BBDO – which is a long time advertising partner of Chrysler – closed its Detroit office last Friday (January 26). BBDO Detroit failed to sign a new contract with Chrysler, and although BBDO works with several other companies, the Detroit office deals exclusively with Chrysler. With no new contract in place, it was forced to close the location.
Around 500 employees work at BBDO’s Detroit office, and 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.