Six agencies in the running for Mini Cooper business in the US
Six agencies have made it to Mini Cooper's creative and media review in the US. The car firm's marketing executives will visit the agencies before selecting the three finalists, says AdAge magazine.
Mini Cooper: six agencies on short list
Incumbent Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners has already has been granted a slot in the final round.
The other five agencies are Anomaly, Bartle Bogle Hegarty, McKinney, The Via Agency and Fitzgerald +Co. The North Carolina consultancy managing the search is Hasan + Co..
The assignment includes national, regional and dealer advertising, media planning and most media buying. Account revenue is estimated at $5-7 million.
Multicultural marketing, Web development/CRM and broadcast media buying are not involved and stay at Sanders Wingo, Beam Interactive and UM, respectively.
Ten agencies responded to Mini's initial request for proposals, said AdAge.
Butler, Shine has been lead creative agency since 2005 and has "reached the maximum allowable contract renewals, making this review mandatory," the document states.
Some agencies approached by Mini did not take part, thinking that Butler, Shine was certain to keep the business. Mini had a big year in 2011 with U.S. sales up 26 per cent to 57,511 cars.
The agency visits will begin the week of Feb. 20 and run for two weeks. Finalists will be chosen in early March ; final presentations in April.