Fry, the CCO at V&S who once played temporary reporter for this here site while with the crowdsourcing evangelists, says in a statement, ““The timing was pretty much perfect for me to come back to CP+B. And so was the position. I feel that there is so much that I can contribute to the agency. I love writing ads, I love production, I love the teaching process and the craft. And I believe in empowering those around me and encouraging them to think in new and exciting ways. I’m back now and it’s so exciting to be working with new people as well as so many of my friends who are continually reinventing what it means to be an agency and pushing the boundaries in remarkable ways. It’s a new era for CP+B. One with a lot of momentum, a lot of chutzpah and a kick-ass, evolving identity. And I am honored and grateful to be a part of it.”

During his first run at CP+B, Fry picked up a Titanium Grand Prix Lion for his work as a CD on the “Twelpforce” work for Best Buy.

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Perhaps most recognized for their work on re-branding eHarmony and Hotwire.com, Santa Monica-based agency DonatWald and Haque (DW+H) has reached a crossroads. You see, the agency re-branded itself early last year when partner Amir Haque added his name to the door, something he now apparently regrets. In a blog post on DW+H’s site, Haque writes:

Our company exists to accelerate business’ role as the most powerful force for positive change.  The problem is that our old-school advertising agency name simply does nothing to help us communicate that.  So earlier this year, Lucas and I decided to rename our company, taking our names off the door in favor of a new name that communicates the essence of what we do. So what’s the new name? Don’t know yet. But today is a big day.

Who does an ad agency turn to in order to re-brand itself? Apparently, it turns to those crowd-sourcing extraordinaires at Victors and Spoils, which is unleashing its legions of freelancing creatives on DW+H’s brief. As Haque notes, this is probably one of the first times an agency has ever hired another agency to do the job the formerly mentioned agency is generally responsible for. Of course, this isn’t sitting well with some. In fact, an anonymous tipster who claims to be a formal employee of DW+H has this to says of the agency’s second re-branding in as many years, “They spent tons of cash last year on new biz cards, t-shirts, painting the place–all this re-branding crap only to pay someone else to do the job not even a full year later! Who would hire an agency that can’t even brand itself?”

What say you, dear readers? Is this an innovative move within a constantly evolving industry, or, as the tipster says, is DW+H wasting its money? Before you answer, note that Haque does add in his post that, “It puts our agency philosophy and approach in front of 6,000 of our industry colleagues, and provides a platform for our own company to participate as well.”

Update: V&S chief John Winsor has updated his blog to discuss the DW+H proposition.

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We forgot to mention this yesterday, but might as well let you know that Victors & Spoils CEO John Winsor updated his blog this week to bring us up to speed on what’s happening with his now-Havas-owned, Boulder-based agency. If you don’t feel like actually clicking the link, we’ll just give you the Cliffs Notes version and tell you that the theme this time around is “making momentum.”

The contents within include the fact that V&S has promoted several staffers and hired a few folks in the process. On the promotion front, Winsor & Co. have promoted Noah Clark (who was interviewed by his own boss on this here site) and Arnold NY alum Chad Walker to co-executive creative directors. In addition, V&S elevated Kate McQuail (yet another CP+B alum) to creative director while also bringing on former TM Advertising creative Chris Cima as a CD.

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Adage reports that John Winsor & Co. have sold a majority stake of their Boulder-based crowdsourcing operation that is Victors & Spoils to Havas. Winsor, who will remain on as V&S CEO and will also assume the title of chief innovation officer at Havas, offers a lengthy explanation for the acquisition on his blog. Here’s a quick excerpt in case you didn’t feel like clicking through:

“…Along the way I had the good fortune to meet [Havas CEO] David Jones.  While many in the advertising industry talk the talk about innovation, very few walk the walk. David takes it one step further and runs the run. I was impressed not only by his vision for Havas and One Young World, but also by his bold philosophy outlined in Who Cares Wins. Every conversation we had flowed from a similar world-view that collaboration, co-creation and crowdsourcing are the future of not only advertising, but business itself; and that a deep dedication to becoming a social business can make the world a better place. We both believe that the new competitive advantage is a collaborative advantage.

From those conversations grew a vision to work together to create even more global cultural momentum for collaboration, co-creation and crowdsourcing. I believe that Victors & Spoils and Havas together can change the way advertising is done for both clients and creatives for the better.”

