Agencies - AgencySpy

Agency/Prodco Would Just Rather Be Skateboarding

Kiran Aditham — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:34:14 +0000

Today in agency self-promos, we bring this 90-second clip from New York-based shop Rooster, which pretty much makes it clear in the brief amount of time what its first love is (its co-founder/creative director, Gavin McInness, is the co-founder of Vice and the “godfather of hipsterdom” after all).

We’re seen some pretty self-indulgent agencies patting themselves on the back clips in the past, but at least this one makes us want to revisit the ’80s flick, Gleaming the Cube, or that modern doc, Dogtown and Z-Boys. It appeases our short attention span and takes us back to the days when we scraped elbows, knees and more. So, good on ya Rooster. The shop currently works with clients including Red Bull, Qualcomm and Nissan (you might remember its recent work for the last brand starring Ryan Lochte).

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Your Porsche Update, Part Deux: It’s Down to Two

Kiran Aditham — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:07:12 +0000

Well, you asked for it, and we’re giving it to you. To follow up on our Porsche review post from yesterday, we’ve heard from very reliable sources that the pitch for the automaker’s North American creative account is indeed down to two: Chicago-based incumbent Cramer-Krasselt and, you guessed it, Minneapolis-based Olson. Consider us surprised as we thought everyone’s darling agency Droga5 would be in the mix, but not so. Anyhow, we’re hearing Porsche’s decision is imminent and that the brand is getting more digitally focused in terms of its creative efforts. The other two finalists as mentioned before were CP+B Miami and McKinney. We’ll keep you posted.

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Rosetta, Hess Part Ways

Kiran Aditham — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:55:24 +0000

We’ve been hearing murmurs about this for a couple of weeks and now, sources familiar with the matter confirm that Toni Hess, who most recently served as partner/executive creative director at Rosetta, is no longer with the Publicis Groupe-owned agency. No word from those in the know if there are immediate plans to replace Hess, whose departure comes less than a month after Rosetta and CCO Gary Scheiner parted ways. Hess joined Rosetta nearly four years ago as partner/group creative director within the agency’s creative/customer experience group. Prior to her most recent gig, the New York-based Hess, who’s also taught at the Miami Ad School, spent several years as a GCD at both Draftfcb and JWT.

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Ricque Moves On from Moxie

Kiran Aditham — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:16:08 +0000

Yes, Carlos Ricque, VP/executive creative director at Moxie Interactive who worked out of the Zenith Media agency’s New York office, is indeed calling it quits. The agency elaborates, saying, “After three great years at Moxie in both Atlanta and New York, Carlos Ricque has decided to leave the Moxie New York office to pursue his video content creation dreams. He leaves on great terms with the agency. The creative EVP has said that Carlos is one of the good guys in Creative. Where Carlos goes, good work always follows. He will be missed.”

It’s not such a stretch for Ricque to head into content creation as the creative has also moonlighted as a screenwriter over the years and won Best Picture back in 2005 at the roving 48 Hour Film Project. On the ad side, meanwhile, prior to Moxie, Ricque spent well over four years at Atlanta-based Fitzgerald+CO, where he last served as co-chief creative officer. During his career, Ricque has also served as a senior copywriter at BBDO and an ACD at what is now 22squared.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The Porsche Review Might Be Coming Down to the Wire

Kiran Aditham — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:28:45 +0000

Since tipsters were scolding us for not talking about it much, here’s a quick update on Porsche North America’s creative review, which was launched five months ago. From what we’ve been told, it’s basically down to a few finalists and sources familiar with the matter confirm that Chicago-based incumbent Cramer-Krasselt is still very much in the mix.

We’re hearing that C-K, which has handled the account since 2007, is now battling it out with just a couple of the other finalists reported by Adweek in February including Droga5, CP+B Miami, Olson (when reached, wouldn’t comment, referred inquiries to client) and McKinney. Yep, it’s still a crapshoot, but we hope you’re appeased for now. As has been reported, you probably shouldn’t expect anything until end of month/early next, but who thinks C-K will retain? Feel free to weigh in.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

McKinney Cuts Staff in NC

Kiran Aditham — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:06:11 +0000

We weren’t planning to end consecutive days like this, but yes, we’ve received confirmation that it’s now McKinney that has had to cut staff, specifically in its Durham, NC hub (the agency, which of course was acquired by Cheil Worldwide last year, also has an office in New York). We’ve been told that 30 people in all were affected across the Durham office and that the reductions were made as “an effort to align resources with current client need, including continued recruiting to fill a number of key positions.”

