Online classifieds brand Kijiji has selected BBDO Canada as agency of record for its flagship brand and its standalone dealer-focused car shopping platform Kijiji Autos, following a competitive review.
According to a release, BBDO assumes responsibility for brand strategies and communications to help Kijiji connect with and grow the company’s “broad reaching consumer and B2B audiences coast-to-coast.”
The account will be led out of BBDO’s Toronto office in collaboration with its Montreal team. BBDO’s new chief creative officer Max Geraldo, who joined the agency in March from Grey Brazil, will be “deeply involved” in leading the assignment, said the agency in a release.
Toronto-based Kijiji launched in 2005 and bills itself as “Canada’s marketplace,” with 14.8 million unique visitors, 717 million page views and 124 visits to the the site each month.
Kijiji’s head of brand marketing Natalie Cunningham said the company was impressed by BBDO’s strategic brand-building capabilities and operational excellence.
“Their ability to create highly targeted and meaningful creative that connects on a community level with our customers, and their results-focused approach to the creative work made them the clear choice.”
“As platforms that attract half of Canada’s digital population, Kijiji and Kijiji Autos are powerful, community-based brands that bring real value and meaning to their customer base,” said BBDO president and CEO Christopher Andrews. “Being selected to partner with them in the growth of their business is a real honour for all of us at BBDO.”
BBDO said it has launched a “deep dive” into the Kijiji business, with new work expected to launch later this year. “These early weeks are all about diving deep into the brand, business and audiences, and then crafting strategies that that will deliver against the specific objectives of each vertical while building up the overall Kijiji brand,” said Andrews in an email interview.
“The entire agency was really excited when we shared the news of the win,” he added. “Kijiji is a product and brand that so many of our team know and love that having the opportunity to contribute to its success is a real thrill.”
Kijiji was ranked 32nd in Ipsos’ most recent Most Influential Brands in Canada study. It previously worked with CloudRaker, which created the “Driver’s Seat” launch campaign for Kijiji Autos in 2019, as well as 2018’s “Shake it up” campaign.
