16639: Nissan Driven To New Multicultural Agency.

 

Advertising Age reported on Nissan and Infiniti shifting its non-White marketing duties to a new multicultural agency—sans a formal review.

 

Third Ear—formerly known as LatinWorks—replaced fluent360, who had serviced the Nissan brand for 15 years. Both shops are minority-owned by Omnicom, so the move is likely another example of Corporate Cultural Collusion orchestrated by the White holding company. Omnicom is adept at shuffling accounts between White advertising agencies in its network, so it’s not surprising the company would do likewise with non-White firms.

 

The Ad Age headline for the report read: Nissan And Infiniti Make Multicultural Agency Change—What It Means For Black And Hispanic Advertising. Um, it means non-White shops 49%-owned by White holding companies can expect to stay in segregated silos, collect crumbs, and get shifted/shafted at the “minority” owners’ whim.

 

Nissan And Infiniti Make Multicultural Agency Change—What It Means For Black And Hispanic Advertising

 

Behind the ‘identities-led’ approach of Third Ear, which replaces Fluent360 on the accounts

 

By E.J. Schultz

 

When luxury automaker Infiniti begins advertising its redesigned QX80 premium SUV next month, it will move beyond its marketing comfort zone. Pricing for the vehicle tops $100,000. But rather than targeting households with incomes of at least $100,000, like it normally would do, it lowered the threshold for its media plan to $75,000.

 

The change was spurred by advice from Infiniti’s new multicultural agency, Third Ear, which has also begun working on sibling brand Nissan.

 

“They came to us and said, you’re gonna miss the mark if you set your household incomes too high because these audiences will do whatever they can to get the kind of vehicles that they want. And so don’t let that hold you back,” said Shelley Pratt, director of marketing communications and media for Infiniti USA.

 

The approach is a preview of what’s to come from Austin, Texas-based Third Ear, which focuses on subtleties within multicultural communities that it believes can make a big difference when it comes to branding.

 

Third Ear, which is 49% owned by Omnicom, won the Nissan and Infiniti accounts in April and will handle Black and Hispanic marketing. The incumbent was Fluent360, which is minority-owned by Omnicom. For Nissan, Third Ear will collaborate with Nissan United, Omnicom’s dedicated Nissan creative and media agency. For Infiniti, it will work with Publicis Groupe, which has handled the brand’s global creative since 2021.

 

There was not a formal agency review.

 

“We looked at Omnicom to provide us a great solution for multicultural,” said Nissan U.S. Chief Marketing Officer and VP Marisstella Marinkovic. “And so they connected us with Third Ear and we had deep conversations. We gave them an assignment. And we decided to move forward with the relationship.”

 

Fluent360 Founder and CEO Danielle Austen in a statement said the agency is “proud of our fifteen years leading the multicultural business for Nissan North America. We wish both Infiniti and Nissan the best in their pursuits to win with these vital audience segments.”

 

Not a monolith

 

While Nissan and Infiniti have invested significantly in multicultural marketing in recent years—Nissan in February ran a Super Bowl ad on Univision’s Spanish-language broadcast—the hiring of Third Ear signals a possible shift in creative approach.

 

The agency, formerly known as LatinWorks, rebranded in 2019 in an effort to grow beyond its pure-play Hispanic agency roots. It took the name Third Ear as a signal that it listens to the nuances that make people different. It has since refined its approach to become what it describes as an “identities-led creative agency,” with a philosophy that takes ethnicity into account in multicultural marketing but goes further to recognize that individuals within a certain ethnic group can be very different.

 

“We think that identity transcends ethnicity,” Third Ear Chief Strategy Officer Ed Castillo said in an interview this week. “Endemic factors, like the language you speak, and the food you eat, will always have a meaningful effect,” he said. But “eventually, you will go into the world and you will proclaim a certain identity … I’m a gamer, metalhead, whatever the case might be.”

 

So marketing should not treat groups as a monolith, according to an agency. “One of the standard assumptions about Hispanic audiences is that they are completely focused on the family,” Castillo said. While that might be the case for some, through consumer research, “we found examples of younger, ambitious Hispanics who … will be the first to raise their hand and say, I’m willing to sacrifice time with my family to get further in my career.”