McKinney’s current client roster includes Sherwin-Williams and Mizuno (we’ve been told that McKinney’s “Mezamashii Run Project” for the latter brand is in fact the most Effie-winning campaign of the year so, uh, there’s that). No word yet on where this move leaves headcount at in McKinney’s NC office, but we’re checking.

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Fausel Reunites with Old Colleague Vitale at PI&C

Kiran Aditham — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:35:58 +0000

It’s been quite some time since we’ve heard from New York-based shop People Ideas & Culture, which was launched by former Lowe Worldwide chief strategy officer Domenico Vitale in early 2009. Well, after getting a couple of tips over the weekend that the shop has brought on a new president, we received confirmation from the man himself this morning that PI&C did (rather quietly) hire David Fausel to assume said position. Fausel (pictured) and Vitale’s relationship goes back nearly a decade when the pair worked together at what was then Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners, with the former serving as group account director and the latter, managing partner/head of strategy.

From what we’ve been told, Vitale’s now been focusing on branching out PI&C into other businesses and expanding into Europe. So, with Fausel coming on board, he now has someone to manage the agency’s New York hub, which currently counts 40 employees and houses a content company complete with photo studio and edit suite. PI&C’s client roster at the moment includes Mohegan Sun, Match.com and Hilton luxury hotels (specifically digital/social media content).

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

space150 Cuts Some Staff

Kiran Aditham — Mon, 13 May 2013 17:01:28 +0000

We’ve received confirmation that Minneapolis-based digital agency space150, which also counts offices in New York and Los Angeles, reduced some of its workforce last week. From what we’ve been told, 10 staffers across a few “key departments” (we’re hearing creative, media and account) were affected. According to a spokesperson, the reason for the move was “both to realign our business with current and forecasted projects, and refocus resources in areas that better serve the needs of our clients.”

The Twin Cities shop has worked with notable brands over the years including Target, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dairy Queen, American Eagle Outfitters and was most recently named digital agency for record for electricity/natural gas provider, Xcel Energy. Following the reduction, we’ve been told that space150 staff count is now at 100.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Mash+Studio NYC Makes Metaphors with Children’s Story (for Adults)

Jordan Teicher — Mon, 13 May 2013 15:03:29 +0000

“Jenny and the Chicken,” a Mash+Studio slideshow illustrated by Danny Mcclain, is one of those metaphorical stories that lets you know it’s metaphorical halfway through the narrative. A boy named Brand wants to befriend a a girl named Jenny, but he can’t figure out how to make her like him. He tries all of the usual friendly activities, like connecting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., but Jenny doesn’t seem interested in a guy who talks about himself all the time. Remember, his name is Brand. Get it?

This type of wink-wink story is typically not as clever as its creators think it is. Anthropomorphic chickens aside, engaging with consumers effectively is a lot more complicated than showing how a brand sees the world. I’m not sure who Mash plans to target with this slideshow, which is partly why it feels disjointed, but unless they start teaching brand equity to second graders, you might want to turn the page.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

And Now, Here’s Your Quick Mother’s Day Agency Output

Kiran Aditham — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:00:06 +0000

If you didn’t at least buy moms a card already, do something goddammit. Welcome the agency world, which has provided us with some inspiration for the auspicious day. This Sunday is the day and in honor of the festivities, a couple of other agencies have chimed in besides the ideally named Mother, which provided us with “Momcraft” a couple of days ago. Let’s warm the heart and bring you this first from GSD&M and its campaign for Zales.

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Maleeny Splits from Ogilvy, Heads to Havas

Kiran Aditham — Thu, 09 May 2013 14:53:03 +0000

Lord, forgiveth as we’ve receiveth this news from the newswire and not a scoop, but yes, as you’ve probably seen in other realms, Tim Maleeny has been appointed as chief strategy officer for Havas Worldwide’s flagship New York office. You might remember back in the day, when hires, etc. were in bullet point posts on this here site, but yes, Maleeny joins from Ogilvy, where he spent nearly four years as a senior partner/head of account planning.

