GSD&M

Having already beaten out the likes of Cutwater, McKinney and Modernista! in May 2008 to take home AOR duties for L.L. Bean, GSD&M Idea City is now replacing Mediaedge:cia to handle the media buying/planning account for the outdoor apparel brand. L.L. Bean though is keeping schtum on its spending.

More: "We Hear: GSD&M Wins Golfsmith Retail Biz"

According to a spy in Austin, GSD&M Idea City won the retail account for golf and tennis "superstore" Golfsmith. We're hearing that billings were set at $5 million in the RFP excluding catalog, web and direct, which has historically been handled in-house. The Golfsmith account, which our tipster likens to a "a small fish in a big agency pond," had previously been handled by Dallas-based Havas/Euro RSCG subsidiary SWJ.

When we reached Idea City for comment, they could neither confirm nor deny the business win. Considering all the sudden interest in golf thanks to the shenanigans of its best pro, we're thinking the timing of the deal couldn't be any better.

More: "Idea City Wins Caesars and Horseshoe Casino Brands"

GSD&M Idea City, the Austin based ad shop, tells us they've won two Harrah's Entertainment brands: Caesars and Horseshoe casinos.

The broadcast, online, print, and out-of-home work they're preparing is set to launch in 2010, and follows a pitch that lasted just less than a month.

Properties include Caesars Windsor (Ontario), Caesars Las Vegas (Nevada), Caesars Atlantic City (New Jersey), and Horseshoe casinos in Bossier City (Louisiana), Tunica (Mississippi), Hammond (Indiana), Elizabeth (Indiana), and Council Bluffs (Iowa).

The agency did not disclose how much the win is worth or who they competed against. If we're recollecting correctly, the business had been with, at least in part, R&R Partners in Phoenix. Correction: R&R Partners informs that they were not the agency for Caesars or Horseshoe at the time of the pitch. "Although we did work on Caesars for some time, Leo Burnett was Caesars' agency at the time of the pitch," the agency reports. "We never had the Horseshoe account at all."

More: "GSD&M Elevates Luke Sullivan, David Crawford, Greg Lane to Lead Creative Dept."

Hardy har, this one comes from Latin America. Its author claims Russian heritage, but we know she's straight up American sassafrass. Whatever that means.

More: "Royito's in Miniature"

Remember how GSD&M's Roy Spence is opening a taco air stream, and plans to call it Royito's? Some GSD&M staffers made this pumpkin to commemorate the...thing. Thanks, agency people.

More: "Guacamole, Salsa, Diesel & Mas (Salsa): GSD&M's Gettin' a Taco Truck"

GSD&M lives in a happy little Texas town called Austin, where converted Airstream campers are all the rage if you like selling unique foods, or just common foods whose heritage originates from a country juuuust south a bit. And the agency's "un-beso-para-el-cocinador" (kiss the cook, roughly translated) apron clad head honcho Roy Spence just bought one of these aforementioned Airstreams* and intends to convert 'er into a taco truck.

The city has seen its fair share of food-friendly campers, including some that purvey (yep!) other tacos, sushi, cupcakes and probably fellatio real late at night. Jumping onto this bandwagon could be a boon for Spence, who put off walking around (we hear) to make this happen.

Spence has been making hot-sauce for years and had the creative ingenuity to call his brand "Royito's". Now you too can be part of a special group of colleagues, clients and friends (of Spence) who for years have been receiving the stuff as Christmas gifts (if you happen to be in Austin and run into his truck whenever it will operate during the time frame in which it is in business).

According to the Austin Chronicle, there are already quite a few of these trucks and they are well known to boot. Could be tough for Spence to get his in line; is it too late? Meh.

*Actual camper not pictured

More: "GSD&M Elevates Luke Sullivan, David Crawford, Greg Lane to Lead Creative Dept."

After watching a video produced by PETA, Austin based GSD&M signed a pledge not to use great apes in any upcoming projects, Adomatica reports.

Maybe it was the narration by Anjelica Huston or the cool breeze that day, but the agency felt compelled to sign the petition.

Meanwhile, the agency's work for a client that kills thousands of chickens annually for our bellies (Popeye's) continues uninhibited.

(OK fine, Popeye's complies with controlled-atmosphere killing, which PETA says is the nicest way to treat chickens before you fry-and-eat them.)

