Rolls-Royce has appointed M&C Saatchi to launch the luxury
carmaker’s first new model for almost two decades.
The company - traditionally a reluctant advertiser - is understood to be
spending between pounds 8 and pounds 12 million to defend the worldwide
reputation of the Rolls-Royce and its Bentley stablemate against charges
that the cars are bought only by ’fat cats’.
Rolls-Royce said it was appointing the agency to look at ways of
building its profile in the key UK and US markets.
M&C Saatchi - whose founding partner, Maurice Saatchi, is a Bentley
driver - is understood to have been awarded the business without a
formal pitch, although Moray MacLennan, the agency’s joint chief
executive, declined to comment.
Little is known about the new model, due to make its debut next year,
except that it will be the first since the company launched the Silver
Spirit in 1980, and that it will be offered under the Rolls-Royce and
Bentley badges.