 

“If you show up to multicultural marketing with certain monolithic assumptions, you will miss nuance,” he added.

 

While it is too soon to tell how this approach will show up in Nissan and Infiniti marketing, one possibility is that it could be used to produce work that appeals equally to Black and Hispanic audiences, rather than siloing it.

 

“We have to find some commonalities. And those commonalities are very powerful,” said Third Ear Chief Creative Officer Serge Flores.

 

Growing market

 

The agency change comes as multicultural marketing rises in importance for automotive brands, which increasingly view multicultural audiences as a source of sales growth. General Motors, Hyundai and Stellantis are among the automakers that in recent years have added agencies dedicated to boosting affinity with Black and Hispanic audiences.

 

Nissan and Infiniti already over-index with Black and Hispanic consumers: Nissan is ranked eighth when it comes to sales with all consumers, but has a fifth-place ranking for both Hispanic and Black buyers, according to business intelligence firm S&P Global. Infiniti does not crack the top 10 in total sales, but comes in eighth and ninth, with Black and Hispanic buyers, respectively.

 

The QX80 launch will be one of the first big tests for Third Ear. “We need a partner that’s going to help us authentically show up in social with our influencers, and how we buy media to make sure that that we're relevant in this consumer base that we already overindex with,” Pratt said.

 

As for Nissan, the brand has been increasing its multicultural marketing budget by 25% year over year, and “we’re going to continue to increase year over year,” Marinkovic said. Nissan wants to “make sure that we’re authentically connecting not only with with that specific customer, but with culture as well, and with their interests. So in order to connect and really build your brand, you have to go beyond just your sort of basics.”

 

She pointed to Nissan’s recent reveal of the 2025 Nissan Kicks subcompact crossover as an example of what’s to come. In March, the brand staged an “unboxing” of the vehicle in Brooklyn outside the Barclays Center during opening round play of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. The event, which featured a “virtual” reveal of the model using a 3D digital “shoebox” was intended to play into sneaker, basketball and music culture.

14158: Losses & Losers.

Advertising Age reported Infiniti is rolling with a new White advertising agency, which is actually the White advertising agency that originally held the account before it moved to the White advertising agency that just lost the account—and the new White advertising agency has technically been working on Infiniti even after losing the account. Oh, and both White advertising agencies are in the same unacceptably awful White holding company. Plus, it’s just the latest chapter in a sad story that has been sputtering for years.

72andSunny’s Infiniti loss is CPB’s gain

By E.J. Schultz

Infiniti is on the move again within MDC Partners. The automaker and 72andSunny have cut ties less than a year after the shop was hired to handle creative for several global vehicle launches. “We leave this relationship with best wishes for the success of the Infiniti brand. We are excited to be freed up for future opportunities in automotive,” 72andSunny CEO Matt Jarvis said in a statement.

72andSunny, which was hired last August, has been handling all global creative responsibilities, including big campaigns running in the U.S., such as one called “Thrones” for the new QX80. That meant less work for MDC sibling agency CPB, which has been working with Infiniti since 2014. But CPB will now be back in the pole position on the brand, according to people familiar with the matter.

CPB had remained on the roster even as 72andSunny handled global. CPB is behind [the] ad now running in the U.S. for Infiniti’s tie-in with Marvel for the new “Avengers: Infinity War” movie.

An Infiniti spokesman declined to share details on the global agency move, only saying that “Infiniti continues to use various agencies for our creative around the globe.”

One factor that could have worked in CPB’s favor is the installment late last year of Linus Karlsson as global chief creative officer. The Swede has auto experience from his time serving as creative chairman of Commonwealth McCann, overseeing Chevrolet, a role he held until March of last year.

For MDC, keeping Infiniti is critical, considering its current financial situation. The holding company reported disappointing first quarter results that chairman and CEO Scott Kauffman characterized as “unacceptable,” citing some client cutbacks and slower conversion in its new-business pipeline.

13773: Infiniti Pileup.

