• by Larissa Faw , October 8, 2015

Mitsubishi Electric has selected Brunner as its agency of record for its cooling and heating division, following a formal review with seven agencies. The incumbent was Ames Scullin O’Haire, Atlanta (ASO). 

Brunner will oversee the division’s overall marketing communications strategy, planning, creative and media and also provide support for Mitsubishi Electric’s national marketing. That includes media, TV advertising, content creation and social media. 

For the past four years, Mitsubishi Electric's U.S. Cooling and Heating has promoted the brand through golf, including TV ads featuring top players and by serving as a corporate sponsor of the PGA Champions Tour.  Golf will remain a key part of the brand’s marketing strategy. 

"Mitsubishi Electric continues to utilize golf as a strategic pillar in their communications," says Rich Fabritius, managing director, Brunner Atlanta. "This includes our involvement in their creative solutions. We will continue to support their active sponsorships."

Overall, Brunner executives say their creative strategy is focused on the concept of the brand helping consumers make their lives more comfortable in their homes via zoned cooling and  heating technology.

Earlier this year, ASO launched "Make Comfort Personal," a new campaign and tagline to suggest Mitsubishi Electric's products are a better way to cool and heat homes in today’s world. 

The first significant campaign work under Brunner's purview will debut in early 2016, but the agency has already started working on "several key strategic items and creative solutions," says Fabritius. 

Mitsubishi Electric spent $12.29 million on advertising its cooling and heating unit in the U.S. in 2014, down from $19.93 million in 2013, according to Kantar Media. 

This account shift represents a new direction for the company which selected Brunner in part for its multiplatform capabilities. “We were impressed with Brunner’s fresh, streamlined approach,” said John Stowell, director of marketing, Mitsubishi Electric Cooling and Heating. “We were in need of an agency that could evolve the strategy for our brand to maintain category leadership, but also prepare us for taking on new, strong competition in the future.”