Bartle Bogle Hegarty

That's what one spy hypothesizes, telling us that the "G.O. IV Fortune" treasure hunt that we reported on a few days back was actually conceived by BBH some seven years ago for the same client. The tipster says:

"BBH presented the Go [IV] Fortune idea in 2002 for the launch of Type 1 Jeans. The idea was to literally bury $100,000 in gold coins somewhere in America and giving people clues how to find it. Back then it had the title 'The Gold Rush.' They never bought it and instead did a crappy online version of it. Now seven years later they finally do it, another agency gets credit, and they made it so complicated that many people don't want to participate."

We checked with a source familiar with the BBH matter, who tells us that this theory "makes sense" and the "Gold Rush" was meant to be part of a Super Bowl campaign. Unfortunately, the CD, Thomas Hayo, nor the account people involved are with BBH anymore. We'll hopefully get more info on this as time progresses.

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AgencySpy has learned that Bartle Bogle Hegarty laid off an unknown number of employees, including ECD of innovation Rob Rasmussen.

We're still seeking details regarding the matter, but a source informs us that the writing was on the wall. No word yet on just how many people are without work today, or if more cuts are set to come.

Rasmussen, for one, only joined the agency in November, 2008. Previously he was an ECD at R/GA New York.

Update: An agency representative sent the following statement. "In response to the challenges of the current economic climate, and in an ongoing effort to ensure the future financial health of our agency, BBH New York has made the difficult decision to reduce our staff by 12."

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Brand Republic reports today that at an agency-wide meeting in London this morning, senior management at BBH announced that 10% of UK staff (approximately 40 people) will be made redundant.

Once again, the economic downturn is cited as the major reason along with a "broader structural review", which BBH CEO Ben Fennell tells BR "will see us becoming more commercial by embedding data into our strategy, embedding more technology and technologists into our creative offering and creating a faster and leaner delivery system for our clients." On a positive note, he adds that BBH "actually made almost 20 hirings already this year to increase our level of knowledge and expertise in all departments."

According to the report, today's layoffs affect all departments and levels of seniority and come five months after BBH instigated a 3.5% pay cut across the agency.

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Today, Adweek has an article up about digital shop, Razorfish, getting into the broadcast game for detergent brand, All. If anyone caught that last episode of Celebrity Apprentice (and I'm sure you didn't), you'll recall that the teams were tasked with creating a "viral" video for the brand. The results were pretty mediocre, but whatever. The agency went on to take two of the contestants, Joan and Melissa Rivers, and feature them in Razorfish's first ever broadcast production. You can watch it above.

From the article: "Razorfish has a history in digital media and developing Web sites," said Marc Lucas, executive creative director for Razorfish in New York. "In the last 12 to 18 months, we've made a push to be a marketing services company and being more media agnostic."

All just recently put its creative account into review. While BBH is the incumbent, it ended up goin to Lowe. However, wouldn't it have been rad if Razorfish just snuck in there and took the booty? Forget about whether you like or hate the spot. Isn't just a wee bit exciting to see a digital agency is now just an agency and vice versa? Lines are blurring left and right. Consider that GlobalHue, which has long been billed as the the biggest multicultural agency, won their MGM Grand account as just an agency - serving every color, gender and platform under the sun. Finally - the whole bag of goods is getting mixed up. It's about time.

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Bartle Bogle Hegarty UK is asking its staff to take nine days unpaid leave a year, equivalent to a 3.5 per cent pay cut, to stave off the need for redundancies according to Brand Republic. The announcement was made last night during an all staff meeting. Now, employees are left to decide whether to take the deal. Erm... take the deal! Take it!

Kudos to BBH for figuring out how make the money work without having to let anyone go. The agency's US office has already seen a round of lay-offs. A spokesperson told us that ""BBH New York's business is strong, especially having won new assignments early this year. We are not considering any pay cuts at this time." Now, there's some good news. In the future let's hope they follow mothership London's lead and offer a similar deal.

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What were we saying about Berlin Cameron the other day? Oh right. They are waist deep in the shit. Well, guess what? Now they're buried up to their noses. Vitaminwater has separated from the agency and moved their account to BBH. Holy crapola, Batman. Seems like The Boys Club policy here in New York of having staffers chip in $150 a month for their health insurance was a very smart move. We're sure they are eagle eyeing other cost cutting measures. Let us just hope it doesn't come down to people.

The economy has forced some serious limitations on agencies looking to stay in the black or even, increase their revenue:

- Campaigns have been put on hold by CMOs

- Fewer established brands are willing to launch that new product. Anyone recall the mysterious Microsoft phone agencies were pitching for a few months back?

- Companies that were just big enough to need advertising support may be experiencing slower growth and rethinking hiring a shop at all. And guess what? Obama has no written provisions for small businesses in that gigantic stimulus package. Great. The tipping point may have disappeared for many folks.

- And foremost, brands are unhappy with their sales numbers, desperate for a boost in sales anyway they can get it. Often, that means pointing the figure at your ad agency. Deserved or not.

Staying in business is going to come to one simple thing - whose client can you steal? BBDO took back Jeep. BBH snags Vitamin Water. BMW is looking for an out at GSD&M and everyone seems to be looking for another dance parter rather than continuing to tango with Cliff Freeman. Keep your eye out. We're sure that AOR music chairs will only continue.

