# Porsche North America — Brand & Comms Research Brief **Prepared by Julia — Curious Endeavor Research** *April 2026* --- ## 1. Porsche North America Comms & Marketing Team ### Executive Layer | Name | Title | Notes | |------|-------|-------| | **Timo Resch** | President & CEO, PCNA | Reports up to AG Stuttgart. Quoted in all major US releases. | | **Amara Walker** | VP, Public Relations | *NEW — started Feb 2, 2026.* Former CNN anchor (11 years), Emmy Award winner. Her mandate: "bring communications into a new era." This is her first automotive role. Fresh eyes. Likely evaluating everything. | | **Ayesha Coker** | VP, Marketing | In role since Jan 2022. Oversees experiential marketing, strategic partnerships, sports marketing, motorsport US, Porsche Club of America, Track Experience, Travel Experience, both Experience Centers (Atlanta + LA), Marketing Comms, and Dealer Marketing. Named to Automotive News 100 Leading Women in NA Auto Industry, May 2025. | | **Scott Baker** | Director, Marketing Communications | In role since November 2005 — longest-tenured senior marketer. Institutional knowledge. | | **Scott DeVault** | Branded Entertainment Marketing Manager | Speaker at Brand Innovators Marketing Innovation Summit, Nov 2025. | ### Communications Team (Direct Contacts) | Name | Title | Relevance | |------|-------|-----------| | **Jennifer Pifer Bixler** | Corporate Spokesperson | Primary press contact | | **Frank Wiesmann** | Manager, Product Comms — Motorsport & Brand Heritage | Owns the racing/heritage content brief | | **Luke Vandezande** | Product Spokesperson — 911, Boxster, Cayman, Motorsport | The 911 and motorsport voice | | **Calvin Kim** | Product Spokesperson — Cayenne, Panamera, Macan, Taycan | Owns the EV/SUV brief | | **Abby Brochstein** | Manager, Lifestyle Comms & Experiential Strategy | **KEY CONTACT — the pitch is going here** | | **Shelby Akin** | Spokesperson, Content & Special Projects | Content-specific role — potential internal champion | | **Diane Huynh** | Spokesperson, Events & Experiential | Events content pipeline | ### Why Abby Brochstein Is the Right Door Her title is "Lifestyle Communications **and Experiential Strategy**." That's not standard PR — that's content that lives between editorial and experience. She owns the intersection of brand storytelling and real-world events. CE's work is exactly in that lane. She's also not managing motorsport product PR, which is more template-driven. Lifestyle and experiential is where originality is expected. ### What Abby Is Dealing With - New VP above her (Amara Walker, Feb 2026) means the comms function is in transition - Walker's background is broadcast journalism — she'll be shaping content philosophy, not just press coverage - Ayesha Coker's remit includes Dealer Marketing — a historically fragmented content problem - The team is managing the most complex model year in Porsche history (new 911 T-Hybrid, new Cayenne EV, continued Taycan positioning) --- ## 2. Current Agency Roster ### Creative/AOR **Cramer-Krasselt (C-K)** — Chicago-based independent agency, confirmed creative agency for Porsche North America as of 2024–2025. Relationship dates to at least 2020 when Porsche formally continued the partnership after a global agency realignment. C-K won a Golden Trumpet Award in October 2024 for their work on Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7. Long-tenured relationship — this is not a hot, dynamic agency romance. It's an established, comfortable partnership, which means: room for fresh thinking. ### Dealer / Digital Tier - **Green Line Automotive** — dealer digital marketing - **Digital Air Strike** — customer engagement tech - **Dealer.com Advertising** — digital advertising - **Dealer Inspire** — dealer platform - **Force Marketing** — dealer marketing services - **Fullpath, Constellation, Polk Auto Direct** — CRM/data layers No single agency owns the dealer content problem — it's distributed across multiple vendors with no editorial throughline. ### Agency Intelligence - No recent agency review announced for NA creative AOR - The C-K relationship appears stable but unexciting - Porsche Australia switched to Dig Agency