Archives: June 2010

Just over a year after Colin Mitchell and John Shaw were appointed to joint worldwide planning directors at O&M, the latter will soon be leaving the former hanging as Shaw is moving on to U.K.-based independent consultancy Rapier this fall.

As a result, New York-based Mitchell will fly solo as worldwide planning director at Ogilvy. Not a difficult transition it seems since he has been with the agency since 1999, starting as a lead planner on IBM then moving up to CSO for North America in 2004. In a statement regarding his former partner, Mitchell says, “John Shaw made a lasting contribution to Ogilvy. He built our Planning department in Asia, has strengthened our community worldwide and has been a true partner and friend. I shall miss him and know that he will be successful in whatever he does.”

It won’t be such a culture shock for Shaw as he studied in the U.K. and began his planner career there at JWT London. The departure is said to be amicable and that he wanted to work with a smaller organization. We’ve obtained an internal memo from Ogilvy’s global CEO Miles Young regarding Shaw’s split, which you can read after the jump.

More: “Steve Simpson Splits for North American CCO Post at Ogilvy”

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Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.

We’re pretty sure that this wouldn’t fly here in New York, especially in the post-failed Times Square bombing era, but the West Coast is another story we guess. Coming off a rather vague and/or generic redesign for Starbucks-owned Seattle’s Best coffee, Seattle-based agency Creature at least steps things up slightly for the brand with this installation that’s essentially a giant red fridge which randomly confronted commuters at the top of the morning recently.

Watch as bemused passersby stare and wander around this thing as if it were the obelisk in 2001: A Space Odyssey in this 3-minute clip directed by Aza Jacobs at Epoch Films. We still can’t tell if they’re relieved or disappointed to find it’s only a fridge filled with Seattle’s Best iced lattes.

More: “Starbucks CEO Attributes Recent Success to Mickey D’s”

-AKQA Amsterdam added Jasper Mittelmeijer and Joris Hofstede to its creative team and promoted Nick Bailey from CD to ECD.

-Now that they’ve found their holdouts, Domino’s is serving up $500 for the best-looking homemade pizza that could be used in an ad for the brand as part of CP+B’s ongoing campaign. link

-YouTube will introduce “skippable” ads later this year. link

-O&M Sydney signed former Goodby creative director Chris Ford as ECD. link

-Bi-coastal prodco Rabbit signed director/U2 collaborator Catherine Owens to its roster for commercial representation. link

-Draftfcb launched something called the Institute of Decision Making. link

-NYC’s graphic anti-smoking ad push has been suspended. Point, Big Tobacco. link

-Google’s problems in China continue. link

-Kit Kat capitalizes on John Isner’s grueling, three-day Wimbledon match. link

More: “Tuesday Odds and Ends”

Much-loved crowdshop Victors & Spoils has unveiled its second–yes, second–project in less than a month, this time called “Virgin America Toronto Provocateur” to plug the airline’s first international destination, Toronto.

The action takes place on the campaign website where Sir Richard Branson and company are looking for video submissions from folks who believe they’re the ultimate Toronto insider, or “Provocateur” as it were. Soliciting submissions? Sounds like familiar territory for V&S–though surprisingly this time, agency flack is telling us that the concept was developed entirely in-house with agency CCO Evan Fry at the helm. What, are they giving up on crowdsourcing already?

Anyhow, the award for the winner, who will be determined with the help of public voting on the site itself, is a year-long stint as Virgin America brand ambassador in Toronto. We were hoping for a stay on one of Branson’s islands as well. Credits after the jump.

More: “Victors & Spoils Work for Dish Network and a Very Short Story”

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In only a few hours, LeBron James will officially become the most sought-after free agent in the NBA. Along with the New York Knicks, the New Jersey Nets, the Dallas Mavericks, the Chicago Bulls and the Miami Heat, South Florida/Chicago-based agency the Creative Underground is making its own move to get King James to join their roster.

CD’s Dan Gershenson feels the former NBA MVP would be a perfect addition to their team with James’ knowledge of international marketing and the weight his own personal brand carries. “LeBron James has long seen himself as a worldwide brand and it’s always important people have solid understanding of brand strategy prior to entering a new market, as we expect him to do,” Gerhenson says.

