VW Brand Begins Global Ad Agency Review

Volkswagen AG is preparing to launch a global review of the creative agencies handling advertising for its VW brand, Advertising Age reports.

The review will be conducted at the holding company level, according to the magazine. Jochen Sengpiehl, who took over as head of VW marketing a year ago, envisions a centralized agency with five regional hubs: China, Europe, North America, South America and the rest of the world.

Sengpiehl, who says he wants to spend less on paid media, sketched his plan to reporters earlier today in Berlin. Ad Age says VW spent $6.7 billion on advertising in 2016, the most recent year for which data are available. The company spent $422 million in the U.S. market that year.

The review may challenge Interpublic Group’s nine-year grip on the VW account in the U.S. Sources tell Ad Age that VW’s global media business, which has been managed for the past two years by Omnicom’s PHD unit, is not expected to be part of the review.