McCann

By now, you probably know that Thom Gruhler has moved up from the McCann NY ranks to a global managing partner role at McCann Worldgroup. Anyhow, here’s a memo regarding the promotion of the fine-dining aficionado, who succeeded Lori Senecal in 2009, from Worldgroup CEO/chairman Nick Brien:

“To all McCann Worldgroup Employees,

As we continue to embark on our transformation together, our global leadership must have a blend of product excellence and leadership vision, delivered with passion, commitment and consistency.

To this end, I am pleased to announce that Thom Gruhler will be elevated from a New York-centric role to a new global post of Global Managing Partner, Telecommunications & Technology, while continuing to partner with the McCann New York-based team on our important Verizon account. As a new and critical role within the organization we plan to expand to other categories in the coming months.

In his new post, Thom will help our agencies around the world further develop their telecommunications and technology expertise, which is an area of explosive global growth. We are delighted Thom has agreed to assume this significant new role, which reflects his deep experience in marketing and advertising, as well as a passion for the sector.

As many of you know, Thom joined McCann in 2004 as head of the Verizon Wireless business, an account he had helmed since 2002. Three years later, he added the post of Director of Account Management for the agency, and later was named Worldwide Account Director of McCann Erickson. In 2009 he was named President of the New York agency. Prior to focusing on telecommunications and technology, Thom’s experience included managing such accounts as Chevrolet, DaimlerChrysler, Hilton and Salomon Smith Barney.

Thom is a proven leader in the fiercely competitive and growing telecommunications and technology category, and he also understands how to leverage the capabilities and power of McCann Worldgroup.

Please join me in congratulating Thom on his new responsibilities.”

Will 2011 be remembered as the “Year of the Great Video Game Spot?” When it debuted last month, it really didn’t look like Deutsch LA’s “Michael” ad for PlayStation 3 would have any challengers for the most memorable spot of the year. That is, of course, until XBOX and agency twofifteenmccann released the above jaw-dropping commercial, “The Kinect Effect.”

As the VO says, XBOX thought turning voice and movement into “magic” via Kinect technology “would be fun. And it was.” Hey, if you’ve ever had the opportunity to play one of XBOX’s sports titles for Kinect, there’s little argument you can make against this statement. But, then we see the same technology used for spiking a virtual volleyball in your opponents’ face used for education, surgery, and disposing of hazardous waste. Add to that a great orchestral cover of the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind?” (probably best known to many as the song that plays during the end of Fight Club), and at the end of the spots’ 77-second run time, all a viewer can muster in response is an awestruck is, to quote lauded thespian Joey Lawrence, “Whoa.”

XBOX portrays Kinect as an idea that can affect a target demo who isn’t clamoring for the next Halo installment. It’s quite a bold statement, and one that we don’t see competitors Sony and Nintendo making with their own gaming platforms. Calling it “visionary” is an understatement, as in “The Kinect Effect,” we see video games change the world. Credits after the jump.

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The above web film from McCann NY (which is slightly different than the TV spot that’s been airing) is for Verizon’s FiOS network, advertised as “America’s fastest Internet” with “speeds higher than advertised,” which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but we’ll roll with it.

In “Vision,” McCann employs good comedic timing and simplicity, the latter of which being an element we don’t see much in marketing for the latest, fastest technology products. For comparison, look at it next to TV spots for Verizon competitor, AT&T. AT&T’s been pushing their 4G mobile broadband service in TV spots for about a year now, and each spot depicts someone’s lagging Internet speed preventing them from sharing in their peers’ revelry on a similar time frame. The slice-o-life spots portray scenarios that could potentially happen to someone, but only in an extreme circumstance.

With “Vision,” on the other hand, the viewer doesn’t realize it’s a slice-o-life ad until the punchline, which in this case depicts an event that is an actual regular occurrence for most Internet users. And, it’s here that Verizon’s insight bests AT&T. The most frustrating problem with slow Internet is not the “fear of missing out” due to a slight network delay, it’s being forced to play the waiting game. Credits after the jump.

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Digital marketing vet Hank Summy is taking over the reins at McCann Erickson North America as the SapientNitro alum will assume the role of NA president come November. Summy most recently served as managing director of Sapient’s NY-based Eastern region and was part of the agency’s overall leadership team. Now at McCann, he will work alongside CCO Linus Karlsson and be responsible for McCann agencies throughout the U.S. and Canada.

In addition, Pat Lafferty has been bumped up to COO of McCann Erickson North America just a year after joining the agency as MD of global brands. Summy and Lafferty’s boss, McCann Worldgroup CEO/chairman Nick Brien, says in a statement, “[Hank]has successfully built technology-marketing businesses that have all achieved double digital growth and deep levels of client satisfaction. Pat is the ideal partner for him, having proven himself to be a highly effective leader across many of our most complex global accounts.”

We’re not sure what McCann Worldgroup’s global creative production company is now called (the announce just says it’s “formerly known as EXP”), but what we can tell you is that Fred Schuster is now in charge of it. Schuster has joined the Worldgroup as chief exec after serving in a similar role as CEO of Ogilvy’s own global creative prodco, RedWorks. The exec originally joined Ogilvy in 1995 and was named CEO of RedWorks three years ago.

