Agency Spy
Op-Ed: Don’t Ask Me How I Feel; You Stopped Caring Years Ago
Ladies and gents, meet Virginia Alber-Glanstaetten, group director of planning at Huge who picks up the baton from Josh Seifert on monthly writing duties. In her debut column on this here site, Alber-Glanstaetten, who’s also worked on the strategy side at Organic and Razorfish during her career, shares her thoughts on Facebook’s new emoticons feature.
I’ve never been a fan of the emoticon. Perhaps it’s generational – or my own form of language snobbery and elitism – but whenever I see grownups using smiley faces in a sentence I just want to issue the common parental command “use your words.” So you can imagine my feelings about the news that Facebook has added emoticons to its arsenal of self-expression.
Not only does it add to the injustices inflicted upon the English language of late, but I believe it actually pushes Facebook further away from its stated intent of connecting people. Over the last few years, Facebook has succeeded in commoditizing our relationships with each other – remember when you used to visit your friends after they had kids rather than leaving it at a Like and a comment on their photo album?
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Monday Morning Stir
-Following a three-month pitch process, WPP/GroupM agency MEC has beaten out Starcom to retain the Mitsubishi Motors Australia media account. In addition, the South Australian Government has extended MEC’s contract for a further period of two years.
-L.A.-based indie agency mOcean has hired visual artist/graphic designer Tomasz Opasinski, who most recently worked on the poster for the new Tom Cruise flick, Oblivion, as a creative director in its print department.
-Former DDB/Draftfcb producer Sue Romweber has joined bi-coastal production/post company humble to head up its editing, VFX and finishing work.
-Southern Cross Austereo has launched a new case study clip that highlights its recent Facebook Connect experience called “Roadtrip Forever” for the Transportation Accident Commission of Victoria (above). link
-The Department of Justice has reportedly approved the merger between A-B InBev and Grupo Modelo. link
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You Too Can Be a Couchella Potato
The question is, do you want to be? Courtesy of the Art Director’s Club and Portfolio Night 11 cohorts Julie Matheny, Scott Blew, and Ivan Cash, Couchella is presumably the cheaper, safer, blander, less drug-induced, less celeb-infested, and sillier version of the Coachella music festival. Couchella’s site promotes the cyber event as an exposure outlet for musicians on the rise, but really, it’s offering itself as a curated YouTube channel of Internet music videos. Is that any different from the actual YouTube? Probably not.
If you are interested in attending (watching) online music videos in a controlled environment, you can stream Couchella live starting at noon on April 23. Bands can be nominated on the event homepage. And if you get bored of watching random music videos, you can always close your Chrome tab and go back to YouTube to watch music videos you already like.
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Most Popular Stories on AgencySpy from the Last 7 Days
-Kmart Unveils S**t–Sorry, ‘Ship’-Filled Spot
-Arnold CW Bows Out Rather Poetically
-RPA Lists its Displaced Staffers, Tries to Land Them New Gigs
-Blind Item: Frustrated Employee Sounds Off On CMO
-Op-Ed: When Tragedy Strikes, Silence is Golden
-We Hear: Livingston Heading to McGarryBowen
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We Hear: TBWA\Media Arts Lab Welcomes B-Reel CDs to the Fold
We’ve been getting a few tips on the Spy line that Ricardo Viramontes and Hector Muelas, who have each spent nearly a year as creative directors at B-Reel, have been lured away by TBWA\Media Arts Lab to, you guessed it, work on Apple. Since\MAL is like Area 51 considering its Apple tie-in, TBWA would not comment on the hirings, but prior to their work at B-Reel, Viramontes served as an art director for four-plus years at W+K New York on accounts including Jordan Brand and has also worked at the likes of CAA (you surely remember this) and BSSP.
Muelas, meanwhile, also worked at CAA on the same campaign among other things as well as W+K Amsterdam on accounts including Nike and Coca-Cola. We’ll let you know if and when Tim Cook & Co. or those on the agency level remove the leash and reveals more specifics.
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And Now, Your Weekly Video Miscellany
Well there’s no good way to talk about this week. So let’s just take a moment to distract ourselves from the cray with another round of videos. You’ve had a long week, especially those of you working in Boston and Texas. The rest of us, we’re with you in spirit, doing our thing. Let’s get to it, shall we?
7. This first spot from St. John Ambulance is a tricky one. We follow the life of this man who is apparently suffering from cancer. It’s tragic, really, the kind of sad story you hope your life never turns into. And then things get better. But wait, not so fast, there’s a twist ending! It’s sad as all heck in a way, but eye opening. Views: 205,482.
6. Personally I’m a bit surprised this hasn’t gone further – it’s a piece with our favorite sports brand, Red Bull. This time they strapped lights onto wake boards and shot a video of athletes doing a water course at night. It’s magical, in a way, how the lights streak across the sky. Very mushroomy. Yet it’s only got 260,437 views – a rare miss for the brand. But still, you’d kill for that many views on your latest thing, no?
