Arnold Worldwide

Upon viewing the above spot from Arnold Worldwide for McDonald’s, you probably scoffed at the idea of the “Egg McMuffin of” catching on as a widespread euphemism for “the best.” Either that, or you started debating which of McDonald’s breakfast items was the best. (“I get that you’re more of a McGriddle girl, but I’m a big biscuit kind of guy myself.”) Some of us did both.

The nice shout-out to Cadillac in the spot served as a reminder that no one under 50 (maybe older) has ever referred to anything as the “Cadillac of” similar but lesser things. Hey, maybe Arnold’s trying to blow the doors wide open for America’s youth and their love of ridiculous slang. Could this silly tagline along the same lines as “the cure for the common” actually make its way into popular vernacular? Well, this Hoboken apartment listing, this popular website, and this Twitter update sent to us in the release argue that it already has. In fact, we were given statistics that say the phrase “has been tweeted over 11,000 times on Twitter and mentioned nearly 1,200 times on Facebook since the debut of the commercial on December 29, 2011.”

Still skeptical? Of course you are. But, one true measure of determining whether this was surprising success or failure is seeing if it pops up in news headlines. Perhaps, sooner than you think, we’ll see Aaron Rodgers hailed as the Egg McMuffin of quarterbacks, Facebook called the Egg McMuffin of web 2.0 IPO successes, and Mitt Romney declared the Egg McMuffin of presidential candidates at the Republican National Convention. Credits after the jump.

 

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After spending two years as executive director, digital marketing solutions within Time, Inc.’s Branded Solutions division, Angela Wei is crossing back over to the agency side to assume the newly created chief digital officer role at ArnoldNYC. Wei, who has worked at the likes of Razorfish (senior producer) and FCB (VP, executive producer) during her 15-year digital media career, sounds like a welcome addition to the Arnold Worldwide family according to Andrew Benett. The agency’s CEO/Havas global CSO says in a statement, “Angela represents the best of both worlds. Someone who has worked in the advertising industry, yet also has vast digital and media experience. She knows how to foster innovative environments and how to integrate digital throughout the marketing experience.  She’s a huge win not only for Arnold’s New York office, but also for our global network.”

Once Wei steps into her chief digital officer role on Jan. 23, the exec will partner up with ArnoldNYC president Lynn Power and CCO John Staffen to expand the office’s digital/tech capabilities, and she’ll also join forces with Arnold global CDO Matt Howell to “devise and execute” the agency’s digital offering across the network.

Volvo and Arnold’s relationship, which dates back to April 2007, is going global as the automaker has now awarded the agency its U.K. and China business. SapientNitro, which previously handled the Volvo account in said countries, will still retain the Australia business while Euro RSCG 4D will remain on as lead digital agency. As a result of the automaker’s agency realignment, the “Team Volvo” model that was essentially a creative alliance between Arnold, Euro and SapientNitro, will be put to bed by year’s end.

Beginning in 2012, Arnold’s Amsterdam office, which opened last year, will take the lead on the Volvo account while global ECD Sean Thompson (who joined Arnold from 180 Amsterdam 15 months ago) and global brand director Jorian Murray will continue to manage.

Regarding the expanded partnership with Volvo, Andrew Bennett, Arnold’s global CEO and CSO of parent company Havas, says, “Over the last couple of years we’ve concentrated on growing our footprint globally and improving our work. This additional responsibility is a manifestation of that. It’s not only an honor to be able to represent one of the greatest brands in the world in more markets, it’s a testament to the amazing partnership we are fortunate to enjoy.”

Your agency might have a beer or two in the fridge, but does your agency have its own branded beer in its own specialized vending machine that can use Twitter to communicate with drinkers? Unless you’re at Arnold Boston, the answer is probably no.

Every year, Arnold sets aside $100,000 for the “Make Project,” an initiative that encourages employees to “manage less and make more.” Out of this initiative came the Beer Vending Machine, perhaps the most technologically advanced vending machine since those crazy touchscreen machines that allow you to add a variety flavors to popular Coke products. (Grape-flavored Sprite is not recommended.)

As we’re told, the “RFID-enabled vending machine has a touchscreen interface, is temperature aware and has Soundtube. It also has a personality – through the fob it will recognize who you are and greet you with ‘Hi (person’s name),’ and will talk you through your vending experience. The touch screen interface is set up for Twitter communication (you can tweet from the machine) and data visualization (you can choose to see how much beer was consumed each day of the week). In addition, there’s an ‘alepedia’ that allows you to learn more about each of the brews.”

Currently, the Arnold beer vending machine offers six different types of brew (picture below), and the agency will create more “specific to seasons, events, people and even clients, inviting others at the agency to become involved in the brewing process.” Hey Arnold, is there any way you could send AgencySpy a case of Arnold Pilsner? You know, for purposes of more in-depth reporting?

Disclaimer: We were given the above spot from Arnold Worldwide on April 1, though were kindly asked to take it down as it was sent to us “in error” (which explains some of the older comments). As it turns out, the McRib was not quite back, as some had falsely speculated, at the time. However, now that the word is out that the McRib has, in fact, been officially resurrected as of today, we offer the TV commercial (which aired last November and was only released to media for “archiving purposes” on sites like our sibilng, AdsoftheWorld, months later) for your viewing pleasure. Party on.

