Cadillac Looking for New Advertising Agency

General Motors Co. is looking for an advertising firm for its Cadillac division — a bright spot for the company — but its incumbent agency won't be among the candidates.

The luxury division of the troubled auto maker said in a statement Friday it has started a review process to get a new creative advertising agency.

"We think we can do better. We have done some good marketing and advertising in the past, but we do think we can take it up another level," CEO Fritz Henderson said on a Web chat Friday.

Companies often hold agency reviews, where agencies pitch new work, and then make a selection. Industry insiders say incumbent agencies typically resubmit themselves during a review, but that's not what current agency, Modernista!, chose to do.

Modernista!, which had done Cadillac's advertisements for nine years, said in a statement it decided to part ways due to "creative and strategic differences."

The company, an independent Boston firm with about 130 employees, also had done Hummer advertisements and spokeswoman Tracy Brady said that would end this winter.

GM is selling Hummer and Saab, and scrapping Pontiac and Saturn so it can concentrate on GMC, Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac.

Brady said Cadillac was the company's largest account and it's likely layoffs will take place.

"It's too soon to determine what layoffs there will be but we look forward to re-entering the category," she said. The firm also handles ads for retirement fund manager TIAA-CREF and makeup company Avon Products Inc., among others.

The move comes as the Detroit-automaker overhauls its advertising, with a bigger marketing push in the last part of the year as it looks to recoup sales. GM used chairman Edward Whitacre Jr. in an ad to launch the campaign, which asks consumers to give its cars a chance and promises them the option to return them within 60 days if they change their minds.