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BETC Brings Back the Babies for Evian
Yes, the babies are back, though not the way you’d imagine in a new effort for Evian from BETC and directing crew, We Are From LA. In their sequel to the sequel to “Roller Babies,” the 2009 campaign that garnered multiple awards as well as 45 million hits within months of release, the parties involved push the Danone water brand’s “Live Young” mantra via a bit of self-reflection if you will.
In a statement, Jerome Goure, VP of marketing for Danone, says, “The babies embody ‘Live Young’, the evian mantra, and remind us that we are all youthful in our own, unique way. Babies are also the ultimate symbol of natural purity, exactly what evian water is. This is why we are so excited to continue this iconic campaign in a fresh and entertaining way.” You can’t buy that kind of spiel with a Dasani bottle, kids. Look for an Android “Baby & Me” app that BETC created with B-Reel come mid-May.
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Skahan Returning to CP+B
Sources familiar with the matter confirm that Brian Skahan, who has spent nearly two years serving as EVP/CTO/managing director of what was Publicis Modem and is now Publicis Kaplan Thaler, is heading back to his old stomping grounds at Crispin Porter +Bogusky. During his three-and-a-half year stint at the Boulder-based agency, Skahan served as VP/creative technology director and led development teams for clients including Microsoft and Domino’s.
CP+B would not officially comment on the matter, but from what we’re hearing, Skahan is just one of a handful of staffers who are boomeranging back to the agency. We’ll try to get title, start date, but in terms of the latter, we’re hearing that Skahan will assume his new role at CP+B within the next couple of weeks. Prior to CP+B, the tech exec worked at Digital Pulp. We’re certain that we’ll have more updates soon.
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Friday Morning Stir
-Fort Collins, CO-based craft beer brewer New Belgium Brewing has appointed Vizeum US as its strategic partner for media planning.
-Pinterest analytics platform Curalate has announced a partnership with digital company, ePrize. link
-While Creativity seems to post every time Droga5 (or BFG9000 for that matter) sneezes, shuffles its feet, picks its nose, etc., the trade has some bigger news, mainly that Ted Royer has been named CCO of Droga’s New York office.Yep, we’re the old man waving a cane and yelling at a cloud. link
-Radio Shack has welcomed T3/GSD&M alum Jennifer Warren as its new chief marketing officer. link
-A trip to the loo will never be the same thanks to LG (above). link
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Thursday Odds and Ends
-Interbrand has welcomed Scott Christie has creative director of its Toronto office.
-Five-year Droga5 vet Sarah Thompson has been promoted to CEO of the agency’s New York office. link
-L.A.-based brand strategy/agency Oishii Creative has appointed Sterling Hawkins head of consumer experience & biz dev and Luca Giannettoni as creative director/designer.
-Jose Canseco does a Reddit AMA and we’re not sure how we feel after. link
-In its first-ever TV ad campaign, Durham, NC-based Cree promotes its new LED light bulbs with the help of Raleigh agency Baldwin& as well as The Wire/Fringe/Lost alum Lance Reddick. The spots will break during the start of the NBA playoffs this Saturday.
-Here’s how a recent Nissan Sentra spot you may have seen would work better as a Vine. link
-Digitas Atlanta sends its love to Boston. link
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Ignite Consolidates Ad Duties at McCann NY
Another McCann-related p0st, you say? What the hell. Well, it looks like Houston-based Ignite Restaurant Group has gone all in with McCann Erickson, handing its full brand advertising duties to the New York office, which picked up AOR duties for its Joe’s Crab Shack chain last November. Apparently, the spot you see above for Joe’s helped spur the move. In a statement, Ignite CMO Robin Ahearn says, “The positive feedback from ‘100% Shore’ and the great working relationship we’ve developed with McCann led to this consolidation. Our goal is to drive frequency with our current guests and introduce our restaurants to new guests across the country. McCann is helping us do just that.”
As far as Ignite’s new move, McCann NY is now serving as AOR for Romano’s Macaroni Grill brand and will handle strategy responsibilities for Brick House Tavern + Tap. From what we’ve been told, there was no review. Instead, McCann NY asked for an opportunity to present ideas for the Romano’s Macaroni Grill business and Ignite gave a thumbs up, awarding Brick House strategy in the process.
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Publicis ECD Essig Heading to TBWA C\D New York
Sources familiar with the matter confirm that Perry Essig, who’s been with Publicis for well over five years and most recently served as EVP/executive creative director out of its New York office, is leaving the agency for a gig a TBWA\Chiat\Day NY. From what we’ve been told by sources, Essig is moving to Chiat NY, effective May 1, to serve as global creative director on Accenture, which awarded TBWA its global AOR duties nearly two years ago. During his five-year stint at Publicis, Essig served as EVP/ECD on the Citi business (you might remember this spot that’s still been making the rounds) among other things.