No official word on whether or not the internship is paid, which is a critical matter considering NBA salary cap rules allow James’ current team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, are about to offer James a $124 million contract for the next four years should the superstar choose to stay. Other teams would only be able to offer James a $95.5 million deal if he leaves.

However, salary cap rules don’t seem to apply to the Creative Underground, though the agency currently is not in the position to win a coveted NBA Championship ring any time in the foreseeable future. But, the CD is not allowing this to deter them, and says they are willing to bring other free agents on board to coax James to sign with them.

Creative director Tom Olivieri says, “We have a long history of winning, a stable organization and if LeBron would like to add someone like Chris Bosh, we’ve positioned ourselves well to have room in our company for him as an intern too.”

Though the Creative Underground has a new facility in Chicago, at press time most Chicagoans agree they would rather see LeBron join the Bulls for next season, although James would have to give up his #23 jersey for another number. 45 is still open.

More: “Pro-Lebron Flash Mobs Should Kill Flash Mobs Dead”

It looks like the folks at Crispin are backing up their argument from earlier this year that the Miami office is not going kaput as they’re now offering some creative support for recently rehired ECD Ari Merkin in South Florida.

CP+B has announced that it’s brought on Liem Nyguen as senior art director and Robert Kleman as creative director. Nguyen’s crisscrossed the globe in his career as he arrives from Lowe Bangkok where was an ACD. Prior to that, he worked as an AD at Publicis on BMW, Coca Cola and Jamba Juice accounts and DDB New York on the NY Lottery account.

Kleman’s no different in terms of his agency travels it seems as he spent six years at TBWA\Singapore and worked his way up to creative partner, was an ECD at Euro RSCG, NY after that and also spent time as an ACD at the Big Apple offices of both Chiat and BBH.

More: “180 Alum Adam Chasnow Joins CP+B”

The hunk replaces the hulk so to speak as Isaiah Mustafa, “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”, has returned as Old Spice body wash pitchman and suave counterpart to Terry Crews and his apparent roid rage in those loud Odor Blocker ads.

Here, Mustafa goes from imperative to interrogative in this new spot called “Questions,” another W+K Portland joint that has the actor glide again through various locales in a fast-paced, fairly seamless sequence. Though the novelty is somewhat lost at this point, we’re still entertained…or it could just be the ADD talking again. Tom Kuntz @ MJZ directed and The Mill handled VFX once again.

More: “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like: Behind Wieden’s Old Spice Spot

It seems like only yesterday that we reported on the departure of Chiat NY creative director Rob Baird (last December actually, sheesh, time flies), but now we’ve learned that the one-time “top ad bachelor” has rejoined Mother after two years, this time as a global creative.

Guess absence does make the heart grow fonder judging by a statement from Mother’s partners, which reads, “It’s about time he’s back. There are just certain people who belong here and he is one of those extraordinary people.” It looks like Baird’s found his way considering that he didn’t know what his next career move would be seven months ago. In his new post, Baird, who was one of the first employees at Mother New York, will lead creative work on Stella Artois, Dell and Coca-Cola and split time between the agency’s NY and London offices.

Along with Chiat, where he was CD on Absolut and Skittles work, Baird’s resume includes stints at Fallon and Arnold.

More: “Mother New York Welcomes Eugene Fuller to the Fold”

It’s definitely not on the level of February’s Chrysler win, but SapientNitro has announced that it’s picked up interactive design and marketing duties for Sunglass Hut, the mall staple that’s part of Italy-based Luxottica Group.

We’ve been told that approximately 10 agencies were involved in the review. Three years ago, it was R/GA that signed on to expand the brand’s online presence via a site redesign. But now it’s in SapientNitro’s hands as the latter agency will handle the whole spectrum of SH’s digital efforts, from Flash design on the Sunglass Hut e-commerce site to digital promotions for brands like Oakley which are sold at the store.

More: “SapientNitro Offers Smile-Activated Treats at Cannes”

-Shilo, director Evan Dennis and skater/actor Paul Rodriguez team up in a new ad for Mountain Dew’s signature product design. link

-Is this the worst print ad ever? link

-Former Razorfish CD program manager Holly Brousseau joined mobile entertainment firm skyrockit as SVP of production and client services.

-Banner ads continue to haunt MSNBC.com. link

-Skullcandy selected selected interactive agency TrueAction for its paid search, comparison shopping engines, affiliate, online advertising, UI design and international expansion.

More: “Tuesday Morning Stir”