Browse AgencySpy April 2011 archives - AgencySpy

Friday Odds and Ends

Kiran Aditham — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:20:04 +0000

-TM Advertising launched its new website. link

-Edelman beat out other digital shops to become VW’s social media AOR. link

-What’s the cast of Mad Men up to during the show’s hiatus? link

-Ogilvy NY gets into the royal wedding spirit. link

-Gotham welcomed BBH alum Tenny Pearson as managing partner/group account director, Tyler Fonda as strategy director and Heather Baharestani as integrated producer.

-Lean Mean Fighting Machine creatives send a message to cocoa traders. link

-Someone really hates United Airlines. link

-Johannes Leonardo copywriters and apparent freedom lovers Ben Clare and Alex Romans (above) have been named winners of this year¹s U.S. Young Lions Competition.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Vail Takes Planning Director Post at 180 Amsterdam

Kiran Aditham — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:41:31 +0000

After spending close to four years at W+K Amsterdam, Jonas Vail is heading over to 180′s Dutch digs to serve as planning director. While at W+K, Vail led planning efforts for EA Sports including its FIFA franchise and developed BASF’s global rebranding campaign (he says BASF “Good Chemistry” and FIFA 10 “How Big Can a Football Get” efforts are among his proudest work).

Though he’s been nestled in Amsterdam for the past several years, Vail has plenty of stateside experience, having served as an account planner at FCB then spending the next five-and-half years as a senior account planner at Goodby before heading to Europe to work at Saatchi & Saatchi London. So why the move now to 180? One of the reasons, Vail says, is the chance to work again with the agency’s CEO Kevin Dundas, who he was colleagues with at two other agencies and whose leadership he has “always admired and respected.” Vail adds, “We work too many ridiculous hours in this industry, so why not be surrounded by people you genuinely like, are inspired by, and respect? I hope to be that for people here as well.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Most Popular Stories on AgencySpy from the Last 7 Days

Kiran Aditham — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:49:16 +0000

-It’s Over, Johnny: Modernista Closing this Friday

-‘Little Darth’ Copywriter Headed to W+K

-BBH Cuts 13

-There’s a New Aflac Duck in Town

-Jack Daniel’s ‘King Bee’ Destroys the Forest

-Olivia Munn, Kareem Ride Jet Skis, Devour Burgers for Carl’s Jr.

-Is This the Best Advertising of 2011?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Sprint Network Wants to Rename a Band

Bob Marshall — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:05:44 +0000

Meet Yerkish, a band with a name that “sounds like a Turkish yam.” No, you don’t need a “good” band name to make it big (see Green Day or Blink 182 for reference), but having a musical identity that rolls off the tongue goes a long way in marketing yourself. You also have to make good music, but that’s another story.

So, Sprint decided to help out our poor Denver-based foursome with a YouTube homepage takeover today courtesy of Goodby. Bringing to life Sprint’s “All.Together.Now” network idea (which gave us seizures in the past), the world now has an opportunity to rename Yerkish via crowdsourcing and hopefully send them on a trajectory toward fame and fortune. Hey, you’ve probably given up on touring the country in your sweet hair metal band by now. Might as well use that awesome band name you were saving for a rainy day and give it to a good cause. Credits (with a whole lotta creative directin’) after the jump.

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R/GA Tries to Appeal to Foodies

Kiran Aditham — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 13:31:57 +0000

Now that we’ve gotten a good look at its tattooed staffers, R/GA is introducing us to its foodies, namely those possessing some sort of unique interest in cooking. It’s part of a new series the “agency for the digital age” has unveiled on its Facebook page called Gusto and here, we’re introduced to characters/employees with Guy Ritchie-approved names like David “The Candyman,” Thiago “The Historian” and Will “The Butcher.” We personally like Thiago’s clip above, which features spliced footage and animation to explain his passion for “slow cooking.” Sure, it doesn’t rouse us like a quickfire challenge or Gordon Ramsay berating staff, but it’s a decent, quick diversion during the waning hours of the afternoon. Anyhow, check out Will slice up a pig’s head and David indulge his sweet tooth after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Grey NY Updates Digital Group, Golden Out

Kiran Aditham — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 11:27:51 +0000

Well, it looks like the chief digital officer experiment didn’t quite work out as planned at Grey New York, as the agency has confirmed that it has parted ways with Josh Golden after just six months. We’ve been told by sources familiar with the matter that “it didn’t work out.” Golden joined Grey last September from Euro RSCG, where he was managing director, digital for three years.

