Cars.com has appointed mcgarrybowen its creative agency of record (AOR) within the company’s integrated team of marketing agencies, said Linda Bartman, VP of marketing at the online automotive classified site. Other agencies within Cars.com’s integrated team include OMD for media buying, MEA for digital and Avenue for b-to-b endeavors.
Mcgarrybowen will join the team this month, Bartman said, and she expects new work to launch in 2013.
In March, Cars.com released a formal RFP for a new creative AOR. “Mcgarrybowen,” Bartman said, “stood out for their strategic insights into our category, their ability to fully integrate into our marketing mix and their history of delivering groundbreaking creative.”
The process lasted two months, though Bartman declined to name the other agencies under consideration.
Although mcgarrybowen replaces DDB/Chicago, Bartman emphasized that the RFP “should be in no way an indication of dissatisfaction with the tremendous work DDB/Chicago has performed for us for more than a decade. As we continue to grow, our needs as an organization continue to evolve, and this decision is the next logical step in the growth of our integrated marketing programs.”
Although Bartman did not specify any new marketing agendas or objectives that mcgarrybowen is expected to spearhead, she stated that the work will include “strategic and creative campaigns featuring both print and broadcast.”