in November 2024 — signals willingness to make moves at the regional level - The fragmented dealer roster is an unmanaged content problem, not an agency relationship --- ## 3. Current Campaign Intelligence ### Active Campaigns (2025–2026) **"Soul, Electrified"** — Taycan flagship positioning. The enduring creative platform. Now 6+ years old. Still anchoring all EV messaging but showing age. The core tension: does it still resonate when Porsche is pulling back on EV ambitions? **"Speed of Light"** — Early 2025, Taycan Turbo GT + Macan Turbo Electric featuring DJ David Guetta. Shot at Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, Dubai. Futuristic visuals, mass-appeal talent. Targets "Driven Youth" demographic. Ran across digital and social. **New 911 T-Hybrid Launch** — The 992.2 generation 911 introduces mild-hybrid (48V system). This is the most delicate messaging job Porsche has: making "hybrid 911" not feel like a compromise. Campaign focus: enhanced performance, not electrification. **Rennsport Reunion** — Porsche's biggest North American motorsport event. C-K created award-winning content for RR7 (2024). Heritage-heavy, community-building. The brand at its most itself. **Macan Electric** — Full rebrand of the Macan as electric-only (outside North America initially). US-facing content has been influencer-led (Andres Vidoza, Dua Lipa short film). ### Tone Assessment - **Global campaigns:** High production value, dramatic cinematography, aspirational but increasingly dependent on celebrity partnerships (Dua Lipa, David Guetta) — risks diluting the precision/heritage identity - **US newsroom content:** Professional, data-first, press release register. Not editorial. - **Social media:** Community-powered via #PorscheMoment — strong fan UGC, weak brand-generated originals in the US feed - **Dealer content:** Fragmented, inconsistent, mostly template-driven promotional material ### What's Missing in Campaign Tone - The human story between celebrity campaign and data press release - North American editorial voice (Atlanta Experience Center stories, IMSA paddock, Porsche Club of America chapters) - Real-time race weekend content that moves at race speed - Long-form Taycan owner stories that address actual US EV anxiety (not just performance specs) - Dealer-level content that carries brand-standard photography and copy --- ## 4. Brand Pain Points ### Pain Point 1: The Editorial Gap Between Campaigns and PR Porsche runs cinematic global campaigns. Porsche runs functional press releases. There is almost nothing in between — no ongoing North American editorial program that tells stories about owners, mechanics, track days, and the culture around the cars. The global `porsche.com/stories` hub exists but has almost no US-specific content despite the US being the brand's largest market. ### Pain Point 2: Dealer Network Brand Dilution 204 US dealers. No unified editorial identity. Multiple competing digital vendors. A dealer in Austin posting generic promotional copy alongside a dealer in Beverly Hills posting luxury lifestyle content — and neither looks like the cinematic precision of the global brand. Every off-brand post is a tiny brand tax. ### Pain Point 3: The Taycan Credibility Problem US Taycan sales fell 37% in 2024 (from 7,570 to 4,747). Software glitches, range anxiety, charging inconsistency, rapid depreciation — all real, all in the consumer conversation. The "Soul, Electrified" campaign doesn't address any of this. There's no honest North American editorial story about what it's actually like to own and drive a Taycan in the US. ### Pain Point 4: Motorsport Content Moves Too Slowly The race calendar is meticulous (see newsroom IMSA schedules). The storytelling is not. Race weekend content requires same-day turnaround, short-form video, live social — and the Porsche content machine runs on approvals and campaign timelines, not race flags. ### Pain Point 5: Regional Has No Voice Porsche's two US Experience Centers (Atlanta, LA) are extraordinary brand assets. Porsche Club of America has 140,000+ members. The IMSA GT racing program runs all season. None of this generates a consistent North American