PROTON concludes social pitch, creative and media still ongoing

PROTON has appointed essence Burson-Marsteller to manage social media duties for a year, A+M understands, with work currently underway.This follows a pitch held in March which saw approximately five agencies vying for the account. The incumbent on the account is APD and A+M understands the agency will still be managing website duties for PROTON. Currently, the creative and media pitches are said to be ongoing."We are thrilled to steer social conversations about Proton. The win of this account underlines exactly the transformation of our industry and we are keen to be in the driver’ s seat," essence Burson-Marsteller CEO Felix Heinimann said in a statement to A+M.A+M has reached out to PROTON for comment.The company recently saw a 50% growth in sales during the month of June, selling 6,173 cars to Malaysians who took advantage of the zero rating for GST and its Duit Raya promotion. In line with the increase in sales, total market share also increased with PROTON garnering approximately a 10% share of Total Industry Volume for the month compared to 9.5% previously.According to CEO of PROTON Edar, Abdul Rashid Musa, PROTON had its "best sales month for 2018 June", proving that Malaysians continue to find the current range of cars attractive due to the new features engineered into each model."The attractive promotional offers we had, zero-rated GST price and an overall improvement in the quality of our cars helped to boost sales, which we are hopeful of carrying over for the remainder of 2018," he added.(Read also: PROTON in the midst of creative and media pitch, tipped to soon launch social)Last October, the company appointed Li Chun Rong CEO of PROTON, following the departure of Dato’ Ahmad Fuaad Kenali. Meanwhile, Abdul Rashid Musa was named CEO of PROTON Edar, a unit which handles marketing of the company, replacing Rohime Shafie who was appointed the head of automotive in the department of automotive distribution and manufacturing and engineering of PROTON’s parent company DRB-HICOM.In May 2017, conglomerate DRB-HICOM sold a 49.9% equity in PROTON to China-based Zhejiang Geely Holding last year. Geely also bought the entire stake in British sports car maker Lotus, from PROTON. DRB-HICOM group managing director, Dato’ Sri Syed Faisal Albar says the PROTON brand will remain present and is expected to grow significantly with the new foreign strategic partner on board.