Cox Automotive Hires Zambezi As New Ad Agency

Cox Automotive has announced its appointment of Venice, California-based Zambezi as the lead brand strategy and creative agency for its Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book brands. This marks the replacement of Doner, an agency under the umbrella of MDC Partners, that had served in this role for the past 16 years.

“Our company is in a huge growth mode right now and growing to 50-plus brands within the Cox Automotive portfolio, (so) it was time to continue to push innovative and fresh thinking and pull in powerful partners to help us with this evolution of our business,” said Jessica Stafford, vice president of consumer marketing and creative studios at Cox Automotive.

Stafford explained that the company has had a “wonderful and deep partnership” with Doner, and further said Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book will continue working with the shop’s media arm through their existing partnership with sibling MDC Partner shop Assembly, which absorbed Doner Media last year.

As Cox Automotive’s lead agency, Zambezi will work across all creative platforms, including TV, print, digital and social. It will collaborate with the company’s in-house creative team, Assembly, and digital partner 360i, with an initial focus on the U.S. market for Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book.

Stafford said that Cox Automotive had an internal list of 12 agencies that it was considering, before inviting four agencies to pitch for the position. She explained that the company has worked with Zambezi on some past projects, and was therefore already familiar with the firm’s work.

In the first half of 2016, new campaigns are expected to launch for both Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book. Stafford said the company plans to push out more of Kelley Blue Book’s reviews and editorial content next year to complement Autotrader and to help educate consumers about car shopping. The goal for Autotrader is to connect with consumers’ lifestyles from a matchmaking perspective.

Although the length of the contract with Zambezi was not disclosed, Stafford said that the company “aims to develop long-lasting partnerships.”