Omnicom and IPG form JV to service $1bn global Chevy account

By Anne Cassidy, campaignlive.co.uk, 27 March 2012, 06:00PM

General Motors has awarded its estimated $1 billion global advertising business for Chevrolet to a joint venture between Omnicom and Interpublic Group.

Chevrolet: GM picks Omnicom and Interpublic joint venture

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Omnicom-owned Goodby Silverstein & Partners, previously Chevy’s lead agency in the US, and Interpublic’s McCann Erickson, the brand’s lead agency in Latin America, India and China, have formed the 50/50 venture, called "Commonwealth".

The new business, which will be based in Detroit, will develop creative campaigns across all platforms for Chevrolet. Chevrolet previously used 70 agencies across the globe.

Goodby Silverstein & Partners and McCann Erickson pitched against Publicis Groupe and Cheil Worldwide for the business in a review which kicked off towards the end of last year.

Joel Ewanick, GM's vice president and global chief marketing officer, said: "This is the first time that two large marketing communications holding companies have come together to form a single company."

"Commonwealth will be based right here in Detroit, and its only focus will be on strengthening and growing Chevrolet into an iconic global brand."

"These agency consolidations are expected to create about $2 billion in savings over the next five years, with a portion used to take advantage of key global marketing opportunities and strengthen the focus on our global Chevrolet brand, and a portion hitting the bottom line," Ewanick said.

Commonwealth will be led by an eight-strong "global advisory board", overseeing creative initiatives and strategy.

The board includes Jeff Goodby, the Goodby Silverstein & Partners founder, who will serve as creative chairman, Washington Olivetto, McCann Worldgroup Latin America chairman and chief creative officer, Linus Karlsson, the McCann New York and London chairman and chief creative officer and Prasoon Joshi, the chairman of McCann Worldgroup India.

These four creative leaders will work in collaboration on all major creative initiatives and resource allocations. Campaigns will be handled through global hubs, which will operate in Detroit, Milan, Mumbai and Sao Paulo.

General Motors said the new appointment, and the appointment of Carat as GM’s global media agency earlier this year, is part of the company’s ongoing effort to drive efficiencies.

This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk