Leith scoops £6m Monroe absorber business

Tenneco Automotive has handed its &£6m pan-European Monroe shock absorber advertising account to Edinburgh-based Leith Agency.

The agency beat incumbent J Walter Thompson, and other undisclosed agencies, for the work, which was put up for review in August last year (MW August 9).

Media buying remains with MindShare.

Ads are expected to be shown over the spring and winter periods, which are peak season for shock absorber sales, according to the company. It is trying to boost its sales of replacement shock absorbers in an effort to turn around declining sales.

Tenneco Automotive is one of the largest manufacturers of vehicle control and emission control products in the world. Based in Illinois in the US, it was created following its separation from the Tenneco packaging business in 1999.

The company had a difficult 2001, posting a net loss of $130m (&£91.1m) compared with a net loss of $41m (&£28.7m) in 2000. To cope with the loss, the company shut down eight manufacturing plants.

European sales, which account for 35 per cent of total sales, were also down, with revenue dropping to $207m (&£145m) from $249m (&£174m).

Last year, the company attempted to demonstrate its green credentials by launching an environmentally friendly shock absorber, which contains gas rather than oil as the absorbent material.