According to Adage, Winsor’s V&S partners-in-crime Evan Fry and Claudia Batten will continue to own a stake in the shop.

Update: We had a quick phone chat earlier with Mr. Winsor and among other things, he tells us that while V&S has had conversations with “every good thinker in the industry” regarding the future of the industry, the new Havas chief innovation officer specifically “loved the way [David Jones] is super bold and wanted to change things and is transparent about the way things are going.” Winsor adds that the Havas move will “give us more resources to grow”, will get “technology scoped and scaled” and from what he tells us, Victors & Spoils is eying expansion in London and Hong Kong. But for now, it’s about “accelerating technology” and going “one step at a time.”

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“When we started to work with Harley-Davidson we had this crazy idea. If you could source ideas from advertising professionals around the world using digital management (via Victors & Spoils’ digital collaboration system which we call Agency Machine) then why couldn’t a brand source ideas from their own most rabid fans?

With all of the attention that is on social media, and the significant investment by brands in fan acquisition, why not put fans to work? By doing so you could figure out a couple of things. First, who your most important fans are. And second, by allowing fans access into the brand in a substantial way, we’d create radical engagement. Fans would no longer be customers but co-creators of the brand.”

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Hey, if it worked for Harley-Davidson, maybe lightning can strike twice for Boulder’s Victors & Spoils. Today, chief exec John Winsor penned a note on his blog to American Airlines, which filed for Chapter 11 protection this week. Winsor’s post is directed specifically at at the airline’s new CEO/chairman Thomas Horton, who took over for Gerard Arpey around the same time as the filing. What is Winsor & Co’s strategy? Well, according to his blog, V&S is pretending as if it were already American Airlines’ agency and has sent yet another unsolicited brief to its thousands of creatives (as well as offering $10K) to come up with the best idea on how to make the carrier “more nimble.”

Guess if it works out, the Victors & Spoils camp can always add more minutes to their work reel.

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Has it been two years already since John Winsor, Evan Fry and Claudia Batten launched Victors & Spoils? Time sure does fly, and apparently enough so that the Boulder-based crowdsourcing crew is ready to unveil an epic showreel of their own. But according to notes posted on The Denver Egotist, the seven-minute clip above is a rough cut and is “still missing Smartwool and Virgin America Provocateur digital initiative walk-thrus.” Don’t worry, we believe there’s still enough material here for our audience to weigh in on.

Update: Wow, that didn’t take long. As you can see, it appears someone caught wind at Victors & Spoils and has taken the video private. Well, if you’re looking for some sort of showreel from the V&S camp in the meantime, there’s this work for Virgin and a “Liberation” spot for Harley-Davidson.

Update 2: Aaaaand, it’s back up and running…for now.

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-ESPN, W+K get in draft day mode (above).

-JWT acquired L.A.-based shop Lunchbox LP.

-Victors & Spoils’ John Winsor offers some new insight. link

-Twitter is ready for commerce. link

-Director Marcus McCollum signed with prodco, HELLO!

-What can Gandhi teach us about advertising? link

-MEC is one of the parties behind a new entertainment property for AT&T. link

-New York-based strategy shop Gotham Direct is opening up shop in London.

-Verizon seems to be hacker-friendly. link

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

-Kim Kardashian dies for a good cause: Alicia Keys‘ AIDS charity (above).  link

-Google is reportedly buying Groupon for $2.5 billion. link

-Grey Amsterdam and the Council of Europe band together to fight child sexual abuse with “The Underwear Rule.” link

-Mobile brand Orange’s poster campaigns get lost in translation in Paris Metro stations. link

-Canadians love their social media. link

-Leo Burnett wins big at Hong Kong’s Kam Fan Awards. link

-Ari Emanuel wants to kill other ad agencies dead. link

-V&S’s John Winsor wants to start a new trend of giving. link

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AdAge has the scoop that Victors & Spoils is one of three agencies that’s been tapped by Harley-Davidson, the well-known motorcycle brand that parted ways with Carmichael Lynch after 31 years. If you remember, a few months back, Victors & Spoils chief John Winsor sent an unsolicited brief to Harley that included a plug of the shop’s Squirrel Fight platform and an open call-for-ideas. Well, what do you know, the crowdsourcing-loving, Boulder-based V&S won out and will handle creative for HD’s $11 million account, while Digitas handles digital work and sister shop Starcom does media planning/buying. When reached, V&S reps wouldn’t comment at press time.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.