Sales Down, Honda Gets Acura Unit at RPA
05-05-08, 02:45 PM
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Sales Down, Honda Gets Acura Unit at RPA
http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_dis...ce7625e263d2e0
Sales Down, Honda Gets Acura Unit at RPA
A new division separates Acura from Honda; new creative team steps in, led by new hire John Hage
March 17, 2008
-Gregory Solman
LOS ANGELES With Acura sales down for the third year in a row and facing three crucial launches, RPA, American Honda Motors' lead agency, is making a strategic move to solidify the $230 million account by opening a dedicated unit.
The still-unnamed division of RPA, launching this month, is intended to "separate Acura from Honda," said Bill Hagelstein, evp and COO of RPA, a move he acknowledged as similar to how rival Toyota had started Team One for its Lexus division 20 years ago.
The new unit will be housed next door to RPA in Santa Monica, Calif., and will employ the same media team and Acura group account director, Joan Egan.
But the revamp entails new management -- Dave Weber, who is leaving his position overseeing Suzuki as evp and gm at Dentsu Next in Brea, Calif., and coming in with the same title -- and an entirely new creative team, led by new hire John Hage, who comes in as svp and cd. More than 60 people on RPA's core Acura team will move to the new unit.
Hagelstein said the division was not prompted by AHM, but that the agency's idea was in sync with Honda's increased interest in Acura.
"We recognize that as Honda's agency for 33 years, we have an obligation to make an investment solely dedicated to Acura," Hagelstein said.
John Mendel, evp of automotive operations for AHM, was unavailable for comment. In a statement he said that with the launch of the RL, TL and TSX the company was "pleased that RPA is making similar investments toward helping to build a powerful Acura brand."
Hage comes with luxury experience as a former lead creative on Land Rover and Range Rover at WPP Group's Y&R in Irvine, Calif., and is a veteran of Lexus and Saturn.
Acura's former creatives are moving within RPA, Hagelstein said. Mark Erwin, svp and cd, who led Acura creative since RPA won the business in 1999, will lead creative on RPA's Mandalay Bay and SoyJoy. Erwin's partner for the last three years, svp and cd Pat Mendelson, will partner with Joe Baratelli on Honda, replacing David Smith, who last month moved up to ecd.
"It's a defensive move, but I think it's a smart move on everyone's part," said Tom Cordner, the original ecd at Team One, now co-chairman of the new shop Traffic.
Acura sales dropped 9 percent to 24,000 units through February 2008, compared to the same period last year, according to Car Concepts in Thousand Oaks, Calif. After being up 5 percent in 2005, Acura fell 4 percent in 2006 and another 10 percent to 180,000 units in 2007.
Sales Down, Honda Gets Acura Unit at RPA
A new division separates Acura from Honda; new creative team steps in, led by new hire John Hage
March 17, 2008
-Gregory Solman
LOS ANGELES With Acura sales down for the third year in a row and facing three crucial launches, RPA, American Honda Motors' lead agency, is making a strategic move to solidify the $230 million account by opening a dedicated unit.
The still-unnamed division of RPA, launching this month, is intended to "separate Acura from Honda," said Bill Hagelstein, evp and COO of RPA, a move he acknowledged as similar to how rival Toyota had started Team One for its Lexus division 20 years ago.
The new unit will be housed next door to RPA in Santa Monica, Calif., and will employ the same media team and Acura group account director, Joan Egan.
But the revamp entails new management -- Dave Weber, who is leaving his position overseeing Suzuki as evp and gm at Dentsu Next in Brea, Calif., and coming in with the same title -- and an entirely new creative team, led by new hire John Hage, who comes in as svp and cd. More than 60 people on RPA's core Acura team will move to the new unit.
Hagelstein said the division was not prompted by AHM, but that the agency's idea was in sync with Honda's increased interest in Acura.
"We recognize that as Honda's agency for 33 years, we have an obligation to make an investment solely dedicated to Acura," Hagelstein said.
John Mendel, evp of automotive operations for AHM, was unavailable for comment. In a statement he said that with the launch of the RL, TL and TSX the company was "pleased that RPA is making similar investments toward helping to build a powerful Acura brand."
Hage comes with luxury experience as a former lead creative on Land Rover and Range Rover at WPP Group's Y&R in Irvine, Calif., and is a veteran of Lexus and Saturn.
Acura's former creatives are moving within RPA, Hagelstein said. Mark Erwin, svp and cd, who led Acura creative since RPA won the business in 1999, will lead creative on RPA's Mandalay Bay and SoyJoy. Erwin's partner for the last three years, svp and cd Pat Mendelson, will partner with Joe Baratelli on Honda, replacing David Smith, who last month moved up to ecd.
"It's a defensive move, but I think it's a smart move on everyone's part," said Tom Cordner, the original ecd at Team One, now co-chairman of the new shop Traffic.
Acura sales dropped 9 percent to 24,000 units through February 2008, compared to the same period last year, according to Car Concepts in Thousand Oaks, Calif. After being up 5 percent in 2005, Acura fell 4 percent in 2006 and another 10 percent to 180,000 units in 2007.
05-05-08, 03:20 PM
#2
Lead Lap
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: MD
Posts: 4,511
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Woulda thought their sales woulda been going up since the TSX and TL are pretty fuel efficient.
With this market, I was surprised to see that Subaru set a sales record for the month of April.
With this market, I was surprised to see that Subaru set a sales record for the month of April.
05-05-08, 06:59 PM
#4
Lexus Champion
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Redondo Beach, CA
Posts: 2,212
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This COULD be a good sign that there's more going on behind the scenes to revamp Acura than we're seeing publicly. Yes, we're all tired of the "Acura wants to be Tier 1" press releases when what they bring us are uglified versions of the current lineup. But we also have to realize that a major strategic shift like that will take some time to be fully realized. Acura's marketing team realizing that they need to dedicate resources to the brand's resurgence is a step in the right direction.
05-05-08, 08:37 PM
#5
Well, I didn't really care that Acura was so tied to Honda as long as they made good and desirable cars, but that hasn't happened since the mid to late 90s. So, in that sense I think this is a good move. Anything spark Acura into better designs and more powerful cars. Unfortunately, I sure hope they don't use the LA Design Studio like the have been for some of their concept cars. Those designs suck
05-05-08, 10:03 PM
#6
Well, I didn't really care that Acura was so tied to Honda as long as they made good and desirable cars, but that hasn't happened since the mid to late 90s. So, in that sense I think this is a good move. Anything spark Acura into better designs and more powerful cars. Unfortunately, I sure hope they don't use the LA Design Studio like the have been for some of their concept cars. Those designs suck
Trending Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
jwong77
Car Chat
33
03-01-14 04:18 PM
