Seductive features,
checkered past

Mitsubishi Motors North America is opening a review for the creative portion of its US ad account, Adweek writes.

The Mitsubishi ad account, including creative, is worth about $190 and is currently held by BBDO West, an Omnicom Group holding. The digital component, managed by Organic, will also be up for grabs.

Santa Monica-based Select Resources International will conduct the review. The firm conducted reviews for Mitsubishi in 2004. The company suffered from a dramatic (25 percent) decline in sales and the departure of its head of marketing, mere months after Mitsubishi consolidated its $260 million ad account under Deutsch, LA and shifted its budget from TV to online media.

Through 2005 the revolving doors of Mitsubishi's ad department rarely rested. The company saw another departure in March, followed by a string of resignations in the next several months.

BBDO has held the Mitsubishi account since March 2005. It has no plans to turn in an RFP.

The agency recently launched Mitsubishi's "It's go time" campaign, succeeding "Driven to thrill," an effort that emphasized Mitsubishi's Japanese roots.

"BBDO West has been instrumental in the revitalization of the Mitsubishi brand in North America," said Client EVP Dan Kuhnert of sales and marketing. "However, as Mitsubishi Motors begins a new three-year plan globally, it is appropriate for us to consider new possibilities."

Car Concepts notes Mitsubishi sales were up nine percent in 2007, totaling 129,000 units. The Outlander and Galant were the most popular vehicles. Through February '08 sales slumped 15 percent, with only 16,000 units sold.