Leo Burnett

Well, this is news to us, but we’ve received confirmation that Leo Burnett is no longer working with bedding brand Sealy, thus ending a relationship that began in October 2010. We’re trying to get some official word from Sealy Corp. if it’s launching a review any time soon, but perhaps Leo Burnett’s most notable work from the brand was unveiled over a year ago (see above). Prior to Leo Burnett, Sealy was working with Cramer-Krasselt.

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This somewhat incoherent diatribe found its way into our Anonymous Tips queue on Thursday. Without commentary, we present our sequel to the epic Team Sprint rant we posted last month. Read on, and feel free to offer your interpretation in the comments section:

I may put down the gloves for a minute…we haven’t done shit to Leo besides stating truth and this is horrible for not all parties- I enjoyed the comments the most. A full re-organization of the Team Sprint team. Unfortunately, I can’t upload the org chart anonymously. But, what it has is a “team” broken out by focus: integrated programs, acquisition, strategy and analytics. Then sub groups like Product, Brand, Sports, B2B, etc. Still lots of holes to fill. There’s supposed to be 300 people on the business and we’re just shy of 100.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that the org chart isn’t exactly the Team Sprint model that was promised. Division of work by company, with Leo leading all branding. Seems a lot like the old model, not a paradigm shift, as was promised in the press releases.

It also doesn’t take a genius to see which boss the Leo account director, that was referenced in your previous post, is sleeping with and why it’s such a problem for the team model. When the person your sleeping with is the boss of the Digitas account lead, it’s no wonder she can do whatever she wants without reproach. Add in the internal memo, off the record of course, where we’re supposed to make sure we redirect as much revenue as possible back to us to cover the Samsung and Allstate losses.

Yes, we are a team! What you have here is a picture of dysfunction. It looks even worse on the creative org chart. Anyone want to place bets on how long this re-org sticks?

 

We’ve been hearing about it for a week now, and finally, Leo Burnett has confirmed that it’s won the Firestone account. From what we’ve heard, the agency beat out Cramer-Krasselt and Publicis Dallas for the business. Here’s a statement:

“Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC (BATO) has named Leo Burnett Worldwide its advertising agency of record for the company’s iconic Firestone brand. Led from the agency’s Chicago headquarters, Leo Burnett will provide strategic and creative solutions for both Firestone brand tires and the company’s Firestone retail brand, Firestone Complete Auto Care.

‘This is an exciting time for our company as we look to invest more in our Firestone tire brand,” said Philip Dobbs, chief marketing officer for BATO. “We’re also excited to have an agency focused on our retail brand – 2,200 stores strong – and bringing fresh thinking to our business and ultimately even deeper meaning to our brand.’

Leo Burnett will begin work on the brand’s business immediately.”

 

So, over the last 24/7, we’ve heard word from a few sources that Leo Burnett has won out in a pitch for Nintendo’s Wii U console, which according to site, is dubbed as a “next home console.” We’re checking in, but right now, we’ve been deferred to the client. LB is deferring to the client, which has yet to respond. We’ll keep you posted.

Much like Kid Rock and most other things, Leo Burnett’s Detroit office isn’t actually from Detroit despite its title. Surprise, Leo’s Motor City location is actually a northern Detroit suburb named Troy. Sorry to call you out, fellas, but it helps this case study make a little more sense.

When Troy Library was at the brink of being forced to shut its doors, Leo Burnett decided to “take back” the podium from the Tea Party, changing the conversation from an issue of taxes to an issue of book burning. Hey, if you’ve ever seen Field of Dreams, you know that nothing riles up Midwesterners like the threat/promise of a book burning/ban. It turns out Leo’s reverse psychology with the “Book Burning Party,” was quite effective, causing local press to believe that the planned fire-y celebration was actually a real event. To quote one employee of the library, “(When I first learned of the movement), I thought ‘This is some bad attempted satire,’ but to spend money on signs for a committee, that’s not somebody forming it as a joke.” Yes, Leo even had the library convinced, but the employee quoted in that article, Phillip Kwik, didn’t find this bit of “satire” very funny once that hoax was revealed.

