BBDO – a long time advertising partner of Chrysler – has announced it will be closing its Detroit office, effective January 26th. BBDO Detroit failed to sign a new contract with Chrysler, with the current agreement set to expire on January 26.
Although BBDO works with several other companies, the Detroit office deals exclusively with Chrysler. With no new contract in place, BBDO will be forced to close early next year. “We now have to assume and plan for the fact that our relationship will end when our contract does on Jan. 26, 2010,” BBDO spokesman Roy Elvove told The Detroit News.
About 485 employees work at BBDO’s Detroit office. The company is working to redeploy those employees affected by the office closing, but a number of workers will likely be laid off.
BBDO provides a number of services to Chrysler – such as dealer training, IT support and customer service management – but is best known for its marketing efforts. BBDO created a number of successful ad campaigns for Chrysler, including the company’s “That thing got a Hemi?” series. Chrysler’s ties with BBDO dates back to 1944.
