It looks like P&G made its announce ahead of the 1pm EST time that we were hearing about today, as Grey indeed has won the Gillette business, thus ending a review that lasted seven months (judging by the tips box, P&G made the announce as early as 11am today). We were told by those in the know that staffers were on “pins and needles” for the last few days–for obvious reasons–though as far as we know, Grey was tipped to win Gillette as of last week.

Of course, the agency folks can now breathe a sigh of relief and pop open the champagne as their agency’s officially picked up global ad duties for the men’s shaving/grooming brand (hell, we still swear by our Mach 3), which were previously handled by BBDO (the agency’s relationship with Gillette dates back half-a-century). The latter agency along with Saatchi & Saatchi were reported to have been the other finalists in the review.

Update: And as expected, our sources have sent us an internal memo from Grey regarding the Gillette win. After the jump, you can read the agency chairman/CEO Jim Heekin‘s note to staff, who from what we’re hearing will be partying it up tonight:

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Here is what appears to be a note from Grey Group CEO/chairman Jim Heekin to staff. Waiting for verification on this, but in the meantime, We got the great news (and a cake!) this morning telling us we have won the global Pringles account from its new owner, Kellogg’s, a sensational blue-chip client that we’re proud to add to our roster.

“There aren’t many second acts in our business.  While we helped Procter & Gamble build Pringles into a global brand starting in 1997, we knew our chances of keeping it were slim to none.  Kellogg’s was clear that it was easier for them to put the business with their primary partner, Leo Burnett.  Particularly because they are committed to a one agency model.

Yet, our new team in N.Y. took on this uphill fight with everything they had and simply bucked all the odds.  The team developed a brilliant campaign and won Kellogg’s trust.  In the end, our new client said it was a unanimous decision for Grey.

Congratulations to everyone who gave it their all.  Your ‘Famously Effective’ winning spirit can’t be denied.”

If  you recall, parent company Kellogg called off its deal to sell off its chips brand to Diamond Foods last year. Updated: Sources close to the review have confirmed that Grey has taken over.

Well, can’t win ‘em all, BSSP, which had handled the Radio Shack account for the last three years. After a six-month review, Grey New York has followed up its Emergen-C win by picking up creative duties for f0r the electronics retailer, which always seems to have a nice pair of headphones handy. Anyhow, here’s the memo sent from Grey CEO Jim Heekin, president/CCO Tor Myhren and managing director Michael Houston:

“We wanted to share the tremendous news with you that Grey New York has won the Radio Shack account after a hard-fought competition that began five months ago.  Radio Shack spent nearly $210 million last year, making this win one of the largest in our history and one of the largest reviews in our industry this year.

We will lead creative strategy and execution for Radio Shack’s entire marketing ecosystem: in stores, television, online, social media, mobile media, digital media, print, outdoor and other categories including Hispanic communications across all channels.

Radio Shack is one of America’s leading national retailers of mobile/technology products with 34,000 employees and over 7,000 locations.

Congratulations and thanks to Suresh Nair, Rick Cusato, Alex Lubar, Deb Freeman, Claudia Strauss (Alliance), Doug Livingston, Jeff Odiorne, Andrew Speyer (Wing) and everyone who gave their all to this incredible effort.  We are going to hit the ground running and we’ll need every ounce of your creativity and commitment going forward.

Our new client said “Grey ranks among the most respected, innovative and creative agencies in the advertising landscape.  We are thrilled for the opportunity to collaborate with this team as we continue transforming our brand.”  We couldn’t say it better ourselves or be more proud of you.

Enjoy your holiday weekend.

Cheers,
Jim, Tor and Michael”

CP+B has rolled out its latest spots for Bing, this time showing how your Facebook friends can help you with your decisions while dillydallying on Microsoft’s search engine.  Electro-funk-meisters Chromeo provide the score with their track “Hot Mess” for this new, Roman Coppola-directed campaign, which we think tells us that we really can’t make up our own minds and we should trust our Facebook friends with our lives. Ok, got it. Second spot and credits after the jump.

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After what seemed like a fairly rocky 2010 at G2, is 2011 looking up for the agency? It’s probably still too early to tell but they’ve got more positive news to report as G2′s now been named promotional AOR for Caesars Entertainment Corp, parent of brands including Caesars, Bally’s, Harrah’s and World Series of Poker.

We’ve been told that there was a promotional review dating back to a year-and-a-half ago that G2 did not initially participate in. But after finally meeting in February, the agency tells us that “everything clicked” and it won the assignment. As a result, G2 will assume creative and strategic responsibilities for national and local multi-platform campaigns for Caesars.

Still, while G2′s nabbed this latest business and was also “instrumental” in the Ally win according to the memo from Jim Heekin and Tor Myhren in late March, we’re not ready to call it a hot streak just yet. Guess we’ll have to stay tuned.

Just weeks after announcing that it was holding a creative review, it appears that Ally Financial has already come to a decision. From what our spies tell us, the account has gone to Grey. BBH, which handled the Ally business for two years, was included in the RFP.  Generous tipsters sent us what looks like an internal memo from Jim Heekin and Tor Myhren. I don’t know, seems legit to us (but then again, tomorrow is April Fools so who knows). Read on after the jump.

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Sir Martin Sorrell adds another one to the fold as his WPP-owned Grey unit acquired Yolk Pte Ltd., a Singapore-based shop that offers services including digital strategy, email marketing, search, viral, etc. etc.. In a statement regarding Yolk, which counts clients including Canon and Microsoft across Asia, Grey Group chairman/CEO Jim Heekin says, “”The acquisition of Yolk is another clear signal of Grey’s commitment to place digital at the core of our business and deliver powerful, seamless offline and online marketing solutions. The digital services space is growing exponentially and this move adds to our competitive advantage in the marketplace.” Well, the Webby-winning Yolk does call itself “digitally daring” after all.