As if calling your agency Da inci wasn't silly enough (put down the hubris kids!), the agency has been renamed, Synarchy Worldwide, according to a report in AdAge.com and other sources.

So what does that SAT worthy word actually mean? Synarchism is from the Greek words meaning "to rule together" or "harmonious rule". Those who took a political science course will be familiar with the concept.

Alexandre Saint-Yves d'Alveydre, an occultist, also used the word "synarchy." He wrote the book La France Vraie (1882), in reaction to anarchist movements and described what he believed was the ideal form of government - an organic unit. He defended social differentiation and hierarchy with co-operation between social classes, transcending conflict between social and economic groups. As part of this concept of government, Alexandre gave an important role to esoteric societies, which are composed of oracles and who safeguarded the government from behind the scenes.

Yeaahhhh... Dude was on some next level shit, ok?

"Synarchy" is also the name of the ideology of a political movement in Mexico dating from the 1930s. In Mexico it was historically a movement of the Roman Catholic extreme right. They were violently opposed to secularist policies of the governments of the time. A little fascist even.

Conspiracy theorists also use the word synarchy to describe a shadow government where all the power rests in the hands of few men and women.

Yowza! Good choice guys! Bravo! Great name. Did you do any research on the historical context of this word?

[image is of The Skull And Bones Secret Society - source]

Just Ask The Locals (JATL) is a New York City tourism campaign, which has featured the likes of Robert Deniro and Jonathan Adler. Cunning, that British band of wackos who launched Mini Cooper and also did some nice work for HSBC recently, were charged with developing supporting concepts for Mayor Bloomberg's desired expansion of the JATL tourist appreciation campaign.

Cunning created the cunning 'Ultimate Local' - an information booth at this year's Tribeca Film Festival. Passers-by pose questions to 'The Ultimate Local' shown on a plasma screen fixed to the front of the booth. 'The Ultimate Local' could see and hear them in real time and answer any, any, any question about Manhatta. Examples: Where to get the best slice of pizza, how many rooms are in the Gramercy Park Hotel and what happened to the peep shows in Times Square?

Okay. Good idea, right? It's simple, provides a service and is also just a little fun. What other agencies specialize in experiential executions, ideas that get people involved on the street level through technology, mobility, events, kiosks, gimmicks and games? What are the names of these smaller shops mucking things up? Comments please. In the mean time, here's a meager starting list:

- Area/Code
- Cunning
- Iris Nation
- The Happy Corp Global

The news of Dentsu's American appointee got me wondering: what the hell happened to Steve Biegel? Yes, boyfriend is still following through on his lawsuit claiming sexual harassment and anti-semitic behavior from the Japanese agency, but like... what is dude doing on the regular?

Turns out he is working. In a New York Time piece about business professional using Facebook as a networking tool (that one should win a Pultizer), a Steve Biegel from small Manhattan agency Scarlet Heifer is quoted as saying:

"My partner and I are constantly on these sites mingling with prospective clients or people we can hire for our company. It's like pollination. You just go from flower to flower."

Hey now Steve. Watch that language. Someone might think you have sex on the brain or something.

So, what is a Scarlet Heifer? It is a purification ritual from the Old Testament that calls for a sacrifice of a rare red heifer (a young cow who has yet to have a calf). In Judaism, the heifer is is slaughtered and the ashes are used to purify people who have come in contact with a corpse. As the agency's website explains, it is also a paradox: "In order to become pure, you must first perform a rite that renders you impure. The profound insight lies in the idea that the moment you clearly face the reality you are at the bottom, is the same moment you begin your ascent to the top."

The agency goes on to talk about taking brands who have fallen on hard time, as well as tackling the difficult issues facing emerging brands and getting them on the right track. It's also a lovely metaphor Steve's personal troubles.

Steve's new partner in crime is Dan Howald who has worked at FCB, Waring & LaRosa, Grey, and Young & Rubicam. The pair is pushing the new model of getting paid for their I.P. through ownership points.
And, the agency is ready to do it all from the digital to the outdoors.

Well, you gotta give Steve some credit for getting back on the bucking bronco, no?

CEO of Dentsu America Tim Andree will be the company's first non-Japanese "executive officer." Whoo-hoo! He's one step away from being on the board. Go Team America! Dentsu is hoping that Tim can help them crack off a bit more of the American market share.

AdAge notes that "Mr. Andree has been trying to revitalize the agency, steering a major reorganization of U.S. operations -- including staff overhauls and acquisitions such as its purchase of San Francisco shop Attik."

Isn't nice to hear something coming out of Dentsu that has nothing to do with Steve Biegel? The latest with all that hoopla is that the case is meandering it's away around the U.S. District Court in New York with pre-trail hearing set for November 24.

Campbell Mithun is like, is like... um, Mariah Carey. You know, just when you think she can't get any more zonked on her own fame (surprise weddings, strange press releases, weird beauty rituals), out she comes with a hit album. In today's Minneapolis Tribune, we get to take a look inside a stalwart of The Twin Cities scene and all the changes taking place to bring the shop back to its high flying origins.

Recent changes at Campbell Mithun include new CEO, Steve Wehrenberg; account wins such as National City Bank, and an expected bump in media billings ($750 million this year, following three consecutive years of between $650 million and $700 million). AdAge has them up 2.6& in 2007 in their Agency Report. The Star has them up 3%. Either way, they're turning a few more dollars beating out other Minneapolis based agencies in revenue such as Carmichael Lynch (-1.5%), Fallon (-26.5%), and Martin Williams (7.4% but still ranked below Mithun).

