Volvo ends ties with agency Sapient Nitro, appoints Arnold Furnace
Volvo has parted ways with ad agency Sapient Nitro, with the car maker moving its advertising business to Arnold Furnace.
The Arnold network handles Volvo in a number of markets globally.
An announcement from Sapient Nitro reads:
SapientNitro and Volvo Car Australia will cease working together in April this year, when the automotive brand aligns its local business needs with Arnold Furnace, part of Volvo Car Group’s global agency, Arnold.
Paul Bennett, national managing director of SapientNitro Australia, said the decision of the two organisations to part ways was based on the divergence between Volvo’s marketing needs, and the direction of SapientNitro as a new breed of agency.
“We have enjoyed working with the Volvo team in Australia, but as a global brand ourselves, we appreciate the benefits of global alignment and we wish Volvo Car Australia every success in the next phase of their marketing.”
At Volvo Car Australia, managing director Matt Braid said: “SapientNitro has done a great job with our marketing over the past four years, however as our needs continue to diverge we believe the agreement to transition to our global agency over the next few months is the best move for both our organisations.”
In other words. Arnold dropped their pants to win the local business. Volvo couldn’t get Sapient to do the same. And Global is planning to run generic global ads.
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Always sad to lose billings, but perhaps a relief not to have to try and sell drays.
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You’ve got that totally wrong, Bob. Global already runs generic global ads.
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How is Sapient a new breed of agency?
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Because they are genuinely led.
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I retract @ big nose. It simply came down to Arnold dropping their pants then.
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“divergence between Volvo’s marketing needs, and the direction of SapientNitro as a new breed of agency” – Is the the agency version of “musical differences” ?
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bob….
you’re right, because Sapient Nitro is such a remarkably good agency that a client couldn’t leave for any other reason.
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Sorry ‘just answering’ I think you mean genuinely lead!! WTF.
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@ fleshpeddler…I believe it was because of divergence in Volvo’s marketing needs and the direction of SapientNitro as a new breed of agency.
My point? Put that rubbish out to print and expect speculation. First port of call being cost, second change in CMO. Ask TrinityP3 or another ‘objective’ bystander in the industry and they will confirm those two reasons accounting for the majority of account moves.
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