Swedish car manufacturer Volvo has appointed Republik to its media and creative account, and this move will see the agency part ways with Peugeot after 10 years.
Republik director Paul McNamara would not comment any further on the termination of the agency’s commercial partnership with the French car company, but he did say he was looking forward to the prospect of working with Volvo in the future.
“This is an exciting appointment for us and continues the positive momentum we’ve been enjoying over the past 12 months,” he says. “Volvo is a premium car brand with an exceptionally proud heritage that goes back over 80 years. There’s been a huge investment made in the brand and product, which has seen global sales increase steadily. We’re relishing the opportunity to work with Steve, Ben and the team to grow sales here, and reposition Volvo as a car brand that’s revered for more than just safety. We can’t wait to get started.”
StopPress understands that Peugeot was only recently notified of the change and that the car company has not yet commenced the search for a replacement agency.
This move brings an end to Volvo’s partnership with Federation (creative) and Total Media (media), and Volvo’s general manager Steve Kenchington says that the shift was made in anticipation of major changes that are going to take effect this year.
“We have some pretty ambitious goals to achieve, but we have the product to make it happen,” he says. “Since Geely took over four years ago, we’ve invested heavily in the development of new scalable platforms, Drive-E engines and an entirely new design direction. The first example of this innovation is the XC90, which is due to launch in the first half of next year. From that point on, every model will be completely redesigned and re-engineered from bumper to bumper. We’re now at the end of our rebuilding phase, so we’re expecting to see considerably more growth than we’ve been enjoying to date.”
Given that Republik previously held the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands in addition to the Peugeot account, it comes as little surprise that Kenchington cites automotive experience as one of the reasons why Volvo moved its business to the agency (due to a local distribution change, Republik no longer holds the account for the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands).
“We’ve built a solid foundation in this market, but it’s now time for us to step it up a gear across the business,” says Kenchington. “It’s important that we have an agency that understands all aspects of the automotive industry, from distribution to our dealer network. Republik have clearly demonstrated this experience and they’re a great team to work with.”
As a largely irrelevant but reasonably entertaining side note, one Swiss Volvo owner recently customised his beloved chariot in a way that places a major question mark over the brand’s famed safety.
And in addition to this, Swedish art director Christoffer Castor’s advertisement for his “masterpiece of kinetic energy” also provided some entertaining viewing a while back.