Yes, before you even ask, we do have the memo, which, somewhat surprisingly, reveals that the title of group creative director hasn’t been used at the agency before. As has been the norm, a memo to staff from president/CCO Tor Myhren landed in our tips box and this time, says most importantly that Leo Savage and Jeff Stamp, creative directors on the Gillette biz, have indeed been promoted to GCDs. Savage has spent the last 18 months, give or take, as a creative director at Grey, while Stamp joined the agency after working at the likes of Campfire and Possible. Anyhow, we’ll let Tor take it away after the jump and provide details on the pair and the new position.

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On the football field, Peyton Manning runs the Denver Broncos with a robotic efficiency fitting of a man with a giant, shiny forehead. His younger brother Eli roams the sidelines for the New York Giants with the mopey glare of a six-year-old who wants to pick his nose but can’t because cameras are watching. Usually, the funniest thing about the Manning brothers is that they’re so unfunny. They’re stiff and white. But every once in a while – don’t forget the acclaimed “Football Cops” – they unleash some comedy genius for a football-related commercial.

The newest addition to the Manning oeuvre is a fake R&B music video created by Grey for DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket. #footballonyourphone. Remember that hashtag. It’s going viral, because a company that deals with an incredibly popular sport got two huge stars to subvert their normal personalities and completely buy-in to a goofy campaign that could’ve been an abandoned Lonely Island digital short. In the first 12 hours or so after it hit Youtube, the clip reared in 100k views.

Everything about the spot is smart, right down to the tiny Archie Manning cameo and the best/worst hair design you’ll see this year until American Hustle, starring Bradley Cooper’s curled terribleness, hits theaters. Peyton may be known as the more gregarious of the two brothers, but Eli is a vastly underrated comedian in his commercials. He ends up stealing this show with some odd riffs on milk, blouses, and Alexander Graham Bell. Pay attention, brands: This is how you go viral.

By now, word is out and widespread that Ogilvy has taken the reins on the E*Trade account, which WPP sibling Grey NY of course resigned at the end of June. Whether they keep the baby or not is a story yet to be told, but according to the Spy line, O&M was one of the frontrunners on the business from the get-go. Anyhow, we’ve read recently installed E*Trade CMO Liza Landsman‘s perspective. Now, let’s pass the mic and read Ogilvy’s courtesy of New York COO Lou Aversano. Read on below and after the jump.

“ALL NA STAFF

July 23, 2013

E*TRADE

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And now, your silly aside of the day courtesy of, yes, another memo from Grey New York, which our tips box has been adequately filled with over the last couple of years. The latest opus comes from Grey NY president/CCO Tor Myhren, who decided to bless his staffers on this, the hottest of weeks in the Big Apple, by letting them wear shorts all this week. Why? Well, agency staffers helped find candidates for the apparent “hiring spree” Grey’s on (we’re assuming the newly won Gillette biz has plenty to do with it). Anyways, consider us jealous once we dare step outside and roast. Read on if you’d like, though we did redact a couple of the names just to be fair.

“I’m fighting against every fiber of my being as I write this. But it’s hot out there. Like, really hot. And as [redacted] has pointed out, you guys did a great job helping us fill the ridiculous amount of new hires we needed over the past few months. So it is with absolutely zero pleasure that I announce you can all wear shorts for the rest of the week. Run home now and change, [redacted], because this is the day you’ve been waiting for.

Michael and I agree this offer is only good for the rest of this week, so enjoy it people. You’ve earned it.

Love,
Tor.

P.S. In two hours I’m strategically off to LA for the rest of the week and won’t have to witness this atrocity. So in my head, it never really happened.”

It’s been a busy week on the Grey front. Just days after it was announced that the agency promoted chief operating officer Michael Houston to CEO, North America, we’ve received confirmation that the Grey camp has welcomed Zachary Treuhaft as its new chief digital officer. Treuhaft joins Grey from Kansas City-based WPP sibling VML, where he spent the last two-and-a-half years as managing director. We’ve been told that the CDO position is a new one at Grey (Doug Livingston, who left the agency a few months ago if you recall, actually served as EVP/director of digital integration. As seems to be the norm with Grey items, we’ve received a memo regarding Treuhaft’s arrival from the agency’s new CEO. Read on below and after the jump.

“I’m pleased to announce the appointment of Zak Treuhaft as Chief Digital Officer for Grey New York.  Zak joins us from WPP’s global digital agency, VML, where he served as Co-Managing Director of their New York operation responsible for revenue growth, performance, staffing and cultural development of the agency.

Prior to running VML, Zak served as a WPP Fellow in its selective, high-caliber management training program, where he worked as the Director of Product Strategy and Business Development at 24/7 Real Media and led a unique technology partnership between Omniture, Google and 24/7 Real Media. He has also held various other integrated positions such as Group Account Director and Senior Strategist within other digital shops.

