Continental Reifen Deutschland has awarded the account for its tire advertising in Europe, Africa and the Middle East to a new agency, Serviceplan.

The Hamburg, Germany-based agency beat three competitors to secure the account on the merits of what Conti calls its “highly emotive” campaign concept, which focused on the safety aspects of Continental passenger car tires.

“We are looking forward to working with Serviceplan Hamburg, which presented the most persuasive concept of all the agencies participating," commented Silke Gliemann, communication manager at Continental. “It is very important to us that Serviceplan is flexible enough to allow for the individual aspects of our international markets. We are all very much looking forward to seeing what they come up with."

So far Continental’s advertising campaigns have been closely meshed with the company’s international football sponsorship, and Serviceplan will develop this aspect further. Conti says the link between product characteristics and football sponsorship will be retained in the future, although a more emotive approach will be used in the presentation – with the aim of establishing the Continental brand even more firmly in consumers’ minds. (Tyres & Accessories)