BBDO wins Mitsubishi to tap premium niche

<p>SINGAPORE: Mitsubishi is positioning itself to take market share </p><p>away from sub-premium European marques such as Rover and Volkswagen with </p><p>a television and press campaign, which launches in a fortnight. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mitsubishi's Singapore distributor Cycle & Carriage (C&C), which moved </p><p>the ad account last month from Euro RSCG to BBDO, is planning to double </p><p>the marketing spend to Sdollars 4 million (about USdollars 2.3 </p><p>million). </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The media will be booked through Omnicom's media agency OMD. It was </p><p>previously handled by Euro. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to a spokesman from Euro, the car distributor was unhappy </p><p>because the agency was also working for Volvo. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But John Roberts, chief executive officer of BBDO, said the account had </p><p>been moved because the client was unhappy with Euro's performance. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Dawn Pan, C&C assistant marketing manager on Mitsubishi, however </p><p>declined to elaborate on the reasons for the move. "We prefer not to </p><p>offer any comment on the shift of agency," said Pan. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It is quite a sensitive issue and we do not want to make the </p><p>relationship with Euro sour even though we have changed agencies." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Roberts said BBDO had first approached C&C when it offered to conduct </p><p>market research. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>BBDO's research found Singaporeans aspire to own prestige European </p><p>marques. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But Roberts added the study also found that "if they can't afford a </p><p>Mercedes or BMW, they'll go for cheaper European marques such as </p><p>VW". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Based on these insights, BBDO created a campaign to woo these buyers by </p><p>making Mitsubishi a more aspirational brand, he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It can be tough for some marques because consumers here are so brand </p><p>conscious and for many people it's all just about prestige and badge </p><p>value," according to Chris Kyme, regional creative director of FCB, </p><p>which handles MG Rover and Saab advertising accounts in Singapore. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Mitsubishi will need to have a clever strategy to woo these image </p><p>conscious consumers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"To be taken seriously, it has to do more than just have stylish photos </p><p>of their vehicles," Kyme added. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>BBDO will be appointing Ara Hampartsonmian, who was previously general </p><p>manager for an independent agency in the Bahamas, as account director on </p><p>the Mitsubishi business. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>European marques accounted for around 21 per cent of passenger vehicle </p><p>sales last year, while Japanese and Korean car brands commanded for 60 </p><p>and 13 per cent respectively. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The top 10 brands in passenger vehicles were Nissan on 11,905; </p><p>Toyota/Lexus 9,488; Hyundai 5,616; Honda 5,305; Mitsubishi 4,308; </p><p>Mercedez Benz 3,313; BMW 2,502; Mazda 1,943; Ford 1,551 and Proton </p><p>1,504. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mitsubishi was third in commercial vehicle sales of 3,810 behind Toyota </p><p>and Nissan at 4,853 and 4,404 respectively. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>