Regardless, the bizarre campaign took off on social media, finding press from the Library Journal and the Detroit Free Press. After the dust settled, 342 percent of predicted voters showed up at the polls, and Troy Library remains open. Whether you credit Leo Burnett’s campaign for the victory, or you find their actions misguided and “appalling” as Kwik argues, those are the results. Credits after the jump.
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On December 1, 1967, Leo Burnett made the above speech to his entire Chicago office. Less than four years later, a heart attack took Burnett’s life. He was 79 years old.

But, should you stroll by 35 W. Wacker Drive, a tall skyscraper bordering the Chicago River to the south, you will still see Leo Burnett’s iconic signature near the building’s main entrance. In 2010, Leo Burnett (the agency) celebrated its 75th anniversary, and not long after, Sao Paulo-based animation and design studio Lobo marked the occasion with the above video in tribute to Burnett’s legacy and his iconic speech. Hey, it even includes those giant black pencils, a reference to the “reaching for the stars” logo, and those “goddamn” apples, three symbols still very much present in Burnett’s agency marketing tactics.

Now, before you commenters get all up in arms about whether or not the agency is, in fact, honoring its namesake with the latest work for Allstate or (insert client here), turn your focus toward critiquing the video first. Nice job, Lobo, and who knows, maybe Leo CCO Susan Credle will soon start demanding that the above clip be played on an hourly loop on all of 35 W. Wacker’s TVs.

From Leo Burnett Chicago, prodco O Positive, and a director known only as “Kenny” comes the above TV spot for McDonald’s very addictive french fries.

The spot opens on a familiar scene–one we’ve seen on countless greeting cards, stamps and Bic lighters–a boy and his older male friend fishing at the ol’ pond created by hazardous waste runoff from the power plant half-a-mile upstream. Realize, of course, that the duo is not going to eat its catch, as the two picked up some Filet-O-Fish sandwiches before the trip to ensure each has his recommended daily intake of Omega 3 fatty acids. I mean, you don’t actually expect them to eat dirty ol’ fish from the dirty ol’ pond, do you?

Much to his companion’s disdain, the boy opts to use a McDonald’s french fry over watching another worm writhe to death at the end of his hook. This inevitably attracts some employees from the power plant upstream (and one guy who takes cycling too seriously) to the addictive fries, their deaths weighing heavy on the boy’s conscience and causing him to develop an irrational, debilitating fear of ponds and small lakes. The boy learns a lesson that most of us have also learned the hard way: The “Best Fries on the Planet” are not toys.

Credits after the jump.
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And so, the Mark Moll agency tour continues. After spending the last several weeks in freelance mode following his quick, three-and-a-half month stint as an ECD at R/GA, the “OK to Be a Cat Guy” guy is moving from New York to Chicago to assume the title of SVP/creative director at Leo Burnett. Moll’s official start date has yet to be determined, but we’ve been told that he will be working across Leo Chicago’s portfolio of accounts.

As we mentioned before, Moll’s agency career, which spans over 15 years, includes a copywriting gig at Arnold as well as ACD stints at both CP+B and Deutsch LA.

Sources familiar with the matter confirm that Leo Burnett has let go of some staff in Detroit, which handles accounts including GMC and Buick. While no numbers were specified, we’ve been told that the cuts affected a few departments and had to do with, you guessed it, realignment of staff to better serve client needs.

Jeez, it took long enough. Nearly three weeks after tipsters first told us that Leo Burnett’s New York office picked up the Chobani account, it’s finally been made official. The recently opened NY office, which is led by CCO Jay Benjamin, MD Tom Flanagan and director of strategy Jumana Abu-Ghazaleh, beat out the likes of Arnold and Grey and picks up the top-selling yogurt brand’s biz from Gotham (example of the NY shop’s work here). Chobani founder/CEO Hamdi Ulukaya says in a statment, “”We chose Leo Burnett New York because they understand the importance of authentic engagement and the necessity to constantly evolve a brand while keeping it true to its roots.”