Kia has moved its $34 million media spend to Melbourne indie agency Advertising Associates, dropping Havas Media's $12 million digital spend.
In 2020 Kia quietly moved their $22 million above the line brand media to Advertising Associates and Havas Media retained the $12 million digital expenditure.
But after Kia put its media account up for review earlier this year, the motor company has now combined its media spend with one agency, Advertising Associates.
Virginia Hyland, CEO Havas Media Network, confirmed the move to AdNews.
“I appreciate that Kia have a strong ongoing relationship with Advertising Associates for many years, and moved the $22 million above the line expenditure to them in 2020 without a pitch, now wishing to align Havas Media's $12 million digital spend with one agency," Hyland said.
"No doubt given the outstanding success of the Havas Media team, our skills will definitely be of great value to likeminded companies. We wish Kia all the best in the future.
“I want to personally thank my Kia team for the incredible dedication to Kia since 2017, delivering over 182k leads in the 12 months to June ’23 alone to optimise the brand work already held by Advertising Associates and drive bottom of the funnel results.
"My team is world class and in the tougher 2023 year of automotive sales we are the only agency to help improve search ranking, leads and share of market for the automotive category. I couldn’t be prouder of my team.”
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.