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Contagion fills Republik’s boots with Peugeot win

Peugeot has appointed Contagion as its New Zealand communications partner after a competitive pitch, with the agency set to handle strategy, media, creative and sponsorships. 

It’s thought Platform 29, Creative Bank and The Brand Agency were the other agencies in the mix.

Contagion takes over from Republik, which held the account for ten years before taking on the Volvo account. And Contagion chief executive Dean Taylor says it was important to find a car brand with “a passion for a more future-focused approach to communications”.

“After all, the way people buy cars has fundamentally changed over the last three years, with the advent of ever increasing digital behaviours. Peugeot share our passion and we couldn’t be happier to partner with them at this time.” 

Grant Smith, general manager, Sime Darby Automobiles says Peugeot is “a brand born of 200 years of innovation”.

“Peugeot sales in New Zealand have doubled over the last six years [Peugeot sold 1,093 passenger cars in 2013, up from 767 in 2011], and with the forthcoming arrival of the new Peugeot 308, which was awarded the 2014 European Car of the Year, this impressive growth in New Zealand is expected to accelerate even further. With Contagion, we have found an agency who demonstrate the same values, ambition and passion for the automobile industry that we have for the Peugeot brand, and look forward to our joint future success.” 

Peugeot generally runs international material, but last year, it aimed to bring a bit of BMX cool to the brand and, in a collaboration with Red Bull and Ryon Heron, used Jaden Edley to promote its 208 GTI. It was a cool clip, but, given the average new car buyer has a bit of length to the tooth, aiming for the youth market seemed like a strange strategy, something the Ad Contrarian believes strongly

Sime Darby used to hold the rights to the American brands Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge, but, according to stuff.co.nz, Ateco took the distribution rights off them last year as part of the Fiat Chrysler deal, in exchange for Citroen. That account is with another agency, but Taylor wasn’t sure who. 

Giltrap Spencer group, which also distributes Hyundai, recently won the distribution rights for Renault. 

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