PROTON switches gears for creative strategy with new agency

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PROTON has appointed VMLY&R Malaysia to handle creative duties, shifting the account from GrowthOps. PROTON's spokesperson confirmed the appointment to A+M, adding that it officially starts in April and is for a year with the option to extend for another.

Chris Greenough, GM - Malaysia, GrowthOps, told A+M that the agency has had an amazing journey with PROTON for the last seven years. "It has been a pleasure to support the company's creative, marketing and technology initiatives over that time. The brand is iconic and we hope to work with PROTON in the future to grow their digital footprint and support them with marketing and technology services," he said. Greenough was appointed to his role last November, succeeding Elise Duarte Chu who left after 11 years.

A+M has reached out to VMLY&R for comment.

GrowthOps was reappointed last April to handle creative duties and has played a crucial role in producing innovative campaigns for the automotive brand, including its first digital car launch in 2020. At the same time, PROTON also wrapped up its media pitch last year, handing duties to Wavemaker Malaysia for two years. M/SIX Malaysia was previously the incumbent since 2014 and the team decided to pitch as GroupM to ensure the business still stays within the network. Wavemaker was selected to due to its extensive experience in handling international brands.

Separately, the team also saw a leadership change on the communications front, with Vijayaratnam Tharumartnam stepping down from his role as director of group communications after two years.

PROTON was ranked among the top 10 automotive brands in Malaysia by YouGov last year. While Japanese brands dominated the list, PROTON still came in sixth with a score of 18.4, according to data from 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2021. The brands in the YouGov Automotive Rankings 2021 were ranked based on the Index score, which is a measure of overall brand health calculated by taking the average of Impression, Quality, Value, Satisfaction, Recommend and Reputation.

Meanwhile, the company reported that it sold 4,453 units, both domestic and export, in January, a reduction of 25.3% from the same month in 2021 and equivalent to an estimated domestic market share of 11.3%.

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