Zenith, which has handled Hyundai's media brief for Western Europe for more than five years, won the Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines' task with immediate effect. The India contract will start in March.
The wins follow a three-agency shootout in November, which also saw Hyundai pitch its Eastern Europe, Latin America, Africa and Middle East duties. All the markets, except the Middle East, which was retained by incumbent MEC, have shifted to Zenith. "This is an AOR-type appointment because we want to give more value to the stewardship of Hyundai's media strategy," said a spokesman for Innocean.
Coming at a time when Hyundai has been pursuing aggressive overseas expansion, particularly in India, the win should help take the sting out of Nokia's impending shift to MediaCom. The overseas markets have been key to Hyundai's 71 per cent profit hike to US$678 million for Q4 2005. "Hyundai has ambitious growth plans and it is our intention to help it achieve these objectives," said Phil Talbot, Asia-Pacific CEO of ZenithOptimedia.
Hyundai extends Zenith ties with five-market Asia win
South Korea's largest automaker, Hyundai, has extended its relationship with ZenithOptimedia, consolidating media duties for five Asian markets with the agency in partnership with its new in-house shop Innocean.