Anyhow, Grey is moving on and bolstering its digital division with the hires of Marci Ikeler as director of digital strategy, Andy Bhatt as director of digital production operations and Ina Watkins as director of communications planning. Ikeler will join in May and most recently served as director of digital strategy at Publicis, where she worked on accounts including Citibank, Becks and Maytag. Bhatt, who will also join up with Grey next month, most recently served as MD of Domani Studios but also spent time as head of interactive production at both BBDO and W+K New York. Watkins is yet another BBDO alum who served as VP, engagement director on Bank of America at said agency.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Chiat\Day LA Gets to the Heart of ‘G’…We Think

Kiran Aditham — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:33:55 +0000

With a little help from the Godfather of Soul James Brown and a handful of athletes including Kevin Durant and Serena Williams, TBWA\Chiat\Day LA continues to push the philosophy and product line of Gatorade’s “G.” The agency once again resorts to the three-phase motif of “The Before, The During, The After” and shows that within the sugary energy drink spokesperson lies the heart of a badass. Camp G tells us that this latest campaign “metaphorically examines the story inside the athletes.” Whatever the case, at least they’ve made some strides since 2009. Credits after the jump…

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Friday Morning Stir

Kiran Aditham — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:44:18 +0000

-Hearst startup unit Manilla tapped NYC-based Darling as its first ever ad agency.

-Leo Burnett Chicago gets in on Japanese relief support. link

-MDC Partners reported that its net loss narrowed in Q1. link

-Ogilvy launched another Tribeca Film Festival promo, this time installing an MTA subway replica in the heart of Charlotte (above).

-Hollywood-based shop Bird launched a full-service motion graphics department.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

OMD Welcomes New CDO, Social Lead

Kiran Aditham — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:18:00 +0000

Omnicom media unit OMD has appointed Rivers Cuomo doppelganger Ben Winkler as its new U.S. chief digital officer. Winkler, who assumes his new title on May 9, arrives from IPG’s Initiative, where he spent the last two years as SVP, director of digital and oversaw interactive marketing efforts and digital programs for clients including Bayer, USAA and Hitachi. Prior to Initiative, Winkler spent well over four years at the Martin Agency, where he served as VP/director, interactive media.

On the social media front, OMD has tapped Colin Sutton to serve as U.S. director of its WOM practice, Word. Sutton joins from Group M unit M80 and most recently was part of the team involved with the decision to release VW’s ever-so-popular “Force” Super Bowl ad days before the big game. The end result of “the decision?” The ad accumulated 12.5 million views, 10,000 comments and 62,000 Facebook likes fours hours before the Super Bowl started. So, guess he some reason to boast? Anyhow, Sutton’s other clients during his time at M80 included Audi and Microsoft.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Thursday Odds and Ends

Kiran Aditham — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:18:59 +0000

-Here’s a compilation of Stephen Colbert’s classic product placements. link

-Y&R Chicago addresses house fires in a web campaign for the Red Cross. link

-A Lean Pockets spot from Publicis New York introduces us to milk pong (above).

-Sir Martin Sorrell‘s pay package skyrocketed more than 70 percent last year. link

-Barry Stilwell will be inducted into the AICE Hall of Fame on May 17. link

-Andrew Bell, MPC LA head of production (advertising), is stepping into the role of MD at the VFX/post house.

-Digital media agency Mediasmith promoted John Cate to EVP/COO.

-Ron Jeremy now has his own brand of rum. Your move, Jenna. link

-Bi-coastal prodco Washington Square Films signed commercial director/photographer Christian Witkin to its roster.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Did You Know Digital Kitchen NY Closed?

