Mazda is zoom-zooming from Doner to Team Detroit/WPP.
Though it is credited with creating one of the industry’s most credible marketing campaigns, the independent Detroit-based ad agency, Doner, has learned that nothing is permanent in the automotive world.
Doner has been notified it will lose the multi-million dollar Mazda ad business, an account that the suburban agency put on the map with its Zoom-Zoom theme.
After a lengthy review, the California-based Mazda subsidiary is moving to another Motown agency, Team Detroit/WPP. It is unclear whether the Zoom-Zoom campaign will continue or be replaced by a new slogan.
“We generated outstanding results: we invented Zoom-Zoom, an emotional, differentiating and remarkably memorable brand platform that will remain the foundation for Mazda’s global marketing vision into the next decade,” said a note from Doner’s three top executives sent this morning to company employees.
Doner has represented Mazda since 1997. During the last decade, with the Zoom-Zoom campaign in place, the Japanese maker saw its share of the U.S. market surge from 1.4% to 2.0%. In Canada, which Doner also handled, share jumped from 2% to 5.5%.
Ironically, the Team Detroit agency also handles Ford advertising. The agency move comes after Ford cut its stake in Mazda and no longer has an active role in the Japanese maker’s management.