine range makes it a leader. It’s success is Campbell Ewald’s survival, in many ways.
The news comes as Tony Hopp, the agency’s CEO, prepares to step down. Now it’s up to successor Bill Ludwig and whatever staff remain to make the work work. So long as they stay away from sing-alongs, everything should be OK for this Michigan agency.
As for the bad news: they’ve reportedly lost some of the car work to a yet-unnamed Publicis agency, sources confirmed early this morning. However, the car work will only stay with Publicis for six months. Reasoning for this is unclear.
Update: Publicis Seattle and Dallas are responsible for that agency’s Chevrolet win, according to a note emailed to staff earlier today, from Chairman and CEO of Publicis USA Susan Giannino. The takeaway, both agencies participated, the door is open for more GM work, and digital is a heavy theme. Also, Bob Moore lead the way. The email: “I wanted everyone to know that Publicis has won a very important project assignment from Chevrolet. This was due to a joint effort between Seattle and Dallas, with the Creative led by Bob Moore. Importantly, this is an integrated assignment with Digital playing a key role as well. I’ll be sending out more information on the assignment, but I just wanted everyone to know this is a great win that opens the door for General Motors. Congratulations to the team from Seattle and Dallas. This is a great way to end 2009 and begin 2010”