Adweek reported Infiniti is the latest brand to shift its business—sans a review—from one White advertising agency to another within a single White holding company. Specifically, the automaker swapped CP+B for 72andSunny, which are sister White shops in the MDC Partners network. It’s not the first time that MDC Partners has mimicked Omnicom by engaging in Corporate Cultural Collusion—or even the first time the White holding company has done so with Infiniti. Hell, Omnicom pulled the same stunts when servicing the Infiniti account before CP+B. Oh, and CP+B will hang onto the U.S. business, reducing the agency’s suffering. It’s a Corporate Cultural Collusion car collision.

Infiniti to Name 72andSunny as Global Creative Agency of Record Without a Review

Crispin Porter + Bogusky will retain the U.S. business

By Patrick Coffee

Auto giant Nissan has moved global creative responsibilities for its luxury brand Infiniti from Crispin Porter + Bogusky to 72andSunny, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the change who spoke to Adweek on condition of anonymity.

There was no review, and agency and client have reportedly not yet finalized the details of their relationship.

The same parties who confirmed the move also stated that CP+B has retained its status as U.S. creative agency of record for the Infiniti brand, meaning the business will stay within the larger MDC Partners network.

“We continue to work with CP+B as well as other partners,” said Infiniti’s director of corporate communications, who declined to elaborate or address whether the company had officially begun working with 72andSunny.

A CP+B spokesperson deferred to the client for comment and a 72andSunny representative referred Adweek to the holding group, which also sent the request back to Infiniti’s PR department.

Crispin triumphed over six other agencies to win the global business in late 2014, with now-former vp of marketing Vincent Gillet citing the shop’s “maker culture” as a deciding factor in the decision. CP+B proceeded to open an office in Shanghai to serve its newest client, expand its creative teams in Hong Kong and Boulder, Colo., and relocate the global portion of the business to Los Angeles so as to “be in close proximity to the Infiniti Design Center and their team.”

The effects of this latest shift on the CP+B organization are unclear at this time.

Japan-based Nissan restructured its $750 million relationship with Omnicom in the U.S. earlier this year, consolidating all related work on the East Coast in an effort to be closer to its Tennessee headquarters.

According to the latest numbers from Kantar Media, Nissan spent approximately $171 million promoting the Infiniti brand in the U.S. last year and $42 million during the first quarter of 2017. At the time of the last creative review in 2014, analysts estimated its global media spend to be approximately $450 million, but updates on that total were not available at the time this story was published.

This development marks the latest in a string of big-name creative accounts (Sprint, Dos Equis, etc.) that have changed hands without a formal review. It also extends a 72andSunny streak that most recently saw the agency purportedly winning unspecified projects for insurance giant Allstate.

12306: CP+B To Conquer China…?

Little Black Book reported Crispin Porter + Bogusky elevated VP, Executive Planning Director Jason De Turris to Chief Strategy Officer; plus, the White advertising agency plans to ship him off to Hong Kong to oversee global strategy on the Infiniti account and organize the opening of CP+B’s Hong Kong office. As previously reported, CP+B won the Infiniti account in an extended shootout, despite displaying deficiencies per the original RFP. Specifically, the shop had zero presence in China and Hong Kong, priority markets for Infiniti. The client assigned Anomaly, a sister White agency of CP+B’s in the MDC Partners holding company, to cover the China and Hong Kong markets until CP+B could establish its own office in the area.

CP+B President Steve Erich gushed, “Jason is a courageous and strategic thinker who is able to combine all the necessary elements for understanding and moving a brand forward through different challenges and across multiple cultures.” De Turris added, “CP+B has always been about creating an environment for the bravest possible work to live. I’m looking forward to exporting our culture to new regions while we work to elevate Infiniti’s reputation.”

Really? Experience and history show that Erich and De Turris are full of shit—and arrogant to boot.

Erich’s contention that De Turris is qualified to “combine all the necessary elements for understanding and moving a brand forward through different challenges and across multiple cultures” is optimistically delusional. Leave it to White admen to believe they can colonize and conquer the undiscovered country.

The press release stated De Turris has “managed strategy for the global launches of game-changing brands and led brand strategy for Rolex through the global recession, helping to build their first global targeting model.” Can’t comment on the alleged “game-changing brands,” but running brand strategy globally for Rolex is hardly impressive, as the watchmaker has enjoyed a global identity—and a White Eurocentric one at that—for far longer than De Turris or Erich have been alive.

