Goodby Enters Volvo Competition

NEW YORK Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, fresh off its firing last week by General Motors’ Saturn, has become an 11th-hour entrant in Volvo’s global creative review, sources said today.

The Omnicom Group agency is teaming with sibling shop 180 to pitch Volvo’s estimated $150 million account, said sources. Goodby is based in San Francisco and 180 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, though 180 opened a small office in Los Angeles this year.

Goodby entered the picture after GM last Tuesday moved to shift its U.S creative account to Interpublic Group’s Deutsch/LA in Marina del Rey, Calif. On Wednesday, Ford Motor Co.‘s Volvo named four finalist teams for its creative business: 180, Publicis Groupe’s Fallon, Havas’ Arnold with independent Nitro and the primary incumbent, Havas’ Euro RSCG. Within a day, Goodby had entered the picture, said sources.

The finalists will be briefed tomorrow at Volvo’s global headquarters in Goteborg, Sweden. Final presentations are slated for late March.

New York-based consultancy Roth Associates is managing the search, which began in December. Roth did not return calls and Goodby and Volvo could not immediately be reached.