Dive Brief:
- This year has been one of radical uncertainty for advertising agencies; General Motors isn’t making the end game any easier, recently announcing it is putting its agency relationships under review.
- GM’s plan is to have only one creative group handle each of its marques.
- The review process is expected to mostly happen over 2016.
Dive Insight:
Apparently 2015’s Reviewaggedon isn’t over. General Motors might be late to the game, but its putting its brands under review with a plan to match agencies to its marques. Tony Cervone, senior VP-global communications for GM, told Ad Age, "We're not able to fully take advantage of agencies and their abilities to run effectively and globally counsel us and leverage our skill sets.”
Most of the review process will happen over 2016, although it’s expected to begin for the Cadillac brand before the end of the year, according to Cervone.
Cervone said, "We're not trying to drive fear into the agency world. It's really about transforming how we're working with agencies and the way we've historically used agency resources to build on what we do normally day in and day out."
GM is not alone in the review process. Over the past year, reviews rocked the agency world as big brand after big brand put its creative accounts up for review, representing some $26 billion in ad spending.