Kiran Aditham — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 15:47:29 +0000

This was news to us, but thanks to our diligent tipsters, we were made aware that Digital Kitchen shuttered its NY operation recently. A check of the website, which only lists Seattle, LA and Chicago locations, was the first tip-off, and after our phone call to the NYC number was rerouted to the Windy City office, we did indeed receive confirmation that D-K NY shut down on April 1 (of all days).

We’ve been told by sources familiar with the matter that the closing was due to “operational consideration” as the four office structure no longer made sense under Digital Kitchen’s new digital creative agency model. Our source adds that every employee (under 10 total) was offered a new position in one of the other DK locations and some bit, some didn’t. As of beginning of March, D-K’s headcount was at 103 and the shop plans to grow staff by 20 percent by end of 2011.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

180LA, Sony Head from Space to Sea with New Vaio Project

Kiran Aditham — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:00:24 +0000

Now that the “Rocket Project” is in the books ,180 LA and Sony are coming down from the heavens and heading underwater in a new effort called “Project Shiphunt.” The venue now shifts from the Nevada desert to Michigan, where a group of students will once again use Vaio laptops (with Intel tech included) in the hopes of finding, yes, a sunken ship. After starting their deep-sea exploration schooling at the NOAA’s Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, MI, the kids along with expedition lead Dr. James P. Delgado will eventually get down to work.

To coincide with the actual ship hunt, which will run from late spring through the summer, 180LA with the help of digital production shop Unit9 have launched a game (which they claim is one of the first ever created in Google Earth) called “Oceans of Treasure” (trailer above), which lets you the user collect clues and data then virtually search for a sunken ship via provided Sony/Intel technology. Why do we have a sudden urge to watch The Goonies?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Gilmartin Out at DNA

Kiran Aditham — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:46:38 +0000

Though his name, bio and headshot are still tacked up on the leadership section of DNA Seattle’s website, we’ve been told that creative director Tom Gilmartin is “no longer with the agency.” Gilmartin, who tipsters allege was “fired,” joined DNA in 2009 and led the creative department on accounts including Simple Mobile (a campaign for the brand recently helped win the agency Best in Show at the Seattle ADDYs).

Before joining DNA, Gilmartin spent nearly three years as a GCD at Ignited. Prior to that, he held ACD posts at Ground Zero and McKinney and served as an art director at Chiat\Day and Team One early on.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

So Exactly What is Intel and DDB’s Relationship?

Kiran Aditham — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 13:09:52 +0000

After we reported on Intel adding DDB to its agency roster last week, things still seemed a little vague in terms of what the relationship between the two exactly entailed (due in part to lack of initial feedback). Well, the veil’s been lifted a bit this week and we just spoke directly to Intel, which indeed confirms that Tribal DDB (particularly its San Francisco office) will take the lead on Intel’s master brand account that includes the “Sponsors of Tomorrow” work (good on ya, tipsters). A spokesperson for the brand tells us that Tribal “won out because their breakthrough ideas for the next iteration of the campaign,” which Intel says will break in the second-half of this year.

As for Venables Bell & Partners, the SF shop is still on Intel’s agency list, is working on “several sweet areas” for the brand and has a “sizable portion of the pie.” The Intel spokesperson refers back to the company’s “open-source” agency model, saying, “It allows us to be flexible and engage with a number of partners. It would not be unusual to have [Venables], Tribal, Razorfish and MRM in the same conference room discussing a campaign or project and whoever shines brightest might get the nod.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Grey Does its Part for Japan Relief

Kiran Aditham — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:49:03 +0000

While most of the media attention has turned to the royal wedding (which baffles us) and whatever Donald Trump spews out (even more so) this week, there’s of course still a crisis happening in Japan. To do its part to help the disaster-hit nation, Grey is following the lead of other agencies like BBH by launching a charity effort of its own in the form of an online auction. Titled SOS, the auction, which kicks off today and runs through May 5, features everything from concert/theater tickets and an iPad 2 to framed photographer prints and accessories from Armani. You can commence bidding here before you go back to your regularly scheduled William/Kate media saturation.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.