Twenty-two years of a hugely successful New Zealand partnership between Subaru of New Zealand and Barnes Catmur & Friends Dentsu (BCFD) have been recognised as the best Agency-Marketer partnership in the Asia Pacific region.
The Gold award was made at a presentation yesterday in Singapore by Campaign Asia.
In 1996, Subaru of New Zealand Managing Director Wallis Dumper and Daniel Barnes, of what was then Barnes Advertising, came together to work on turning around the fortunes of Subaru in New Zealand. That partnership has continued ever since. It is a great example of the long-term thinking that both organisations and their agencies pride themselves on.
Today, 22 years later, Subaru and their advertising agency BCFD still work closely on a weekly basis and they continue to view most business problems first through a marketing lens. Mr Dumper and Mr Barnes still champion the relationship — a rare and invaluable form of continuity in industries with a curious appetite for change.
This success has previously been recognised by winning the Grand Effie for sustained success. But more importantly, the hard work has paid off and has seen New Zealand claiming one of the highest proportions of Subaru owners per capita, worldwide.
Mr Dumper says: “Part of our marketing ethos has been to dare to be different and way back in 1996 when we chose to partner with Daniel Barnes we were doing just that. We have never been scared of making hard decisions, such as going 100% All Wheel Drive, or losing our top selling Legacy Wagon model, which then in turn trebled sales of our Outback model. But one of the keys to success over the last few decades has been the innovative approach that first Daniel, then Paul Catmur as partner, and now Dentsu Aegis, have added to give even further value to the relationship. This has enabled us to back up our fantastic product with really strong strategic collaboration from our advertising agency partner, Barnes, Catmur and Friends Dentsu.
"This award is for all of those people both past and present who have worked on the Subaru brand in New Zealand, whether for our company or BCFD, and most importantly it is for today’s team - led by the Subaru Marketing Manager Daile Stephens - who continue to be excellent at what they do.”
Daniel Barnes Founder and Partner of BC&F Dentsu says: “This is a real honour, and a tribute to all the hard work and achievements of Wal, Daile, and everyone at Subaru New Zealand and BC&F Dentsu over the last couple of decades. It’s been a true team effort.”
Paul Catmur current CEO of BC&F Dentsu wraps up with a wry comment: “I’ve only worked on Subaru for ten years which makes me a bit of a rookie.”
Catherine Pattison
Public Relations
Subaru of New Zealand
e: catherine.pattison@subaru.co.nz
m: +64 27 4455 389
www.subaru.co.nz