De Turris’ comments were pretty questionable too, especially when he declared, “I’m looking forward to exporting [the CP+B] culture to new regions while we work to elevate Infiniti’s reputation.” Um, the CP+B culture has been consistently culturally clueless—and exporting it is the equivalent of delivering a contagious virus. If there’s a reputation in need of elevation, it belongs to CP+B.

As adland and clients continue to grow globally, diversity will absolutely play a critical role in achieving success, ultimately requiring collaboration and cultural competency from all key players. Sorry, but White adpeople—coming from an industry that has denied diversity for decades—lack the character, comprehension and capabilities to lead the charge. Hopefully, CP+B will minimally provide De Turris with Rosetta Stone tutorials.

CP+B Names Jason De Turris Chief Strategy Officer

Jason previously held the position of VP, Executive Planning Director

CP+B announced today that it has named Jason De Turris, who until now has held the position of VP, Executive Planning Director, to Chief Strategy Officer. In his new role, De Turris will relocate to Hong Kong to oversee global strategy on the Infiniti account. He will also focus on opening CP+B’s Hong Kong office, which will be key in servicing the global leadership of Infiniti, as well as look to build the CP+B culture and brand throughout Asia and continue to provide global thought leadership across offices. In the near future a Head of North American Planning will be named who will be his counterpart in North America.

“Jason is a courageous and strategic thinker who is able to combine all the necessary elements for understanding and moving a brand forward through different challenges and across multiple cultures,” said Steve Erich, President, CP+B. “Winning Infiniti was a team effort and he played an instrumental role in making it happen. Which all together makes him a terrific person to help lead CP+B’s physical entry into Asia. This really begins a new chapter for CP+B.”

At CP+B, De Turris has worked across the agency’s leading brands including Hotels.com, Grey Poupon, Best Buy and Xbox One, and has played an key role, working closely with CP+B’s product innovation and brand experience designers to create two premium spirits brands: Angel’s Envy Bourbon and Papa’s Pilar Rum. During the course of his career, at Ogilvy & Mather, Deutsch and JWT, he’s managed strategy for the global launches of game-changing brands and led brand strategy for Rolex through the global recession, helping to build their first global targeting model. His experience ranges from the luxury category to necessity categories.

“CP+B has always been about creating an environment for the bravest possible work to live. I’m looking forward to exporting our culture to new regions while we work to elevate Infiniti’s reputation. We have a massive opportunity and adventure ahead and it’s an honor to be a part of this exciting new stage in the agency’s global growth,” said De Turris.

12252: With Frenemies Like These…

Adweek reported Crispin Porter + Bogusky—the new White advertising agency for Infiniti—is teaming up with Anomaly, whose Shanghai office will handle the China portion of the account for the first year or two until CP+B can establish an office in the country. CP+B and Anomaly are sister agencies in the MDC Partners holding company; plus, the two competed against each other during the pitch for the entire account.

There are at least a couple of elements in this scenario that may be deemed as typical White advertising agency bullshit.

For starters, minority advertising agencies are routinely rejected from even participating in account reviews with the excuse that the firms lack global resources. Yet White advertising agencies lacking global resources are granted a few years to build a shop in foreign lands where they are culturally clueless. Adweek initially reported the following:

In its RFP, Infiniti, a unit of Nissan, identified its priority markets as the U.S., China and Hong Kong, though the brand also is sold in Europe, the Middle East, Russia, South Africa, Mexico, Canada and seven other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. So, having a global footprint is key to servicing the business.

In other words, CP+B was competing with the full knowledge that it did not have offices or capabilities in the priority markets identified by the client.

How do White advertising agencies such as Anomaly literally lose a pitch and still win significant business from the client? Looks like MDC Partners is emulating Omnicom with its use of Corporate Cultural Collusion. Last October, Adweek also reported the following:

Infiniti executives briefed Anomaly but the shop exited before final presentations last month, sources said. And after those presentations, the execs narrowed their focus to Crispin and Goodby.

