Renault picks wild card agency in Oz

<p>SYDNEY: French car maker Renault has dealt a wild card by choosing </p><p>Melbourne agency Spinach Advertising to mark its return to the </p><p>Australian market after a five-year absence with an Adollars 10 million </p><p>(about USdollars 5 million) campaign. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Spinach, formed only 18 months ago, was the wild card among a list of </p><p>seven agencies on the original pitch, according to Richard Wilson, </p><p>director of Vehicle Distributors Australia, which imports and </p><p>distributes Renault in the country. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"They really surprised us. Their knowledge, strategy and creative was </p><p>very impressive," he added. Renault marketing manager Ian Mclean said </p><p>that the campaign would help position the brand as warm, and yet daring </p><p>and visionary. "I believe that we've got the product right, </p><p>super-competitive pricing and a promotional budget to help tie it all </p><p>together." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Spinach's commercial campaign was launched at the end of last month with </p><p>a 60-second TVC that extensively uses 3-D computer graphics, running </p><p>under Renault's global positioning line: "We create cars". </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>That was followed by a 30-second, product-specific TV spots that have </p><p>been augmented with an extensive magazine, press and outdoor </p><p>campaign. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Spinach partner Craig Flanders said in-depth research helped to win the </p><p>account. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"We found out more about the project than the other agencies and that </p><p>gave our pitch a lot of substance. It was pretty simple; the first thing </p><p>we did was to read a lot about what Renault had done. We wanted to get </p><p>out the product story but to do it in a way that gave it the greatest </p><p>effect. The other pitches based their story on the fact that the product </p><p>is French, or European." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Before Renault pulled out of the Australian market in 1996, it was </p><p>distributed by Volvo. Under its new distribution strategy the cars will </p><p>be sold through a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nissan Australia. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>