Saatchis wins regional Lexus branding brief

ASIA-PACIFIC: Lexus has appointed Saatchi & Saatchi as its Asia-Pacific regional agency of record.

The luxury car brand - determined recently by Automotive Marketing Consultants to be the finest sedan in the US, beating Mercedes Benz and Rolls Royce - previously used a roster of different agencies.

Saatchis, which currently handles Lexus in America, UK, Australia, Singapore and Taiwan, won the brief without a pitch.

Leonardo O'Grady, the agency's Singapore business development director and Lexus regional relationship director, said: "We won the business because of our global experience on the Lexus brand, particularly in the US, a demonstration of our understanding of the Asian consumer as well as our experience in building strong brands in Asia."

ZenithMedia was picked as the media agency.

Lexus is part of the Toyota Motor Asia Pacific group of car brands. Saatchis is also a major Toyota agency, handling the brand in the US, UK, Australia and Singapore.