• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, June 11, 2014

Detroit-based Shinola has awarded Interpublic Group’s Mediahub/Mullen its media planning and buying assignment after a review, the companies have confirmed.

The three-year old watchmaking startup, part of a movement to revitalize the Detroit manufacturing sector, has been spending around $7 million a year on ads, although it is understood that the firm’s ad budget will be increasing significantly going forward.

The incumbent on the account was boutique media shop SwellShark. Contenders in the review were not immediately identified. Mediahub/Mullen will work alongside Shinola’s creative agency, Partners & Spade, to develop integrated media campaigns to increase awareness and demand for the client’s brands. Creative was not part of the review.

"Mediahub's forward-thinking work attracted us to the agency,” said Jacques Panis, president of Shinola. “The Mediahub team demonstrated a strong understanding of Shinola and we look forward to working with them on growing our brand.”

Mediahub’s near-term focus will be on planning for the 2014 holiday season, as well as supporting new Shinola store openings scheduled for this year. Shinola has flagship retail stores in Detroit and in the Tribeca neighborhood in New York City. The company’s timepieces are also distributed through retailers, including Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.

In addition to hand-crafted watches, Shinola makes  bicycles, leather goods, and journals. The company is a unit of Dallas-based Bedrock Manufacturing.