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The New York Times magazine gathered some industry professionals together to talk a little digital advertising. Included were: Benjamin Palmer, C.E.O. of the Barbarian Group.
Lars Bastholm, chief creative officer at AKQA and Robert Rasmussen, executive creative director of the Nike account at R/GA... Oh wait. The venerable paper seems to have missed Rasmussen's jump to BBH. Anyway, these three guys got together for a little bit of a digi-wank.

The web version is five pages comes with headings such as "Facebook Overalls" and "The Death Of The Massive Money Machine." A tad much, but clearly this one if for the laymen. In all honesty, these guys have some salient points. They address the things we all know about the internet, emerging media, etc. They are selling that digi business like their lives depend on it. Well, someone has to do it.

What's most interesting is that Bastholm mentions Nike a few times, a client of AKQA's and Rasmussen doesn't say a word despite having been the executive creative director on the Nike account at R/GA.

Bastholm also said: "Well, we do have a ton of different new media and new ways to use them. But before we get there, I would suggest that first, you take a step backward and ask yourself, How do I make my brand relevant?"

It's the same old question. Somethings in advertising never change.

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Check it out - BBH US is not going to defend the Levi's account. Shocked. That's me. Come on. BBH made Levi's, Levi's made BBH US. It was a beautiful relationship for years and now... now it's gone all Les Miserables.

The same year that BBH UK landed the Levi's account was the same year that the DeLorean Car factory in Belfast was put into receivership. Nineteen-eighty-two also saw America put an embargo on Libya and the first Double Stuffed Oreo hit the marketplace. Levi's was not yet a global powerhouse. Sure, Soviet kids wanted the denim, but the brand wasn't truly global. Levi's got into some tricky situations later on in the 80s and early 90s, most notably the expensive Olympics sponsorship, an aging marketplace and some bad accounting. Oh and that $1.6 billion leveraged buyout in 1985.

The launch of the Dockers brand in 1986 surely helped them, but so did BBH UK. The agency was smart enough to purchase UK airtime from the nascent MTV. The channel was new at the time and still had no way to separate their signal. What viewers in the UK saw, so did those in Paris, Sweden, etc. for peanuts. And yes, those marvelous ads caused a new craze for the brand. By 1989, international sales were out of this world.

The New York office of Bartle Bogle and Hegarty didn't open until 1998 with the awesome Cindy Gallop (pictured right) at the helm and Ty Montague as CD. Why not have a US face? It makes sense, although they had a rough start. The agency took London hand-me downs until the New York office picked up the Levi's account in 2003. Yes, that's kind of a hand-me down, too. You can be sure that TBWA\Chiat\Day in San Francisco, who was the incumbent, snickered that loss away. Yet, BBH US turned out some stellar planning and creative for the brand (see video above). Despite other shared accounts with their London parent (Johnnie Walker, the World Gold Council and Unilever's Axe), the Levi's work brought the agency into the limelight - a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T. That year, the shop's revenue doubled to $25 million with clients such as ING, Time Warner and Wenner Media catching the fever of Gallop & Co.

There's more to that story, but let's just fast forward to the present. BBH's worldwide revenue in 2007 was $161M with the U.S. carrying $31M of that. Without Levi's, the argument could be made that they wouldn't have weathered the storm. BBH has chosen not to defend their maker? Is it pride or is it just that the agency needs to move on? Fuck reasoning. How are they going to make up for that huge loss?

It's hard to shake the idea that BBH UK is the stronger creative force these days. Evidence: Levi's will keep their business in Europe with BBH. We also hear that AXE is getting a bit uncomfortable with the US office, as well.

Yet, what's more startling is that this is the end of an era, of sorts. It's just over. Where's the Kleenex?

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Levi's has decided to put their US account into review. BBH has been the incumbent since 2001. The UK office consistently turns out strong work for the brand and is not in play. Still, the US office came up with that sexual orientation neutral "Change" spot that featured two endings - one gay, one not.

Cutwater also got in on the action with the same ol' stuff they seem to be addicted to turning out - viral videos featuring boys and stunts. They did a series of videos (see above) where guys jump into pants for Levi's, which is just a side step from their Ray-Ban work featuring boys flipping glasses onto their face.

Anyway, the estimated spend of $70 million by Levi Strauss will have agencies left and right jumping at the chance to get in on the review.

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Bartle Bogle Hegarty has two new products coming out of their brand invention firm Zag: Pick Me - a vegetable ready-meal and a personal alarm system called Ila Dusk. The system is targeted at women and when used, emits a female scream rather than a siren.

Wouldn't you love to see the data that made Zag think these two products were a good idea? Really, does the world even need more prepared food? The siren slash scream personal safety system - is that really an invention? These questions don't seem to matter to retail chain Tesco who has put Pick Me in 800 storefronts, nor Marks Spencer that has picked up the Ila Dusk. Apparently, BBH has data that says the noise of a woman's scream has been "shown to elicit the strongest reaction from passers by."

And yet, experts say that screaming is absolutely not effective. Jo Walker, spokeswoman for the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, the personal safety campaign group said: "We advise people to try not to scream, because bystanders have no idea how to react. You should shout instructions, such as, "Call the police!" - it has been proven this has more of an effect."

Neither of these products sound like a good bet. These are remixes of old ideas in very crowded marketplaces. You guys aren't zagging. You're zigging along with everyone else.

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