Mullen

Rarely if ever does news from the ad industry melt our frosty hearts, but that was before we knew about the creative directing married couple, Wendy and Cliff Leicht. The couple, whose work can be seen here, is heading from the Boulder offices of CP+B to Boston-based Mullen, where they will both take on the role of VP, creative director. This is just too adorable.

During their three years as ACDs at CP+B, the couple most famously worked on the Gap’s holiday campaigns for the last two years as well as Kraft Mac and Cheese’s “You Know You Love It” campaign, which included a giant noodle outside of Wrigley Field. Recently, the Leichts collaborated of the Kraft’s “Mac and Jinx” Twitter campaign.

In a statement, husband Cliff spoke of the move eastward, saying, “We’re very excited to be at Mullen. The agency is on quite a run, picking up clients hungry for innovative work. And Wendy and I are eager to jump in and help keep things going.” Prior to working at Crispin, the couple worked at BBDO, McKinney and recently closed Beantown digital shop, Modernista!

Well, it didn’t take long to find out where Perry Fair headed to. The now ex-Grey ECD is taking on the co-chief digital officer post at Mullen. Fair’s partner-in-crime will be none other than Mauro Cavalletti, former ECD at R/GA San Francisco who we were told would still be “supporting global initiatives” at the agency earlier this month. Guess the joke was on us.

Anyhow, Fair as mentioned did work on DirecTV while at Grey and apparently authored the tagline, “Don’t just watch TV, DirecTV.” In addition, the creative worked on accounts including E*Trade and the NFL and was responsible for helping Grey win digital AOR assignments for Ketel One and Hess. Cavalletti, who joined R/GA in 2008 after stints at agencies including AKQA and Organic, seems up for his new job, saying in a statement, “It’s a great time at Mullen: exciting clients hungry for inventive ideas, a talented team growing at a very fast pace, and a strong drive to innovation. There is momentum, and I am glad to be part of it. Perry and I have a desirable mission for any creative – take a team that is doing great work and help in moving it further. This will be a lot fun.” Judging by the pic above, it looks like the pair is having fun already.

Kristen Cavallo is headed from Martin to Mullen as she’s joined the latter’s Boston office as chief strategy officer. Cavallo has spent the past six years at the Martin Agency serving as SVP, planning and development but her tenure in Richmond, VA dates back to 1998 when she joined Martin as SVP, group planning director from Arnold Worldwide. During her 13 years there, she worked with clients including Coca-Cola and Miller Brewing while also helping win new business such as Walmart, Pizza Hut and Expedia. This latest move actually marks Cavallo’s second tour at duty at Mullen as she spent ’94-95 handling clients including Timberland and BMW.

In a statement, Mullen president/CEO Joe Grimaldi says, “We were looking for a catalyst who, through a special blend of skill and personal qualities, would elevate the performance of our increasingly successful Boston leadership team. There’s no question we will be more successful with her.”

Cavallo replaces Stephen Hahn-Griffiths, who left Mullen recently to join Leo Burnett Chicago in a senior strategy role.

After monitoring over 250,000 tweets during last night’s big game, Mullen, Radian6 and Boston.com have picked Chrysler as this year’s BrandBowl champ, an honor that goes to the “most effective brand” to advertise during Fox’s Super Bowl telecast. The automaker’s win is due in large part to the two-minute love letter to Detroit above starring Eminem (who pulled double-duty last night as pitchman for Lipton Brisk).

How was this all broken down? Well, the parties involved used tweets about the ads to inform real-time metrics which allowed the public to view rankings of the most and least effective brands on the Super Bowl.

So now that you know who the best was, we might as well let you in on the worst. Cars.com was voted the least effective Super Bowl XLV advertiser, and with spots like this, who are we to argue? See top 10 BrandBowl scorers below:

1.       Chrysler

2.       Doritos

3.       Volkswagen

4.       Pepsi Max

5.       Best Buy

6.       Lipton Brisk

7.       Coca-Cola

8.       Go Daddy

9.       Motorola

10.   Chevrolet

Sure, it’s not as high-profile as, say, a JetBlue or Zappos win, but Mullen continues to add to its client roster as health care coverage/services company EmblemHealth has tapped the agency as its AOR. HHCC NY previously handled the account for the New York-based company, which has also retained fellow IPG shop Hacker Group as its direct marketing AOR. EmblemHealth is on a mission it seems to build beyond its three-million-plus customer base and thinks it found the right ally in Mullen to do so.

In a statement, Charlene A. Maher, SVP, marketing and sales for EH, says, “We believe we have engaged the best possible agency partner to define and distinguish our company in this transformative market. Mullen has the strategic vision and expertise to communicate EmblemHealth’s commitment to offering quality products and services to our customers.” We’re just assuming, though, that Mullen’s “communication” efforts for this client will do without hidden camera stunts, engaging puppets and the like.

Here’s a spot from Mullen’s JetBlue “Ground Rules” campaign. The spot takes place inside of a bar jam packed with die-hard Jet fans watching the football game when the bartender suddenly changes the channel to Steel Magnolias.

It’s all shot “hidden camera” style to portray the illusion of realism, though, the bartender still being alive is a dead giveaway that it’s all false. With all that being said, it’s a good strategy which could very well relate to football fans while also incorporating people who just like to watch what they want while flying. Of course, there’s a Youtube page for your viewing pleasure.

Mullen’s Boston office announced a major leadership change as Mark Wenneker, who originally joined the agency in early 2008 as ECD, has been promoted to chief creative officer. Wenneker takes over for Edward Boches, who held the post and was one of the agency’s partners for 11 years. Boches isn’t leaving the agency, though, as he’s taking on the new post of chief innovation officer.

Wenneker originally joined Mullen from Goodby, where he was a group creative director. Since his arrival in Wenham, MA, the creative has played a pivotal role in helping the agency win Zappos and JetBlue reviews and most recently, FAGE Yogurt. Boches meanwhile will work on emerging technologies, social platforms and changing consumer media habits to “develop innovative ideas for clients and to influence agency transformation.”

Mullen takes the hidden camera approach in its latest campaign for JetBlue dubbed “You Above All,” which effectively replaces the “Happy Jetting” slogan. Random passengers step inside a taxi and the driver puts his seat back all the way to cramp them, in turn providing an amusing analogy for how  little leg room you get on most flights. Long story short, it’s a good strategy, a nice execution and the YouTube takeover page is a nice touch. Check out another spot from the campaign and credits after the jump.

More: Mullen Debuts First Work for Planet Fitness

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Allegedly, Planet Fitness stands by the whole premise that they are a fitness club for everyone, famous for their “no judgment” environment which was the inspiration for this initial spot called “Application” for the brand from Mullen. This effort also marks the arrival of new CD Brian Tierney and was directed by Dave Laden at Hungry Man.

But we have to ask, why would the guy in the spot just be signing up for a gym? Did you see the size of that guy? Huge! Yes, you’re selling a fitness center and there has to be some muscles involved but..i don’t know. It reminds you of the Old Spice campaign when in transition from the Isiah Mustafa-to-Terry Crews era.

More: The Old Spice Campaign, By the Numbers

Mullen’s ECD Mark Wenneker continues his hiring spree as the agency has now brought on Kevin Grady, the former director of design at Crispin, to lead Superfine, Mullen’s newly-branded design group.

At CP+B, Grady served as head of design and was a key creative on Gap and the Truth’s “Singing Cowboy” campaign. At Superfine, which tips hat to Mullen’s original name–Superfine Productions–Grady will take on the role of SVP, director of design.

More: “Brian Tierney to CD Post at Mullen”