Did Anomaly exit early knowing there was a good chance of nabbing Infiniti’s China business? Something smells fishy here.

Adweek ran a headline that stated “Crispin Turns to a Frenemy” for global assistance. Sorry, but there are no frenemies within holding companies. In the end, it’s all just business as usual for global advertisers and White advertising agencies, perpetuating the cronyism, exclusivity and discrimination that poisons our industry.

Crispin Turns to a Frenemy to Create Infiniti Ads in China

Gets help from sister shop and pitch rival Anomaly

By Andrew McMains

To handle a key market for its new global Infiniti business, MDC Partners’ Crispin Porter + Bogusky has turned to a rival, albeit one from the same holding company.

Until Crispin opens an office in Shanghai, China, Anomaly’s office there will create ads for the region. The move is unusual, as Anomaly competed against Crispin for Infiniti’s global account. But the luxury auto brand has immediate needs and high growth expectations in China, and starting an office takes time.

As such, Anomaly will handle the China portion of the account for at least a year—and possibly longer—until Crispin sets up shop. The account sharing also illustrates the imperfect choice that Infiniti faced when it selected Crispin instead of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners to take on its global business. Goodby has no overseas offices and Crispin has just a few, in London; Copenhagen, Denmark; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

In the end, though, Crispin will get by with a little help from a frenemy.

Beyond the MDC connections, Infiniti vp of global marketing Vincent Gillet noted a “genuine cultural fit and respect between CP + B and Anomaly.”

There’s also, of course, a revenue benefit to Anomaly, whose Shanghai office employs about 40 people and is led by CEO Eric Lee, executive creative director Elvis Chau and chief strategy officer Richard Summers. Other accounts include Budweiser, Converse and Pepsi, for which it Mirinda, a citrus soda brand. The office opened in 2013.

In explaining the partnership with Crispin, Anomaly global CEO Carl Johnson cited an affinity with the car brand, its leadership and Crispin. “We are therefore delighted to help our sister agency in the first year or two as they set up operations in Shanghai,” Johnson said.

Crispin CEO international Richard Pinder said the account sharing was borne of “trusting people rather than structures,” adding that Anomaly Shanghai’s leaders “know the market well, the issues.” Besides, he added, “it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to find out that when you’re in the car business, China is kind of important.”

12166: Annoying Infiniti Updates.

Adweek updated its report on Infiniti choosing Crispin Porter + Bogusky as its new global White advertising agency. The updates included elaborating on a couple of points from the original story such as:

In its final stages, the review became a battle among relatively small agencies, some of which have scant or no presence outside the U.S. For example, one contender, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, operates only in America and would have opened offices overseas to service the account.

Likewise, Crispin partnered with recently acquired sister shop The House to help meet Infiniti’s geographical needs. Crispin also plans to open a full-service office in Shanghai and an office for planners and account management staffers in Hong Kong, according to CEO Andrew Keller. The House, in turn, will offer “ground support” in other regions, Keller added.

Now, what makes these points both annoying and outrageous is the way that White agencies receive special dispensation when lacking qualifications. It’s all part of a phenomenon MultiCultClassics dubbed Corporate Cultural Collusion.

Minority agencies are routinely and systematically eliminated from competitions—global, general market, local, etc.—for lacking experience and global resources. White agencies never face similar restrictions. In fact, White agencies are allowed to simply partner with and/or buy agencies in foreign markets where they have zero expertise. Plus, holding companies will even fabricate White agencies from scratch to appease a potential client.

It must be noted, too, that Crispin Porter + Bogusky caught heat in 2012 for a Canadian Bic commercial featuring culturally clueless Asian imagery.

The inequities in the advertising industry continue to extend to Infiniti and beyond.

12165: Infiniti’s New White Agency.

Adweek reported Infiniti selected Crispin Porter + Bogusky as its new White advertising agency. No word yet on non-White duties. Whatever happened with the multicultural enterprise Omnicom invented for Nissan in 2008 to comply with the automaker’s requirement for certified minority ownership? To date, CP+B has only demonstrated certifiable cultural cluelessness.

