COMPETITION FOR BOMBARDIER ACCOUNT
By Adnews Staff
While Bombardier's new Global Express jet will soon be up in the air, the situation regarding their agency of record already is. The Montreal company's new plane was launched Monday, but a search for a new agency began six weeks ago. Bombardier wants to have one agency to handle both their Canadair and Learjet accounts. The company previously had Montreal's GroupAction Marketing Inc. looking after Canadair and The Richards Group of Dallas tending to the Learjet account. Bombardier spokesperson Ahmed Galipeau told Adnews this week that it was not proper to have two separate campaigns and that the company wanted to "put all their efforts into one team." Along with the two incumbents, five other agencies are vying for the account. They are: Cossette Communication Marketing of Montreal; Keiler & Co. of Hartford, Conn.; Team One Advertising of El Segundo, Calif.; The BCP Group of Montreal; and Marketel/McCann-Erickson Ltd., also of Montreal. GroupAction has held the Canadair account since 1984, while The Richards Group has had the Learjet account since 1994. The field will be pared down to two by next month, after which the finalists will present creative work. A final decision is expected in November. Bombardier's advertising budget is estimated by AC Nielsen of Markham at $1.1 million.