More: "Idea City: A Magical Place for Tweetups, Thumbs-Up, and This Guy"

This guy looks happy. It seems to be a nice day, he's surrounded by ladies and only a couple other dudes and he's sitting on top of the world — er, he's on top of Idea City. For an intern Tweetup, where Austin's interns go to mingle. We don't know what was discussed, but the dudes there were definitely talking about how many ladies were in attendance (OK so I made that part up, but look it's a safe assumption. Someone there was like, "oo, sexy sexies are everywhere, time to put on the charm").

There were so many kiddies bouncing around hoping to make a connection that would land them a real job, or at least a good make-out sesh. That's what guys do — they stand around and talk about how many chicks are in attendance or not and then they're like, "look at ms. hotpants over there, I'd hit that." And that's advertising, baby! Hope you kids had a blast.

More pics!!! (Please don't pull them GSD&M)

More: "This Week's Advertising Parties"

Today is like any other, except that we received two emails about what's happening inside GSD&M. The short story: Luke Sullivan is making changes and the aesthetic there is very 1990s.

At the beginning of the month, the agency elevated Sullivan to the newly created managing group creative director position. Not long before, Duff Stewart was made CEO, too. Today we're hearing that the once top-heavy creative department has moved in some young talent over some of the heavy hitters of yore. And those guys mayn't be happy about it.

Speaking more broadly about the agency culture, it's no mystery that some folks have been around for awhile. It's one of those places, we've been told, where a guy/gal can settle in and do some work. We've heard from more than one former GSD&Mer that this practice has been to the detriment of the agency — as far as keeping up with trends and aesthetic are concerned.

"Basically a good way to describe this place is that we're trapped in the 90's. It's a mentality that affects everything from the silly way this place is decorated to the work we produce, not to mention that a lot of employees have been there since then and are doing the exact same thing they did back then without evolving to a changing world."

Remodeling is expensive, but design is generally accepted to be one of those things an agency must keep up on if it wants to attract clients and talent that are perceived as forward moving. Whether that has actually hurt the agency is unclear, but it is definitely important to remember to dress for the job you want. Er, client in this case.

Other rumblings include questions about the state of Southwest and NCL, nothing we care to overblow. Nonetheless it should be remembered that any time an agency changes internally there are growing pains to endure. Sometimes that means being passed over by someone with less experience than you, and others it means losing clients and colleagues. For GSD&M puberty is going to last at least another year.

More: "GSD&M Elevates Luke Sullivan, David Crawford, Greg Lane to Lead Creative Dept"

Just before the holiday weekend, GSD&M laid off three Group Creative Directors, Rick Tlapek, Derek Pletch and Scott MacGregor.

Traditionally GSD&M has always had two GCDs per creative group, leading the teams. For this reorganization, the top-heavy creative department has been trimmed to just one GCD per group. MacGregor and Pletch lead a team together, so someone will likely be bumped up or transitioned from another GCD team to lead in their stead.

This news comes on the heels of GSD&M's promotion of GCDs Luke Sullivan and David Crawford to Managing Group Creative Director roles, and Greg Lane to Managing Director, Creative. We broke that news September 1, and just three days later Tlapek, MacGregor and Pletch were let go (presumably by their just-promoted counterparts who likely would have had no idea the move was coming).

Hypotheses are stirring as to why these three were singled out: Tlapek for one, according to a source, was known to be "critical when he thought the agency's work was lagging." One source notes Tlapek wasn't a huge fan of Sullivan's, though he was respected in the creative department.

MacGregor and Pletch always had the botched Southwest Airlines work looming over them. But what creative team doesn't have some bad work now and then?

The firings were handled differently than in the past: what once was an agency that afforded senior employees with (in one case) a few months notice is now like most others. For example, we're told that as each man was called in HR was cutting his phone and email. It's a bit cold for GSD&M — especially considering Tlapek won one of the shop's only Lions. Keep in mind that in late July the agency promoted Duff Stewart to CEO, a position previously held by owner/founder Roy Spence.

Though Tlapek was the most respected among the trio, a source tells us their departures could have been handled a bit more delicately. But in this age of no-nonsense advertising, the gentle break-up method is increasingly rare. It's business.

GSD&M was not immediately available for comment.

Update: After speaking with another source familiar with this matter, we've learned that a total of six creatives were let go. A designer was made redundant after the design group was split up and dispersed among the shop's three business units. The other two were a junior creative team.

We're told three new junior creative teams are in the process of being hired. This switch marks another step toward revamping the shop's structure, which as we've noted has been bloated at the top. The setup prevented young blood from making it all the way up, and presumably the new methodology will keep the talent flowing.

More: "GSD&M Elevates Luke Sullivan, David Crawford, Greg Lane to Lead Creative Dept."