BMW South Africa appoints new BMW Above-The-Line advertising agency.

Midrand – After an extensive pitch process, BMW South Africa has appointed The Open Collaboration (OpenCo) to manage the BMW brand above-the-line advertising account for the next three years starting 1 September 2015. OpenCo will take over from Ireland-Davenport, which has managed the BMW advertising account since 2005.

In line with its compliance policy, BMW South Africa’s brand advertising accounts go out to pitch every three years and this year represented another pitch year in terms of the BMW brand process. Seven agencies, including Ireland-Davenport, were selected to present credentials before a short-list of four agencies presented creative and strategic concepts. In one of the closest pitches ever – with only six points out of 100 separating the top three agencies – the account was awarded to OpenCo.

Highlighting the company’s decision to appoint OpenCo, Guy Kilfoil, General Manager: Brand Management BMW, Marketing Services BMW Group at BMW South Africa said; “The OpenCo team impressed us with its great creative work and measured strategic insight, and we look forward to a wonderful working relationship with them.”

OpenCo is part of the TBWA worldwide group with access to its international resources and knowledge repository.

"The OpenCo team are hugely delighted to have been appointed following, what is probably, the most prestigious pitch of the year. It’s an honour to have a chance to build on a brand that has produced some of South Africa’s most admired advertising over the last few decades. To their immense credit, the BMW team managed a very fair pitch process affording the participating agencies adequate time to really think about and develop the pitch work. Ultimately, I’d like to think that this was reflected in the quality of the final presentations. We are incredibly excited at the opportunities that the next three years will bring working with our new colleagues at BMW," said Sean Donovan, Managing Director of OpenCo.

“We would like to thank Ireland-Davenport for their amazing creativity, incredible work ethic and the wonderful support they have given our business. The relationship between BMW and Ireland-Davenport has played a major role in the wonderful success our company has had over the past decade. For eight of those ten years we have been the premium segment leader in South Africa. We won nine consecutive Coolest Car Brand Awards and a Coolest Overall Brand Award in the Sunday Times GenNEXT Survey. We won numerous other accolades, from Assegais to Bookmarks and Loeries all because of the hard work, commitment, expertise and brilliance of the Ireland-Davenport team,” said Kilfoil.

“As such it was an incredibly difficult decision for us to make and a very hard fought pitch process which was awarded on the narrowest of margins,” Kilfoil added.

Reflecting on the ten-year relationship with BMW, Sue Napier, Managing Director of Ireland-Davenport said; “We have been truly honoured to work for the past ten years on one of the world’s best loved and most well-known brands. We have created some truly memorable work, learnt so very much and are incredibly proud of the relationships and friendships we built.”

-Ends-

For any questions regarding this press release, please contact BMW South Africa’s Group Communications Division as follows:

Mr Edward Makwana

Manager: Group Automotive Communications

BMW Group South Africa (Pty) Ltd

Tel: +27-12-522-2227

Mobile: +27-83-717-3184

Email: edward.makwana@bmw.co.za

The BMW Group

With its three brands BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 30 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2014, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.118 million cars and 123,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2014 was approximately € 8.71 billion on revenues amounting to € 80.40 billion. As of 31 December 2014, the BMW Group had a workforce of 116,324 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.

Internet: www.bmw.co.za

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BMWSouthAfrica

Twitter: http://twitter.com/BMW_SA   

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/BMWSouthAfrica