In a statement, Schuster says, “”We will seize the opportunity to create the world’s leading global creative production and delivery offering. I am joining the McCann Worldgroup because we share a common vision – to establish an integrated production sourcing solution which allows for a highly flexible, client-focused approach to creative development and production delivery.” Also, why don’t we get down to naming it first.

From McCann Worldgroup and prodco Caviar LA comes a new round of spots for Sony Ericsson’s Xperia PLAY gaming platform. In March, we saw comedian Kristen Schaal debut as Xperia PLAY’s new emotionally unstable spokesperson, and, as evidenced above, her gaming-obsessed character doesn’t seem to be toning the crazy down any time soon.

The latest campaign for Xperia PLAY focuses on Minecraft, a game that allows players to build pretty much anything using pixels as though they were digital LEGOs. In a contest running through November 7, players can enter on Sony Ericsson’s Facebook page to compete for the opportunity of meeting Schaal in person by constructing the most impressive Minecraft creation. For the nerd who considers crushing on Zooey Deschanel or Lizzy Caplan “too mainstream,” it’s an opportunity that might be too good to pass up.

The spot is a bit of a departure from the series that debuted in March, leaning more toward Schaal’s uncomfortably creepy Flight of the Conchords character and away from the over-the-top gun-loving Satanic spokesperson that we were introduced to seven months ago. But, for those jonesing for some profane bloodlust from Schaal, see another new spot below. Credits after the jump.

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Currently, up to one out of three American children is overweight or obese, and many are taking variety of approaches to combat the growing epidemic. The First Lady is fighting childhood obesity by working with local governments around the country to set realistic weight-loss goals for children. The NFL is using professional athletes to encourage children to take part in its Play 60 program. Now, McCann NY, the Ad Council and HUSH Studios are forcing children to run from giant CGI caterpillar monsters with car battery clamps for hands. Which one do you think will be the most effective?

As part of the Greatest Action Movie Ever (G.A.M.E.) campaign, McCann and HUSH have created a series of PSAs and the Action Hero Alliance website to encourage children to eat like action heroes. The above video serves as a “casting call” for children interested in a role in the G.A.M.E short movie (debuting spring 2012), reminding them to eat plenty of x-ray vision-giving carrots in order to be properly prepared for approaching caterpillar monsters. Children wanting an acting career akin to their favorite star from The Expendables can upload their own submission video to KIDZBOP.com, the “leading safe social network for kids and tweens.” Perhaps they can refine their own renditions of “Eye of the Tiger” at there as well.

Two weeks after we first reported that Brian DiLorenzo was leaving his EVP, director of integrated production post at BBDO and possibly heading to McCann, the latter agency has made it official that the exec is indeed joining its New York office as chief production officer. As a result, DiLorenzo, who will officially assume his post on October 17, is re-teaming with McCann New York/London chairman/CCO Linus Karlsson, who says in a statement, “On a personal note, this is a reunion for us and the result of a 10-year conversation and dream of working together again.”  The pair worked together at Fallon in the late ’90s on accounts including Lee Jeans and Brawny.

While at Fallon, in fact, DiLorenzo also served as EP on the Titanium-winning “The Hire” online film series for BMW. During his five years at BBDO, meanwhile, he helped develop the HBO “Voyeur” and “Imagine” campaigns and worked on other accounts including AT&T, FedEx and Starbucks.

If you don’t know Kandace Hudspeth by now, now you know as the EuroRSCG 4D alum has joined up with McCann New York as, yes, executive strategy partner-creative technology (we were just waiting to use ESP as an acronym). Hudspeth is no stranger to the McCann fold as she spent a few years as director of digital strategy and user experience planning at MRM before joining Euro in early 2010 to work as global strategy manager on IBM.

According to McCann New York/London creative boss Linus Karlsson, his agency is hellbent on making “digital at the core.” He adds, “The hiring of a strategic star like Kandace expands and gives depth to our team focused on creatively and strategically embedding digital and social media into the fabric of all our work for clients. Best in class digital and social capabilities are critical to our focus on redesigning the agency.”

During her MRM days, Hudspeth handled accounts including Diageo, MasterCard, Verizon, Unilever, General Mills and GM. Prior to that, she was a strategic planner at digital shop iCrossing.

One day you’re up, the next day you’re down, we suppose. After getting pounded with tips since 11am today, we’ve received confirmation that there were cuts made at McCann New York, which has resulted in a reduction of four percent of the workforce. We’ve been told by sources familiar with the matter that the creative department was hit hardest by the layoffs, so perhaps our tipsters’ comments about CCO Linus Karlsson “cleaning house” might be validated. Here’s an official statement from the agency:

“As part of McCann’s reinvention, the agency has had to make some very difficult decisions.  One result is that some employees will not make the transition with us.  Protecting both individuals and the health of the company is a difficult balance.  The decisions made were hard.  But they were based on a clear strategy for the agency.”