According to ShuFen Goh, a principal at R3, which is managing the pitch, the shortlisted agencies are Kinetic, Publicis and Tribal DDB, chosen after BMW “saw over 30 submissions from all the usual suspects”.
“Agencies were given a relatively short lead time for the credentials stage as it was a deliberate attempt to test their ability for quick turnarounds. For the final round, we’re doing half-day workshops instead of presentations, making it different to other pitches,” Goh said, adding that she expects a result to materialise in June.
“Agencies were given a relatively short lead time for the credentials stage as it was a deliberate attempt to test their ability for quick turnarounds. For the final round, we’re doing half-day workshops instead of presentations, making it different to other pitches,” Goh said, adding that she expects a result to materialise in June.
The shortlist guarantees the ousting of the account’s four-year incumbent, Bangkok-based U50K.
At the onset of the review in April, BMW Group Asia’s marketing director Ramesh Divyanathan told Media that U50K had handled the account since 2005, when the Mini relaunched under new distributor Trans Eurokars.
“Since that time, Mini has been well established, selling about 800 cars in the three full years of operations in 2006 to 2008,” Divyanathan said at the time. “U5OK has been a significant contributor in this success. To propel Mini to a new level, we feel that a locally based agency is needed.”
He added that the company is looking to start work with the new agency from 1 July.