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Michael Houston continues moving up the charts at Grey New York. Houston, who’s been with the agency for nearly six years and most recently served as chief operating officer, has now assumed the position of CEO at the agency. We’ve obtained the memo to staff from Grey Group CEO/chairman Jim Heekin regarding the promotion of Houston, who spent five years at KBS+ prior to joining Grey and also played host on one of our episodes of Cubes. Read on:

“I wanted to share some great news with you.  I am delighted to announce that Michael Houston has been promoted to CEO of Grey North America, a new position, reporting to me.  Michael and Tor Myhren, President and Chief Creative Officer, will continue to share leadership duties in New York.  Please see the New York Times article:http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/business/media/grey-new-york-executive-takes-on-a-larger-role.html

This well-deserved promotion is a logical next step for Michael who with Tor has been such a vital factor in our New York success: building a first-class management team, transforming our creative performance and digital prowess, forging a culture of innovation and compiling a new business track record second to none.

In his expanded new leadership role, Michael will oversee Grey North American offices comprised of New York, San Francisco, Canada, including Toronto and Vancouver as well as Grey Activation and PR and Wing, working with their respective presidents.

Grey has tremendous potential in North America as we approach our 100th anniversary.  Michael is a natural to capitalize on our momentum, extend our “Famously Effective” culture and best practices and expand our integrated offering to fuel our growth with great clients across the region.

Please give Michael your congratulations on this milestone and your full support as he hits the ground running.

Regards,

GREYgroup | Famously effective since 1917
Jim Heekin, Chairman & CEO”

Well, this certainly comes as a surprise this morning. We’ve received what appears to be a legit memo sent from Grey New York president/CCO Tor Myhren and COO Michael Houston to staff regarding one of the agency’s most well-regarded accounts. Read on:

“After a spectacularly successful six-year run, we are resigning the E*TRADE Financial account.
We think it’s in both Grey’s and E*TRADE’s best interests. Think of the history we’ve made. It’s worth celebrating.
Across six Super Bowls, the street-wise baby became synonymous with the E*TRADE brand’s maverick, consumer-championing DNA, proving online investing is so easy a baby can do it.

The E*TRADE baby set new records for popularity and effectiveness in the Super Bowl, delivering sales success and unprecedented media buzz in broadcast, print and social media.  The commercials were ranked among the “most popular” on the game by CBS, USA TODAY, ADWEEK, ADVERTISING AGE, TIME, TIVO and NIELSEN, generating over 60 million YouTube views.  In addition, creative recognition for the baby and his friends included Effies, One Show, London International, AICP and D&AD honors. And it was also voted the best campaign in America two straight years by the Wall Street Journal.

E*TRADE, and all the terrific people we’ve worked with, have our everlasting gratitude and best wishes for continued success. We will always look back on this relationship as one of the best and most famously effective in Grey’s history.

Of course, we will do everything in our power to ensure a smooth transition over the coming months.

Thanks to everyone for all you’ve done on this game-changing account for Grey. Let us never forget this was the brand and the work that began our turnaround.

Tor and Michael.”

Sources familiar with the matter tell us it’s legit, and  if you want to recall some of the good times between Grey and its financial client, see above and below. From what we hear from, Grey “just though it’s time” to part ways with E*Trade, which we’ve been told has gone through seven CEOs since the relationship began.

Sources familiar with the matter confirm that John Paul Thurlow, who’s spent just over two years at Grey New York serving as VP/sole global digital creative director across its beauty accounts including Pantene and Clairol, is no longer with the agency. From what we’ve been told, Thurlow was “let go.” Prior to his stint at Grey, the Brooklyn-based creative has also had fairly lengthy CD stints in London at the likes of LBi and Critical Mass.

Along with his 15-plus years of agency experience, Thurlow perhaps more interestingly moonlights as an illustrator whose Covers series has been featured in Juxtapoz among other trades. Regarding his exit from Grey, which we hear is currently ramping up staff on its recently won Gillette biz, one tipster laments that Thurlow “deserved a hell of a lot better.”

Channeling the spirits of Lonely Island and many an agency rapper before him, Grey New York producer/production coordinator Adam Defrin has taken it upon himself to write, director, perform in and edit this clip to promote the agency’s monthly open bar outing that it’s dubbed “Dog & Pony.” If you can sit through the clip, which features an apt theme and setting as the first Dog & Pony show is essentially a booze cruise, you’ll catch an odd likeness of Grey NY president/CCO, Toy Myhren, which we guess counts for a ringing endorsement of Defrin’s handiwork. Our only question is, why are the MC/creator and his sidekick wearing sunglasses under the darkest of skies?

Grey New York wants to tell you that “It’s Never Not a Good Time for a Refreshing Mike’s.” Excuse the double negative (what about “It’s Always a Good Time…?), but to draw your attention away from the grammatical errors, they included some very, very random celebrity cameos from actor Martin Landau and rapper Coolio. The 30-second spots include some random rhyming that leads to a series of non-sequitors, hence the random celebrities. Random is the only way to describe this campaign.

Before watching these spots, I hadn’t thought of Landau and Coolio in years. Both are stored away firmly in the Club for G-List Celebrities Who Will Never Be Famous Again. In Landau’s defense, he’s 84 and had a memorable run of “Entourage” a few years back (not to mention his Oscar-winning turn as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood). Coolio is Coolio. They both picked up paychecks in return for a loss of dignity. That’s advertising for you. Check out the Coolio spot and credits after the jump.

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