Chrysler's seven-month odyssey toward establishing in-house media operations ended last week with the automaker consolidating its esti" />
Chrysler's seven-month odyssey toward establishing in-house media operations ended last week with the automaker consolidating its esti" /> BBDO gets bonanza: Chrysler consolidates $400-mil. in media <b>By Richard Brunell</b><br clear="none"/><br clear="none"/>Chrysler's seven-month odyssey toward establishing in-house media operations ended last week with the automaker consolidating its esti
Chrysler's seven-month odyssey toward establishing in-house media operations ended last week with the automaker consolidating its esti" />

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BBDO gets bonanza: Chrysler consolidates $400-mil. in media By Richard Brunell

Chrysler's seven-month odyssey toward establishing in-house media operations ended last week with the automaker consolidating its esti

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The creation of the new unit, operating under the working title of PentaCom, is supposed to leave the three Chrysler agencies almost in the same reve- nue position they were in before the consolidation. The brand agencies will be paid based on media spending, and any savings achieved on a particular nameplate will be cycled back into advertising for that brand, said Chrysler officials. Penracom is expected to be up and running July 15.
It was the second major victory for BBDO last week: BBDO/Los Angeles picked up the $53-million 20th Century Fox media account, besting a number of shops, including SFM, Bohbot, Young & Rubicam and Wells Rich Green BDDP. (Fox execs would not confirm the assignment at press time.)
BBDO, which handles Dodge, emerged the surprise winner in the three-way review, which had initially pitted it against CME-KHBB, which has Jeep/Eagle, and Bozell, which handles Chrysler-Plymouth and corporate. CMEKHBB had been eliminated in the early rounds of the review. But Bozell, which was the favorite among the Detroit ad set, hung in nearly until the end.
While BBDO will own the firm, it will be staffed by media execs from all three Chrysler shops–BBDO, Bozell and CME-KHBB–as well as outsiders. Staff selection will be the primary responsibility of BBDO.
“Our idea was to go back to Chrysler’s notion of process redesign, where you tear down the walls and re-examine the way you do things,” said Tom Clark, chairman/ceo of BBDO North America. “And they found that very persuasive.”
Clark said because of startup costs of the new company, ranging from staffing to administrative expenses to research outlays, PentaCom initially will lose money.
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