Lotus Cars is hunting for an agency to handle its worldwide advertising
account as it aims to boost growth after the end of the recession.
Oliver Everett, the company’s head of sales and marketing, instigated a
review of all the luxury car manufacturer’s marketing activities when he
was promoted to the post in August.
Everett hopes to have a new agency in place by the end of the year and
will invite two shops to pitch formally for the business later this
month.
‘I only expect pitches from agencies in with a good chance of winning
our business,’ he said.
Lotus has traditionally put most of its marketing budget behind its
Esprit model. A new car, the Elise, which is being launched early next
summer, is expected to receive a hefty spend, but Everett refused to
confirm the overall ad budget for the company.
He added: ‘I am new. I started out with a review of what we have been
doing and I am determined to do it better.’
In the past, Lotus has used various agencies on an ad-hoc basis. The
last major agency to handle the account was Dorland, which lost the
business in 1987, soon after Lotus was taken over by General Motors in
1986.
