The Interpublic Group (IPG) recently announced that it will be retiring the “Rogue” brand it created to serve Cadillac and will be giving all Cadillac work to Lowe and Partners Worldwide in an effort to “Deliver a comprehensive range of network resources.” This will effectively make Lowe and Partners the agency of record for the luxury vehicle brand, which is owned by General Motors. This is a move that IPG believe will “Create more cohesion and alignment of resources supporting Cadillac and its continued elevation globally,” and follows an 18% plunge in US sales for the company, which also recently (perhaps as a result of this plunge) ended its relationship with former creative AOR, Hill Holiday. Alongside Hill Holiday, the Rogue group, which took over from the Publicis Groupe's Fallon agency, also encompassed Campbell Ewald for oversight of account management and Lowe for overseas and distribution.
This is a move that IPG believe will “Create more cohesion and alignment of resources supporting Cadillac and its continued elevation globally.”
Michael I. Roth, Interpublic's chairman and CEO, said that "Given the global scope of the Cadillac brand and business priorities, the decision is a natural evolution” of their service model in support of brand, which he calls a “Key client.” He adds that "With the counsel and support of Cadillac management,” they have recently made assessments regarding what they can offer at this point in the relationship. He said that although the group of agencies they brought together under the Rouge banner back in June 2013 were “Uniquely suited to Cadillac's needs at that time,” they believe shifting to a “Single-source relationship with a global network, better aligns agency resources strategically, creatively and geographically with the current direction of Cadillac as a business."
Cadillac - Poolside
This new announcement arrives amidst talk that the brand have been quietly reaching out to new agencies since the arrival of Ellinghaus back in January. The most notable ad produced by the Rouge agency was the controversial “Poolside” clip (above), which ran throughout the Olympics and resulted in such vitriol that Ford even produced their own parody of it. It's expected that the new strategy will attempt to distance itself as far from the “Poolside” creative as it possibly can.
The most notable ad produced by the Rouge agency was the controversial “Poolside” clip, which ran throughout the Olympics
The Dedicated Lowe and Partners team New York will be tasked with creating a global advertising strategy for the brand, leading Cadillac's marketing efforts and delivering a unified global offering across 90 offices in 65 countries. Uwe Ellinghaus, the CMO of Cadillac, said he believes that "The realigned Lowe and Partners network has the talent” they need to help continue to build the Cadillac brand globally. Members of the Detroit-based team are “Expected to relocate to Manhattan.”
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from Kidderminster in the UK who will probably never own a Cadillac. But a man can dream.