The. McRib. Is. Back. Just when you thought it was gone forever, it returns, just like it does every spring (or fall or summer, depending on Mac Doh’s whims) and will continue to until the world ends or until McDonald’s merges with Subway to take over the world. And, you know what? People are going to talk about the McRib around your office. “Did you hear?” someone will ask, eyes wide with eager anticipation, McDonald’s grease-smelling sweat dripping onto your desk. “The McRib. It’s back dude. Just like the Backstreet Boys.” Indeed, it’s back.

But, before you throw over your work desk and “run” your out-of-shape self over to the nearest McRib feeding facility, we should mention that the McRib’s limited run is set to expire on Nov. 14. That gives you three whole weeks to gorge yourself on this 500-calorie combination of boneless patty, pickle slices, onions and BBQ sauce (aka McSlop), so if you want to make it all 21 days, proceed with caution. Last year’s McRib spot by Arnold Worldwide marked the end of a 16-year “hiatus” of the agency doing McRib work for the esteemed fast-food chain. It remains to be seen if the agency will get to launch America’s favorite sandwich again this time around. Credits after the jump.

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Let’s dip into a little across-the-pond news for a tick, shall we? After serving as acting executive creative director at London-based Arnold KLP for the last couple of months, Jim Thornton has officially been named ECD at the agency. Thornton previously spent a year as creative director at Naked and a “fabulous 11 months” as a CD at Mother before that. During his second tour of duty at the latter agency, Thornton led creative work for the Post Office and created a campaign which turned the National Drug Helpline into a service called FRANK.

During his 25-year ad career, Thornton has also worked as a CD/copywriter at TBWA and spent four years as an ECD at Leo Burnett London, where he oversaw Drink Drive & Teens Road Safety campaigns among others. In a statement, Thornton sounds excited, saying, “I haven’t been as excited or enthused about the potential of an agency since the early days at Mother. I’m really looking forward to adding my experience to the blistering array of expertise already here. While every other agency has been talking a good 360 game these last ten years, these guys have just been quietly getting on and doing it.”

Thorton’s hiring at Arnold KLP follows that of Saatchi & Saatchi alum Marcus Smith, who joined as head of planning just recently.

 

Ah, gotta love the ever-evolving titles that ad agencies come up with and Arnold Worldwide continues the trend by adding Digitas alum Dave Dugan as something called chief commercial officer. If you need to know what that is, this different kind of CCO is tasked with this: “Build out current capabilities and identify opportunities to build new lines of business,” work on other agency core services including CRM, social and mobile and help clients grow their business.

Now that we got that out of the way, Dugan, who will officially assume his post at Arnold on October 17, spent a dozen years at Digitas (two related posts in a day, you say?) and last served as SVP, corporate strategy until leaving to take on the role of president in 2008 at Boston-based, WOM/social marketing shop BzzAgent.

Havas-owned agency network Arnold Worldwide continues its international expansion with the opening of its Shanghai branch (Amsterdam opened last year, lest we forget). From what they tell us, the launch of its Chinese office was spurred by being named global AOR for Dell, as well as global work for the Jack Daniel’s and Southern Comfort brands. All of sudden, we’re getting thirsty.

Anyhow, the office is starting out with 10 and expected to grow to 30 staffers by year’s end and Arnold’s global CEO/Havas global CSO Andrew Bennett couldn’t be more optimistic, saying, “Expanding into Asia has always been a part of Arnold’s micronetwork growth strategy, and after winning global assignments for a number of new clients, as well as extending our reach with existing clients, we’re thrilled to be opening in Shanghai—one of the most vibrant and vital markets in the world.”

 

After winning pro hockey’s top prize (which of course spurred a huge riot in Vancouver), the Boston Bruins have turned their focus to marketing and in doing so, the NHL franchise has selected Arnold Worldwide as its new AOR. Seems logical considering the agency’s New England roots and as a result of the Bruins’ decision, Arnold will first be tasked with creating an integrated marketing campaign (you know, digital, print, TV, OOH) to celebrate the start of the new NHL season in October.

Arnold is no stranger to the sports world, having handled advertising efforts for the Miami Dolphins, the U.S. Open tennis championships and ESPN Super Bowl spots in the past. The agency also counts New Balance and Titleist as clients if that means anything. In a statement, Jen Compton, the Bruins’ VP of marketing, says, “After winning the Stanley Cup, we have a fantastic opportunity to build on our momentum throughout New England and Arnold is the perfect partner to help us creatively do that.”

The Bruins biz was previously handled by Mullen, which resurrected this amusing video to celebrate the team’s Stanley Cup victory. According to sources familiar with the matter, there was no review.

Arnold Worldwide has brought on Tim Allen as VP/creative director, who joins the agency from R/GA, where he spent nearly three years as a CD on Nike and was involved with redesigning the Nike+ platform. Before heading into the agency world, Allen worked on the client side as product design lead at the likes of Adobe (for you techies, he helped conceive new versions of Creative Suite 3/4 and Acrobat/Reader 9), Macromedia and IBM.