Zinc picks up £2m Proton business
Zinc has won the £2m advertising business for Proton Cars (UK) and will create the marque’s first television advertising campaign to boost its appeal to younger drivers.
Zinc has won the &£2m advertising business for Proton Cars (UK) and will create the marque’s first television advertising campaign to boost its appeal to younger drivers.
The agency pitched against The Bank, Catchpole & Friends and incumbent Marketing Matters to win the business. The review was overseen by Proton general manager of sales and marketing Simon Park.
The TV campaign will be supported by outdoor and press activity. Proton has an ageing customer base and is keen to boost its popularity with 30 to 50-year-olds.
The campaign, which breaks next month, will support the launch of Proton’s small hatchback, the Savvy. It will also promote the Gen-2, a hatchback launched last year that was partly engineered by Proton-owned sports car brand Lotus. Park says: “The ad campaign aims to increase awareness of Proton and influence brand perceptions in the UK, as well as increasing sales across the Proton range.”
Marketing Matters was appointed in August 2003 and was expected to handle the new advertising push but the Proton called a pitch at the end of last year (MW December 15, 2005).
The Malaysian car manufacturer is aiming to make headway on value rivals such as Hyundai and Kia and wants to double its UK sales to 8,000 models a year, and increase the size of its dealership network.
