Walsh Trott wins £4m Daihatsu
Car company Daihatsu has appointed Walsh Trott Chick Smith to handle its UK creative account, worth up to &£4m.
The agency won the business after pitching against McCann Central and Edge.
The incumbent, Midlands-based agency Wallis Tomlinson, did not repitch for the business, but will continue to handle advertising for Daihatsu’s sister brands Suburu and Izuzu, which are also distributed in the UK by International Motors (IM).
The review was overseen by Daihatsu’s marketing director Paul Tunnicliffe, who joined the company last year. It does not affect the media planning and buying account, which will continue to be handled by the Manchester office of Feather Brooksbank, part of Carat.
IM acquired the distribution rights for Daihatsu in March last year from rival Inchcape.
Tunnicliffe says that IM spent &£3.6m on advertising for Daihatsu this year, but that next year’s budget has yet to be drawn up. It is understood that the first campaign from Walsh Trott will focus on the YRV model. The car, launched earlier this year, marks Daihatsu’s entry into the super-mini category.
In April this year, the Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint against a press ad for Daihatsu Sirion 1.3SL, which used the headline “Quick enough to see off a 1.6 litre VW Polo GTi”. The ASA said the headline encouraged anti-social driving.
