Stellantis puts five brands in creative review, including Dodge, Ram and Chrysler

Stellantis is conducting creative agency reviews for its Dodge, Ram, Chrysler, Alfa Romeo and Fiat brands in the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter. The reviews, which are said to be driven by the automaker’s procurement department, come as Stellantis implements steep cost-cutting programs while dealing with slumping sales and market share losses. The incumbents on the brands are Omnicom’s GSD&M (which mainly handles Dodge) and Stagwell’s Doner. Jeep, whose creative is led by Highdive, is not involved, according to people familiar with the matter. “As a matter of standard procedure, we put our agencies through reviews when timing dictates,” Stellantis U.S. Chief Marketing Officer Raj Register said in a statement to Ad Age. “As a general rule, we also are not beholden to the ‘one agency fits all’ model, instead choosing to give interested agencies the opportunity to bid on creative opportunities across our U.S. brands.” Also read: GM agency review fallout Doner declined comment and GSD&M could not immediately be reached for comment. Register joined Stellantis in early June. She had served as CMO at Sysco Corp. and before that had a long career at Ford. Register replaced Marissa Hunter, who has left the company. Register arrived as Stellantis restructured its marketing department to combine marketing, social and digital media, website, analytics and paid media operations, “allowing for centralized decision-making in support of a results-driven culture,” according to a June 3 statement. Ad spending for the five brands in review pales in comparison to Jeep, which got $170 million in U.S. measured media support for the year’s first two quarters and $271 million for all of 2023, according to Vivvix, including paid social data from Pathmatics. Ram is the next closest, getting $124 million in the first half of 2024, followed by Dodge ($32 million), Chrysler ($6 million), Alfa Romeo ($3 million) and Fiat ($2 million). Stellantis has experienced steep sales declines across most of its brands, with total U.S. sales plummeting 21% in the second quarter and 16% in the first half of the year. The slump comes amid a wave of high-ranking executive departures. The company has also faced strong criticism from United Auto Workers leadership upset over job cuts, as well as from dealers that are complaining that short-term decision-making in 2023 was “reckless” and has put them in a bad spot this year, Automotive News recently reported. Stellantis has long been known for shifting assignments to various agencies on its roster, an approach favored by Stellantis Global Chief Marketing Officer Olivier Francois. Detroit-based Doner has over the years benefited from a range of assignments. It was among the shops that picked up more work for Ram after Stellantis in January cut ties with TRG, formerly known as The Richards Group, which had been with the automaker for 15 years. Austin, Texas-based GSD&M’s Dodge work has recently included a campaign that debuted earlier this year for the plug-in hybrid Dodge Hornet R/T. Agency Review Tracker Stay up to date with the latest account reviews Click here

Stellantis puts five brands in creative review, including Dodge, Ram and Chrysler

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