Infiniti, at Last, Picks a New Global Lead Agency

Automaker spends $450 million in media annually

By Andrew McMains, Noreen O’Leary

Infiniti, in a long-running review that lived up to its name, has selected Crispin Porter + Bogusky to lead its global creative efforts, according to sources.

Crispin, a unit of MDC Partners, succeeds Omnicom Group’s TBWA, which had handled the business since 1998. Crispin referred calls to Infiniti, which had no immediate comment. But sources said that the automaker had told the remaining contenders of its decision.

Account revenue is estimated at $30 million and in term of media, the brand spends around $450 million annually, according to Infiniti’s initial request for proposals.

In its final stages, the review became a battle among relatively small agencies, some of which have scant or no presence outside the U.S. For example, one contender, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, currently operates only in America and would have opened offices overseas to service the account. Likewise, Crispin is partnering with recently acquired sister shop The House to meet Infiniti’s geographical needs.

Sources previously identified the other contenders as Anomaly and Bartle Bogle Hegarty. Infiniti executives briefed Anomaly but the shop exited before final presentations last month, sources said. And after those presentations, the execs narrowed their focus to Crispin and Goodby.

Even before Infiniti, the luxury division of Nissan, hired Roth Observatory International to manage its search in the spring, the car company had talked to agencies interested in its business. In fact, sources said that those conversations began late last year.

The stakes are high for Infiniti, which has ambitious growth plans but whose U.S. sales lag far behind brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Lexus. Through the first nine months of 2015, Infiniti ranked seventh among luxury marks in the U.S., with unit sales of just 84,880, according to Autodata Corp. In the same period, market leader BMW sold 236,591 vehicles, slightly ahead of Mercedes, at 233,210 units, and Lexus, at 220,683 units, Autodata reported.

In its rfp, Infiniti said its goal was to be a “provocateur that owns the future of the premium car category by winning the hearts of young-minded premium consumers [though] seductive styling, attitude, exhilarating performance, emotive design and intuitive technology.” Well, now the company has a new agency to take up that charge.

11930: Pitch To Infiniti And Beyond.

Adweek reported seven agencies will vie for the Infiniti account, including incumbent TBWA. The story states that Goodby Silverstein & Partners is in the pitch as a “wild card.” Um, more like Omnicom is stacking the deck by shuffling in a sister shop as an alternative for TBWA. Fathom Communications may yet turn up as a joker.

7 Agencies Chase Infiniti Global Account

Annual media spending totals $450 million

By Andrew McMains

Infiniti Motor Co. will meet with more than a half-dozen agencies before selecting a handful of finalists to pitch its global creative account.

The meetings are taking place this week, with Infiniti now on track to complete its search by August. Global media spending on the luxury brand totals $450 million annually, according to the automaker’s initial request for proposals.

The semifinalists include big shops like Publicis, FCB and Havas Worldwide (which is pitching with sister shop Arnold) and smaller global players, including Bartle Bogle Hegarty, M&C Saatchi and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, according to sources. There’s also a wild card: domestic player Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, which is partnering with incumbent—and Omnicom Group sibling—TBWA to achieve global reach, sources said.

Bottom line: Infiniti vp of global marketing Vincent Gillet has a broad range of options to chose from. Roth Observatory International is helping to manage the search. Roth did not return calls and Gillet declined to discuss specific candidates, though he did characterize them generally as “very strong, highly talented.”

After the meetings, Infiniti executives will narrow the field to three or four agencies, sources said. That cut could come as soon as next week.

In its RFP, Infiniti, a unit of Nissan, identified its priority markets as the U.S., China and Hong Kong, though the brand also is sold in Europe, the Middle East, Russia, South Africa, Mexico, Canada and seven other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. So, having a global footprint is key to servicing the business.

Overall, the document stressed that Infiniti needs a “foundational” creative idea that can work across all media channels and consumer touch points. Indeed, while TV ads remain important, “alternative approaches are paramount as Infiniti cannot outspend its competitors in broadcast,” the RFP noted. Experiential marketing, for example, may also play a role.

Infiniti’s goal, the RFP added, is to be the “provocateur that owns the future of the premium car category by winning the hearts of young-minded premium consumers [by] featuring seductive styling, attitude, exhilarating performance, emotive design and intuitive technology.”