Yes, we have received confirmation that after 13 years at Deutsch, serving as partner, chief media officer most recently, Peter Gardiner has resigned from the agency this week. Here are the statements from all parties involved:

“Today Deutsch NY CEO Val DiFebo announced that Peter Gardiner, Partner, Chief Media Officer, would be leaving the agency to pursue entrepreneurial interests and investments in the media and tech space.  Gardiner joined Deutsch in 2000 and during his tenure helped grow Deutsch’s media offering at a time when many agencies were unbundling their media operations.  He was an important part of the agency’s success and we wish him well.  Gardiner’s last day will be February 28^th.

An announcement will be made early next week regarding the plans we have in place, it’s a 1 + 1 = 3 approach that will continue to keep us ahead of the curve.

And from Gardiner himself:

“Having been a Partner of one of the best agencies in history has been incredibly rewarding and fun. But leaving Deutsch now gives me the opportunity to find, grow, and nurture startups in the media and tech space. I’m excited about what’s ahead and I thank everyone at Deutsch for the best years of my professional life, so far…”

During his time at Deutsch, Gardiner  helped launch Media Bridge Entertainment, a product placement company that introduced pay-for-performance as its core offering, nearly a decade ago as well as research unit, Consumer Prime.

Yes, Hurricane Sandy has come and gone, yet large portions of New York are still far from being rebuilt. Those in New York are aware of this, but those of us in flyover country have, let’s be real, almost completely forgotten about the destruction wrought by the storm only a few weeks ago. Sorry, but it’s true.

So, how do you get Midwest hicks like me to care about helping New York’s disaster relief efforts? Well, one winning strategy would be having a bunch of celebrities tell me that I should care. You see, I find it hard to relate to those people in the Rockaways who lost their homes and more during Hurricane Sandy. However, I love celebrities, and there’s nothing more terrible to me than seeing a movie star look really sad. Deutsch NY and the New York State Governor’s office know these things, which is why they’ve produced a cavalcade of the most New York-y New York-based celebs to tell me that they need my help. If you for one minute thought that Al Pacino and Robert De Niro wouldn’t be in this spot (shot over a weekend) after seeing the title of this post, you are a stupid person.

Joining De Niro and Pacino is this PSA for the Empire Relief Fund are people like Michael J. Fox, Whoopi Goldberg and Steve Buscemi, the last of which is a great casting decision as he always looks kind of sad. For those who need their ads cut down to 30-second bite-sized portions in order to be convinced to give money, here’s exactly that. And, for those of you who have been sufficiently convinced to donate to the cause, visit ReliefNY.org to give. Credits and another PSA after the jump.

Read more

We’re not sure where this ranks in the agency intern video pantheon as of yet (this still has a special place in our hearts for some reason). From we can gather, though, after somehow getting through the four-minute clip above is that Deutsch NY interns love their smartphones and that CEO Val DiFebo is a “scooter enthusiast.”

As the Deutsch New York camp tells us, the idea for this clip was born a month ago when IPG CEO Michael Roth announced that interns from each agency in the holding company’s network would have to create a presentation explaining how their agency is unique.  Apparently, the video you see emphasizes just that for Deutsch NY as well as the agency’s motto (which is perhaps inspired by Daft Punk): Leaner, Master, Faster, Smarter. Hey, they’re interns and they tried, so we’ll just take their word for it.

Just sixteen months after moving across the Atlantic to join up with Deutsch New York as partner/chief strategy officer, Bert Moore‘s time at the agency has come to an end. Moore joined up with Deutsch in the fall of 2010 from Lowe & Partners. The two agencies, if you remember, were aligned by parent IPG a year prior. As a result of Moore’s departure, there will be a little restructuring happening according to a statement from Deutsch NY CEO Val DiFebo. Read below:

“Bert joined Deutsch NY approximately one year ago. We have mutually agreed that the role we need in NY is in conflict with the one Bert aspires to play and have agreed to part ways, effective today. We will be restructuring the department and have elevated Brent Vartan to recognize the role he has been playing as Director of Account Planning and partnering him with a new Director of Data Strategy to be announced. Bert will be exploring other opportunities within IPG as well as externally.”

There once was a dog named Phoebe, and from the looks of quotes below, she had quite an effect on the agency world. Hey, it’s Friday and the industry (as well as us) are in or will be in Austin this weekend, so cut us some slack. Anyhow, we lament the loss of an apparently prolific pet, which has appeared recently in ads for Nissan and Milwaukee’s Best.

“Over the past 9 years Phoebe was a mainstay at agencies including TBWA\Chiat Day in LA, and Mother, Y&R and most recently Deutsch in NY. A full breed Papillion, and owner of Deutsch NY’s Director of Art Production Helen O’Neill, she passed away on Tuesday, March 6th. In addition to her work at the office, Phoebe was also a part time model, appearing in ads for Nissan and Milwaukee’s Best, she also graced the cover of Creativity with her bosses from Mother in 2008.

Phoebe’s unexpected passing came from ingesting something laced with poison off of the streets of NYC.

In honor of her contributions to making the workplace a better place for all, and to help other unfortunate animals in our area, we will be hosting a fund raiser for the ASPCA at Il Bagatto on Thursday March 15th.

We asked a few of her employers to share with us a few words:

- Greg DiNoto (CCO Deutsch NY): “Phoebe had brains and beauty and never met an ad she wasn’t afraid to take a piss all over.”

- Rob DeFlorio (Former Partner Mother NY): “Phoebe was the ideal employee at Mother…A good listener that didn’t say too much”

-Val DiFebo (CEO Deutsch NY): “Phoebe roamed the Deutsch halls happily, making people smile. She’ll be missed”

-Lee Clow (Chairman and Global Director TBWA\Worldwide):  “Little Phoebe – I’ll never forget those ears. What a cutie!

-Rob Baird (CD Mother): “Phoebe had such an infectious spirit and energy. She was definitely opinionated and particular, but I think everyone respected her for that. If she liked something you were doing, you knew you’d cracked it.

-Rich Kolopeaua (CD Deutsch – followed Phoebe from Y&R): “I think Phoebe was more interested in art directors than actual work.

-Paul Malstrom (Parther Mother) : “Phoebe started as an intern at Mother, but already within a year she got promoted to Action Team Squad Leader as well as Head of Security. Her rise in the ranks were completely on her own merits, although I think her charm, and beautiful hair had something to do with it as well.  I will miss her very much.”

-Alain Sylvain (Strategery at Sylvain Labs): “Phoebe made work feel like home”

-Allon Tatarka (CD mother): “There are many reason’s why Pheobe’s immense talents were wasted in advertising. Not least of which being that she was a dog, and her main talents were being fluffy and eating tiny bits of kibble. She was, however, our strongest Strategist.”

With the loss of Phoebe, Madison Ave has launched a charity in her memory and, yes, created an email address for her to send your thoughts.