editorial output. The infrastructure for incredible stories exists. The editorial system to capture and distribute them doesn't. --- ## 5. EV Chapter — Taycan vs. 911 ### The Tension Porsche's long-term goal was 80%+ EV sales by 2030. That target is now explicitly contingent on "customer demand and the broader development of electromobility." In plain English: they backed off. The 911 is not going fully electric before 2033–2035 at the earliest. The current 911 gets a 48V mild hybrid in the 992.2 — performance-additive, not identity-changing. Meanwhile Taycan US sales are struggling. In 2024: 4,747 units vs. 911's record 14,128. The car that was supposed to lead Porsche into the electric era is outsold 3:1 by its combustion-only sibling in its most important market. ### How Porsche Is Navigating It in Copy - "Soul, Electrified" keeps soul first, electric second — the sequencing matters - "100% Porsche. 100% electric." — direct address rather than avoidance - CEO language (March 2026): "regardless of the type of powertrain" — de-escalation of the either/or framing - The new 911 T-Hybrid launch frames hybrid technology as *more* 911, not a compromise ### The Content Gap - No US-facing owner narrative that addresses real Taycan anxiety (range, software, charging) - No content bridge between the 911's 62-year heritage and what it means to drive a Taycan in 2026 - The Taycan's actual owner community — who are they, what do they love — is almost invisible in North American brand content - No motorsport bridge: Formula E program exists but feels separate from road car content --- ## 6. Motorsport Content ### Program Overview Porsche runs the most comprehensive motorsport program of any luxury brand: - **WEC / Le Mans:** Porsche 963 LMDh — factory program - **Formula E:** TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team — Pascal Wehrlein and Nico Müller driving the 99X Electric Gen3 Evo - **IMSA:** Multiple series including GTD, GTD Pro — strong US presence - **Single-make championships:** Porsche Sprint Challenge North America, Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West, Porsche Endurance Challenge, Porsche GT Track Day ### Content Speed Problem Race weekend content demand: immediate. Brand approval process: not immediate. The Rennsport Reunion 7 win earned C-K a Golden Trumpet — months after the fact. What didn't happen: real-time content during the event that captured the crowd, the cars, and the culture as it happened. Formula E: Porsche participated in the "Evo Sessions" influencer event in Miami (March 2025) featuring Sergio Agüero. The reach number cited: "hundreds of millions." But Porsche's own US social content around the Formula E calendar is sparse — event logistics, not storytelling. ### The Gap Motorsport is Porsche's most credible proof point for everything: engineering, passion, speed, community. But the content infrastructure for real-time, high-quality race storytelling in North America doesn't match the racing program's ambition. --- ## 7. Key Stats for Pitch | Stat | Figure | Source | |------|--------|--------| | US retail sales, 2024 | 76,167 vehicles (record) | PCNA Newsroom, Jan 2025 | | US dealers | 204 independently owned + 5 studios + 6 satellite stores | PCNA, 2024 | | US franchise count | 202 franchises (153 standalone) | Automotive News census | | 911 US sales, 2024 | 14,128 units (+20.8% YoY) | PCNA | | Taycan US sales, 2024 | 4,747 units (−37% YoY) | PCNA | | Cayenne US sales, 2024 | 22,432 units (record) | PCNA | | CPO sales, 2024 | 43,249 (+12% YoY) | PCNA | | JD Power Customer Service | #1 for 2nd consecutive year, 2026 | PCNA Newsroom | | Porsche Club of America | ~140,000 members | PCA | | Experience Centers | 2 (Atlanta, Los Angeles) | PCNA | | VW Group cost-cutting target | €60 billion saved by 2028 | VW Group / Multiple sources | | Porsche AG operating profit, 2025 | €413 million (vs €5.64B in 2024 — down 93%) | Porsche Annual Press Conf, Mar 2026 | | Porsche AG revenue, 2025 | €36.27 billion | Porsche Annual Press Conf, Mar 2026 | | Global EV target | 80%+ by 2030 — now "contingent on demand" | Porsche AG | --- *Last updated: April 2026 | Julia / CE Research*