Cramer-Krasselt has beaten the historically poor odds of retaining an account in review, beating back thick competition to remain lead creative agency on Porsche.
The other contenders for the account, with media spending estimated at $20 million, were Droga5 in New York, McKinney in Durham, N.C., Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami and Olson in Minneapolis.
The Chicago shop’s win caps a process that began in December, with Porsche Cars North America hiring outside consultancy, External View Consulting Group in Culver City, Calif., to draw up a list of shops for the automaker to consider.
In February, Porsche, after meeting with a bevy of shops, narrowed the field to the five finalists.
Given exhaustive process, participants were expecting Porsche to hire a new agency. As one source put it, “We were expecting regime change.”
Still, Cramer-Krasselt had deep knowledge of the iconic brand, having worked on it since 2007. Also, the automaker had realized sales gains just before the review began.
And while several competitors put in strong showings, none was good enough to replace Cramer-Krasselt. “In a prize fight, you need to unseat the champ,” the source added, reflecting on the result. “And nobody really unseated the champ.”