Ad agency Cheil MENA has been named creative agency for Volkswagen Middle East. It has also won the marketing account for New Balance Middle East across the GCC, Lebanon, Egypt, India and Nepal.
The Volkswagen win comes after an extensive three-month pitch process, which included four other agencies also based in Dubai.
Victor Dalmau, managing director of Volkswagen Middle East, said: “We embarked on this pitch process to find a digital native creative agency that could be our partner as we pursue our goal of being digital-first in terms of our brand communications. I am pleased to say we found this within the team at Cheil and are excited to work with them in 2020. We look forward to creating stand-out campaigns and activations with Cheil that can truly showcase our brand and our products. Cheil is managing the Volkswagen account in China, where they are successfully supporting our brand, and I’m looking forward to the agency and team bringing that same success to Volkswagen in the Middle East.”
The win will see Cheil lead the Volkswagen brand’s digital presence across markets including the UAE, KSA, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Lebanon, as well as working with dealers within these countries. The New Balance win will see Cheil provide full services to the athletic company and comes after New Balance’s business model changed to a subsidiary model in 2019.
Stuart Henwood, general manager – Middle East & India at New Balance, said: “2019 was a milestone year for the brand in the Middle East as we successfully evolved the business model and now operate under an independent roadmap in the region.”
He added: “As we kick off 2020 our consumer communication at New Balance pivots to ‘We Got Now’, and we truly believe this transcends to our partnership with Cheil. Having Cheil as our partner, we truly believe there has been no better time for New Balance to continue its recent momentum and enhance our connection with partners and consumers across the Middle East region.”
