Ad Agency Mulling Local Office

As Lincoln Mercury officials prepare to relocate their corporate headquarters to Irvine, the luxury car maker’s Detroit-based advertising agency is making moving plans of its own.

John Vanderzee, chairman of Young & Rubicam/Detroit, said Tuesday that the company will transfer a still unknown number of its 350 Lincoln Mercury people to California to be closer to the car maker’s headquarters.

Vanderzee, like most people, was caught unaware when Lincoln Mercury announced its relocation plan late last week. The move will mark the first time in more than 50 years that a U.S. auto maker has set up headquarters outside of Michigan. “It came as such a surprise to us that almost everything is up in the air,” Vanderzee said.

“We will have an office in California to support Lincoln Mercury, but we just haven’t decided yet where it will be or how many people will be assigned there.” Young & Rubicam’s present California office is in San Francisco, and the Lincoln Mercury staff could be housed anywhere from there to San Diego, Vanderzee said.

The advertising agency has Lincoln Mercury’s national account as well as the ad accounts for the company’s 29 regional dealer associations. Vanderzee said about 175 agency employees are assigned to the national account, including employees of its Wunderman Cato Johnson direct marketing subsidiary.

Wunderman Cato already has an office in Irvine to handle Taco Bell Corp.’s direct marketing, but Vanderzee said he doesn’t know if it could house a Lincoln Mercury contingent as well.