Following 2004, when a staggering 15 car accounts went into review, only one event could have raised the bar—and it did: GM’s $3.2 billion U.S. media review. The sound of the second shoe dropping reverberated. VW followed Mitsubishi’s pattern of shifting media first, then creative. A steady sales decline at VW also augured change. (Through November, sales had fallen 16 percent from the same period last year, according to Car Concepts.) Flux in the marketing ranks also factored into the shifts. Five months after joining VW, former Mini marketing chief Kerri Martin replaced Arnold with Crispin Porter + Bogusky. New BMW marketing boss Jack Pitney split with Fallon and hired GSD&M. Reviews in the Big 3, if not the demise of famous nameplates, may be next, said Car Concepts analyst Todd Turner.
