The Ontario Honda Dealers Association (OHDA) has put Toronto agency Doug & Serge in the driver’s seat as its new agency of record, following an extensive review.
As many as 70 agencies expressed interest in the OHDA account, which represents 78 independently owned dealerships across the province that collectively sell approximately 50,000 new vehicles annually.
Doug & Serge and nine other unnamed agencies were shortlisted and asked to present “strategic and initial creative thinking,” to a committee that included OHDA members and marketing executives from Honda’s head office, said agency founder and chief creative officer Doug Robinson.
From there, the committee paid visits to four agencies for further discussions, said Robinson. The agency was awarded the account early last month.
Robinson said the account is a significant win for Doug & Serge, and an opportunity for Serge Rancourt, the agency’s chief operating officer, to get back in the car game.
Rancourt, who joined the agency a year ago, first worked with Robinson at Young & Rubicam in the ’80s and early ’90s, before moving to Europe to manage the agency’s Ford account.
“We have a lot of car experience in the agency,” said Robinson. “We obviously have been very successful in that category and Honda is such a reputable brand that we’re thrilled and honoured they’d consider us.”
Leading the account is Adam White, who joins Doug & Serge from TBWA where he led the Nissan Canada account at one point.
“Under both Doug and Serge’s leadership, they have a tremendous amount of category insight and experience while the quality of the creative work the agency has produced speaks for itself,” said Peter Gough, general manager, central zone at Honda Canada Inc., in a release.
The focus moving forward is to increase sales and drive dealership visits, said Robinson.
“More and more consumers are doing their homework on the internet,” he said. “Visits to showrooms in the car category are down because couples and individuals are doing that homework and coming to dealerships with an idea already of what they want to buy.
“We’re trying to make that experience at the dealerships a little more welcoming and get those showroom visits up and sell more cars.”
