LONDON — Iris Culture has been retained as the consumer PR agency for BMW Group, including work across the BMW and MINI brands in the UK, after a competitive pitch.

Reporting into BMW Group UK communications director Graham Biggs, Iris Culture, which had been the incumbent agency since 2014, will continue to drive lifestyle media  opportunities across high-end consumer titles.

During the pitch process at the end of 2017, the group asked agencies to consider how to promote its positioning as the global leader in future mobility, at a time where brands such as Google, Telsa and Uber have stated their claim to the automotive market.

Iris Culture managing director Laura Weston said: “Being the incumbent in a pitch process is always tricky. Our team has produced some outstanding work for this client over the last three years so we knew that we had a great chance to show what we had learnt and how passionate we are about taking the work to the next level.

“Our ability to take brands such as BMW and MINI and create meaningful partnerships in culture for them that also grab headlines has been proven. We look forward to continuing our work with such an innovative and progressive client.”

Iris Culture’s previous creative comms work for the automotive giant has included a partnership with eco-conscious fashion duo Felder Felder (pictured), who created “the most sustainable dress in fashion” using the carbon fibre found in the BMW i3 and BMW i8 and showed it at London Fashion Week.

The Iris network, which employs more than 1,000 people in 14 offices around the world, is made up of integrated creative shop Iris; Iris Culture, which specialises in sports marketing, brand experience, PR and entertainment; and management consultancy, CRM and data analytics firm Iris Concise. Its clients include Samsung, LEGO, Adidas, KFC and Starbucks.

In 2017 Iris was named as one of the Contagious Pioneers “best and bravest” agencies in the world, as well as a Creativity Innovator on the AdAge A-List. Its partners include creative B2B agency Founded, acquired in April 2016, and digital media and acquisition specialist atom42, acquired in November 2017.