This story was updated March 17, 2014 @ 9:44
Porsche Canada announced it has selected Red Urban as it new agency of record Monday.
Porsche's Laurance Yap, left, and Steve Carli from Red Urban
The agency won the account following a five month review that ended in December and is set to take over for the incumbent agency, Yield Branding, in June.
Red Urban has a long history with Porsche’s parent company, the Volkswagen Group, having signed on its main Volkswagen brand as a charter client in 2009, two months before the agency’s official Canadian launch. (Porsche Cars Canada operates as a separate entity from Volkswagen in Canada and reports to Porsche AG in Germany.)
“That Volkswagen and Porsche are part of the same group was both an advantage and a disadvantage,” Steve Carli, president of Red Urban, told Marketing. “They could want a distinction between the brands, but I think there’s enough separation between the Porsche owner and the Volkswagen owner that they felt confident we could manage both”
Laurance Yap, Porsche Canada’s director of marketing, said in a release that the brand was drawn to Red Urban largely because of the work it had done for Volkswagen, both internationally and in Canada.
“After learning more about their capabilities, especially in digital and content creation, it was clear they were the right choice to help us advance Porsche in the Canadian market.”
Carli pointed to Once More, a documentary the agency created late last year for Volkswagen Canada as an example of the content driven approach to digital marketing Porsche was interested in.
Because of the global nature of brands like Volkswagen and Porsche, Carli said much of the OOH and TV work in Canada is the adaptation of global creative. In digital and social, however, brands are often given more license to “do something interesting” with market-specific content. Carli said that approach has worked for Volkswagen and is a likely path for Porsche in Canada.
As part of its AOR responsibilities, Red Urban will handle both adaptations and original Canadian creative. It will also be tasked with growing Porsche’s Canadian customer base as it expands its lineup of automobiles – specifically SUVs and the new Macan brand.
Carli said Porsche has asked Red Urban to help it appeal to Canadian consumers who may not have considered Porsches in the past, as well as to nurture young buyers the auto brand can convert into loyal, lifelong customers.
After taking the reigns in June, Carli said the agency expects its first work for Porsche to be in market this autumn.
Porsche Canada’s media account was not a part of last year’s review and PHD remains its agency of record as part of a global agreement. Cart1er will handle French market communications for the brand.
UPDATE: In the original version of this story published March 17, the wording suggested that Cart1er had previously held the Porsche account. Porsche is a new account for the agency. Marketing regrets the error.
