The win gives Ogilvy a coveted luxury car account and comes as the WPP-owned agency has made notable leadership hires of late. That includes late last year naming Chris Beresford-Hill, former chief creative officer of Omnicom’s TBWA/Chiat/Day New York, as its president of advertising for North America. Beresford-Hill reports to Devika Bulchandani, Ogilvy’s North American CEO and global chairwoman of advertising and Global Chief Creative Officer Liz Taylor, both of whom stepped into their posts last year.
Ogilvy will handle the account via its New York and Washington, D.C offices. Audi of America is based in Herndon, Virginia.
Venables Bell & Partners dropped out of the review in the early stages, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Paul Venables, founder and chairman of agency Venables Bell & Partners, addressed the agency’s status with Audi late last year during a panel at Advertising Week. “Sometimes you have to look somebody in the eye and tell them we don’t think this is the right fit,” Venables said. He added that “the pendulum, in this case, has swung to centralization,” which the agency does not believe is “the right approach for that brand in this market at this time, and it’s not necessarily what we are good at.”
Audi declined to comment on the criticism.
Audi, owned by Volkswagen Group, spent $74 million on U.S. measured media in 2021, essentially flat from 2020, but down 30% from $106 million spent in 2019, according to Kantar.
The brand, like most automakers, has been plagued by supply chain issues caused by semiconductor shortages, COVID lockdowns, and more recently, the Russia-Ukraine war. Automotive News recently reported that Audi is pausing production of key models at one of its German factories. The supply situation has led some automakers to curtail some ad spending, mostly affecting regional, sales-event type marketing.