GlobalHue

With Sergio Marchionne's marathon press briefing about the future of Chrysler now underway, we unfortunately have to start things off on a bad note.

Above is the new 30-second Jeep spot from Global Hue, which is part of the "I live. I ride. I am. Jeep." campaign that Marchionne is expected to unveil today. We're thinking the creative(s) behind this is obsessed with Coldplay's "Clocks", because that's about the only thing this rather forgettable ad reminds us of. Lewis Lazare at the Chicago Sun-Times was a bit more frank in his assessment, calling this "Ghastly. Unspeakably bad. Pompous. Empty" and something that hits "a new low in advertising." It's hard to argue with his logic or that of the commenters in this morning's Jeep post, as the message is muddled at best in a spot that leaves us hoping that things can only get better from here.

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Today Chrysler is set to reveal a number of things about their brands. The six-hour press conference is happening in Michigan and though we don't have anyone there, we'll be bringing you updates along the way. So far, nothing, except this.

A Wall Street Journal story regarding the future of Jeep signals good news for GlobalHue in the short-term, and whoever lands the account long-term.

"As part of a new five-year business strategy it will unveil Wednesday, Chrysler is expected to spell out a plan to expand Jeep's sales dramatically, especially in overseas markets, people familiar with the matter said."

WSJ via Jalopnik

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Today, Adweek has an article up about digital shop, Razorfish, getting into the broadcast game for detergent brand, All. If anyone caught that last episode of Celebrity Apprentice (and I'm sure you didn't), you'll recall that the teams were tasked with creating a "viral" video for the brand. The results were pretty mediocre, but whatever. The agency went on to take two of the contestants, Joan and Melissa Rivers, and feature them in Razorfish's first ever broadcast production. You can watch it above.

From the article: "Razorfish has a history in digital media and developing Web sites," said Marc Lucas, executive creative director for Razorfish in New York. "In the last 12 to 18 months, we've made a push to be a marketing services company and being more media agnostic."

All just recently put its creative account into review. While BBH is the incumbent, it ended up goin to Lowe. However, wouldn't it have been rad if Razorfish just snuck in there and took the booty? Forget about whether you like or hate the spot. Isn't just a wee bit exciting to see a digital agency is now just an agency and vice versa? Lines are blurring left and right. Consider that GlobalHue, which has long been billed as the the biggest multicultural agency, won their MGM Grand account as just an agency - serving every color, gender and platform under the sun. Finally - the whole bag of goods is getting mixed up. It's about time.

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It's a pugilistic kind of morning Monday. Mega-multicultural agency, GlobalHue, is being taken to task by their client, the Bermuda Department of Tourism Board [BDOT]. The Auditor General, Larry Dennis (pictured above), has said that he has "misgivings about the appropriateness of some payments to GlobalHue" and that the Department of Tourism may have paid $1.8 million too much to the company.

GlobalHue buys time for their client through many outlets, but one, Cornerstone Media, has caught the eye of Dennis. You see, GlobalHue pre-bills the Bermuda for the placements. Yeah and who doesn't? The problem is that this practice is not allowed under the government's financial rules. Plus, Cornerstone Media has allegedly not provided invoices for placements. Dennis also says that Bermuda did not receive refunds on canceled placements.

Jacqueline Reynolds, GlobalHue's executive vice president has called the comments libelous and also said that, "Often, GlobalHue has not received payment by the BDOT in time to pay media vendors and has advanced funds to prevent a problem with vendors not accepting BDOT advertising without payment upfront." She added that GlobalHue hired Cornerstone to purchase BDOT media with no commission charge to the BDOT.

Her final kick in the face? She said GlobalHue — which has offices in Detroit, New York and California — had an annual revenue of $800 million and Bermuda was its smallest account. "Our profits are derived from accounts other than the contract with Bermuda," she said.

Okay, so who wants to pitch the Bermuda Tourism board? Now is the time.

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We've been reading Steffan Postaer's book "The Happy Soul Industry" which tells the tale of an angel whose mission is to find an ad agency for Heaven and spread a message of goodness. We're not there yet but we presume the devil will come into play somehow — and with that we take you to a story out of Detroit where the MGM Grand Casino has a new billboard created by Globalhue. On it is a close shot of a woman's eyes, and she's got that whole night-eyes, lady of the evening thing going on. She'll suck you right in, like a tractor beam. And to make matters more devilish, she's got eerily blue skin and gold eyes. Apparently her presence is bothering some locals. Watch the video. Would she bother you?

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After 20 years, Damon A. Davis has decided to leave his post as one of the lead creative designers at GlobalHue. Davis is setting off to start his own shop, DDDesign Advertising. His new agency will focus on brand advertising and emerging technologies.

Damon's departure comes as GlobalHue begins an enormous strategic shift in its thinking and business practices. The agency is supposedly looking to reformat the idea of "minority" advertising from structure, capability to tactics and scope. Perhaps Damon didn't want to go in for the overhaul or maybe, he just figured the gettin' was good. But listen - it's not a moment too soon for multicultural agencies to redefine the game and the playing field. These type of shops have been overlooked and marginalized for too long.

Hey students? GlobalHue recently announced that they would give away $100,000 in scholarships to students who are focusing their education on entrepreneurship and attending historically black or Hispanic institutions. The Coleman Entrepreneurial Scholarship program will award 20 full-time students, either juniors or seniors, $5,000 each for the 2009-2010 academic school year.

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