In the article, the shop makes it clear they are going back to basics.
Jonathon Hoffman, CM's president and chief creative officer, returned to the agency in 2004 after 15 years at Leo Burnett Worldwide of Chicago. Hoffamn told the paper that CM was going back to ethos of founder Ray Mithun: "a big, pioneering brand idea that communicates the point of the product and its value, driving increased sales and profits."

Wait. Isn't that the whole point of advertising? Shouldn't everyone be looking to do that at the base level? Yeah. Ray was onto something, but how did Campbell Mithun come to be anyway? Glad you asked...

Campbell Mithun was founded by Ralph Campbell who had been dismissed from BBDO after he refused to relocate to New York. Campbell, nearing the age of 50, teamed up with the then 24 year old Raymond Mithun who had worked beneath him as a copywriter. Their first three accounts were Andersen Corporation, Land O'Lakes, and Northwestern National Bank. Not bad, right? The shop did what all small shops do - hustle. Campbell Mithun survived the great depression and the war years with flying colors. Campbell died in the fall of 1949 during the halftime festivities of an Iowa-Minnesota football game. Nonetheless, the shop surged on and became well known for its highly creative work and determination to pitch, as well as win big accounts.

Mithun was getting old and so, he encouraged his staff to become invested in the company, so they would carry on being an independent force in the industry. It didn't take. Mithun sold all of his stock back to the company in 1972, and retired in 1978. One year later, management sold out to New York-based Ted Bates. Bates was later bought by the legendarily reckless Saatchi boys.

CM was merged with another Saatchi holding, The William Esty Company, to create the most powerful Midwestern agency at the time. The New York-based William Esty Company held many automotive accounts in Detroit, Michigan. In 1988, the new company had combined billings of $740.8 million and offices in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Toronto, and Windsor, Canada. Hot shit.

In 1992, Campbell Mithun Etsy acquired Goodwin, Dannenbaum, Littman & Wingfield - an independent advertising agency based in Texas. CME was then merged with and London-based KHBB to form a new international advertising agency network. CME-KHBB Advertising, Inc., with combined billings of $1.2 billion, was listed as the 17th largest ad agency in the world. The agency's offices were located not only in the United States, but throughout Europe and Asia. The idea behind the merger, according to Saatchi & Saatchi management, was to create a network of small offices located in major cities around the world.

When Saatchi blew, so did CME. The 50% of interest in the shop was put up for sale and purchased by The Interpublic Group of Companies in 1995 for $40M.

[source, source, source]

At some point, maybe quite often actually, you've asked yourself how it is possible that the fricking moron, that dude who wouldn't be able to figure out how to tighten his jock strap is your boss. How does that shit happen?

Billionaire Carl Icahn has a theory, which Portfolio nicely recounted from his Carl's talk last year at the World Business Forum in New York:

When you were at Indiana University or Penn State or wherever the hell you went - did you join a fraternity or sorority? The president is not necessarily the smartest person in the room, but he/she is nice. The opposite sex likes them. They're always cheering the house on and being the buddy.

Once you enter the real world of business, this person advances. They don't take risks or challenge the status quo. They may never have a great idea, but the boss likes him/her, because there is no threat coming from that quarter. He/She does his work, but they are no rock star. No, genius. He/She plays by the rules. He/She shows up and smiles at the holiday party. Soon enough, he/she has smiled, drank and good time Charlie'd their way into the number two spot. The board likes him/her. Next thing you know, he's the C.E.O or the ECD or the VP of Strategic Planning.

Of course, he/she assigns a #2 who is not that bright, but you know... affable.

"And eventually, we're going to have all morons running our companies. We might not be that far off from that right now."

Doremus New York managing director Howard Sherman has taken on the additional global role of president, which is a brand new position at the firm reported Adweek.

Before landing at Doremus, he worked at Howard Merrell & Partners in where he was president and chief operating officer. Sherman has been leading the overlooked agency to several wins this year including Cigna Corp., Adecco, URS and BearingPoint. Doremus New York was up 8.6% from 2006 to 2007 according to AdAge's 2008 Agency Report.

John Wren, the Omnicom chief executive, was the mostly highly paid marketing services executive in 2007, taking home $10.4m for the year.
Although the amount he was paid dropped from $13.2m in 2006, Wren topped the table ahead of Michael Roth, the Interpublic chief executive.

Roth's pay increased from $7.7m to $8.9m (which should drive George Parker fucking nuts -- I'm sure he is blogging about it now), while Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, took home £3.57m ($6.96m) after an 8.5% annual increase.

Of course, this doesn't count the extra $10 mil that Wren got for cashing in some stock options back in February -- what a man does with his stock options of course is between him, his broker, his accountant and the potential tax shelter offshore account in the Caymans.

Yes, Element79 is in the shitter, but do you remember when they turned out great spots like this one featuring young Michael Jordan versus his older self? Damn. Good stuff.

Avenue A/Razorfish is getting ready to kick off its 8th Annual Avenue called Client Summit: Rock the Digital World. Hellllo, cornballs. You guys have copywriter's over there, yeah? Can't you come with a name that sounds less like an after school program put on for wayward teens than that?

Anywho, this shoves all the Razorfish leadership and some Fortune 1000 executives into a room where they gnaw over the same problems that all the other conferences gnaw over just with a different set of characters doing the gnawing. This time, you can see Megan O’Connor of Levi's talking social media's effect on brand strategy. There is one or two interesting talks such as Duncan Watts, principal research scientist and professor of sociology, Columbia University talking about WOM. You can also hear John McVay, VP and client partner to AT&T at Razorfish talk about the brand's use of Microsoft Surface technology.

A Razorfish exec pimping Microsoft? Surely you jest? Nope kids. Not kidding. If you want to go, get the details here.