We’ll spare you the hellishness of the usual hyperbolic quotes and just tell you that Maleeny will work alongside Havas Worldwide Chicago CSO James Lou, who has been with said agency for 18 months (dating back to when it was still Euro RSCG) and has served on the strategy side at the likes of DDB and McCann during his career. As for Maleeny, the newest Havas exec will now lead strategy for clients including Dos Equis, New York Life, Charles Schwab, Merck, and IBM.

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Audet Heads from Team Detroit to Garage Team Mazda

Kiran Aditham — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:16:17 +0000

Well, Team Detroit has been its usual uncommunicative self, but after hearing about it through the Spy line for nearly a week, the proof’s now in the punch that Brad Audet has moved from said Detroit-based, Ford-focused agency to fellow WPP-owned shop, Garage Team Mazda. Audet has now assumed the role of EVP/general manager at the Irvine, CA-based GTM (or TheGarage as the kids are calling it nowadays), which was set up three years ago and has lured over the likes of fellow JWT alum Harvey Marco as its creative chief since its inception.

Audet spent nearly five years at Team Detroit, where he initially signed on as new biz head before moving up to both EVP/managing director and co-president of its small-mid-sized client-focused unit, Pulse. Once again, we’re checking with Team Detroit to see if there’s a replacement in the works, but as usual, we’re hitting a wall. Anyhow, during his career, Audet has held senior account positions at the likes of the aforementioned JWT (on Ford, natch) as well as Mullen and McCann.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

So, Should You Go to Costa Rica?

Jordan Teicher — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:21:25 +0000

“Anthem” the latest effort from Atlanta-based 22squared and the Costa Rica Tourism Board, may look like the rough cut of a Coldplay music video. The one-minute spot features shots of sherbet sunsets, beautiful landscapes, and even a frog jumping in slow-motion. The music is actually from M83 (from their Oblivion score), not Coldplay, but the point is that the commercial has the big sounds and simulated importance of something we’re used to seeing in music videos. That’s not a bad thing.

A few of Costa Rica’s recent tourism pitches have tried to capture this splashy substance. Patrick Pierson, who directed “Anthem,” also made the colorfully moody “Get Living.” And two years ago, there was the Effie-winning Million Dollar Happiness campaign. In the travel ad arms race, Costa Rica is destroying those clumsy Ocean City commercials with the lifeguard who has frosted hair. Slow-motion frogs beat inserts of standard beaches every time. Credits after the jump.

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Cubes: VIP Tour of Huge

Kevin Eck — Wed, 08 May 2013 08:36:01 +0000

In this episode of Cubes, the crew takes its first trip across the East River to see the DUMBO digs of ad agency Huge. No, they don’t live in a Disney film, DUMBO is New York for “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass,” meaning it’s in Brooklyn.

And under that Manhattan Bridge Overpass, the mediabistro crew found the Huge folks hiply ensconced in the same space where the cardboard box was invented. OK, so maybe you’re not so into the whole ‘cardboard box thing.’ You’ll most likely want to watch as the wordplay ensues with Huge Dogs, Huge copy machines named after Huge Dogs, Huge conference rooms named after celebrities who are huge but not Huge and a really cool space where Huge staffers get to do their thing.

You can view our other MediabistroTV productions on our YouTube Channel.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Campbell Mithun Cuts Some Media Staff in Wake of SuperValu Sale

Kiran Aditham — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:31:27 +0000

We’ve received word straight from Campbell Mithun itself, which tells us, “As one of many marketing partners affected by the recent sale and restructuring of SuperValu, we subsequently eliminated fewer than ten positions across all levels in our media department last week.” Folks on the Spy line are adding that a few senior members in the Minneapolis-based agency’s media department were affected by the cuts, which happened approximately a week ago. As noted, CM’s staff reduction was directly due to SuperValu recently unloading 877 of its grocery stores including Albertson’s, Jewel-Osco and Acme to AB Acquisition LLC for $100 million and the assumption of $3.2 billion in the former’s debt. In turn,, the grocery/retail brand eliminated 1,100 positions nationwide.

Campbell Mithun has been serving as media agency of record for SuperValu for five years and will continue to work on media efforts for the corporation’s discount supermarket chain, Save-A-Lot, which spans well over 1,000 stores in the U.S. (SuperValu has worked with the likes of Publicis Kaplan Thaler on the creative end).

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.