Prior to Publicis, Essig served as partner/senior copywriter at Ogilvy on AmEx and Kodak among other accounts and has also served as an ACD at Arnold.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
JWT ATL Copywriter Bloom Heading to Moxie
We’re checking with the Moxie camp on exact titles/start date, but for now, we’ve received confirmation that Rob Bloom, who has spent the last two years as a senior copywriter at JWT’s Atlanta office, is joining up with, yep, fellow ATL agency Moxie Interactive.
From what we’re hearing, Bloom is reuniting with his old JWT Atlanta partner-in-crime, art director Ryan Taylor at Moxie and that both will assume the role of ACD at the latter agency. During their time together at JWT ATL, Bloom and Taylor worked on accounts including Quaker State, U.S. Virgin Islands, SCANA Energy and the Marines. If you care, you can check out an interview with the pair about a certain SCANA project from last year here. Prior to JWT, Bloom served as a copywriter at the likes of Atlanta-based IQ Interactive.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Arnold Worldwide Brands Volvos for ‘Real People’
Shots fired! According to this new car spot from Arnold Worldwide, Volvos are for real people, but Mercedes-Benzes are for snooty women of the 1% who preen at themselves in rearview mirrors. This is some good, clean class warfare, automobile-style, and luxury brands better watch out.
A few years ago, a Volvo was a boring car for people who needed affordable transportation. Now, the price hasn’t changed much, but the image has shifted slowly. It’s not that crazy to think that someone with enough money would pick a Volvo over a Benz. And the new spot tugs at the right cords of today’s economic realities to make the comparison seem not only feasible, but preferable. There are also a few campaign teasers on Facebook that flesh out the appeal of Volvo as “luxury for real people,” including: If your dog has a wardrobe, the Volvo s60 probably isn’t for you. Now they’re going after snobby women and people who dress up their dogs! More shots fired, Volvo. I’m in. Credits after the jump.
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McCann Goes on Promotion Spree
Twas a busy day at camp McCann as the Worldgroup has made several promotions within its leadership ranks. Among those getting a bump-up are Michael McLaren, formerly MRM East president and global client solutions director, who has now been made president of MRM’s worldwide operations.
While we’re on the MRM front, Hank Summy, who joined McCann from Sapient in fall 2011 to serve as president, North America, will now serve as president, commerce at the former agency. Meanwhile, current MRM EVP/chief technology officer, North America Andy Jacobs (pictured) will add global responsibilities to his CTO role. Taking over as president at McCann New York will be one Chris Macdonald, most recently chief executive at the agency’s London office. Speaking of McCann London, while Macdonald crosses the pond, Rob Doubal and Laurence Thomson, who served as co-ECDs in said office, will be moving up the ladder to serve as co-presidents/chief creative officers. Get all that? Good.
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Thursday Morning Stir
-Digitas has promoted Barbara Goose and Douglas Ryan to president of Boston/Detroit and Chicago/San Francisco, respectively. link
-St. Louis-based Paradowski Creative is the new AOR for Monsanto’s ongoing America’s Farmers advocacy campaign and key engagement program called “Farm Mom of the Year.”
-According to Nielsen’s Global AdView report, worldwide ad spending rose 3.2 percent to $557 billion. link
-B-Reel and Lowe Brindfors have launched their third interactive web game for Magnum Ice Cream. link
-Omnicom has reported that Q1 profits are flat while it experienced 2.9 percent revenue growth in the same period. link
-Former Martin Agency SVP/group account director Steve Sanders has joined match action, a unit of shopper marketing agency Match Marketing Group as VP of development.
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Advertising Jobs: Draftfcb, Hacker Group, Mullen
This week, Draftfcb is hiring a management director with digital expertise, as well as an account executive with broadcast production. Meanwhile, Hacker Group is seeking an associate creative director, and Mullen is on the hunt for a copywriter. Get the scoop on these openings and more below, and find additional just-posted gigs on Mediabistro.
- Management Director w/Digital Expertise Draftfcb (Chicago, IL)
- Account Executive w/Broadcast Production Draftfcb (Chicago, IL)
- Associate Creative Director Hacker Group (Seattle, WA)
- Copywriter Mullen (San Francisco, CA)
- Group Account Director T3 (New York, NY)
Find more great advertising jobs on the AgencySpy job board. Looking to hire? Tap into our network of talented AgencySpy pros and post a risk-free job listing. For real-time openings and employment news, follow @MBJobPost.
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Wednesday Odds and Ends
-Portland, ME-based VIA Agency has been named AOR for Republic Wireless, which relies on wifi networks and charges $19/month for unlimited data, talk and text minus a contract. Damn, we’re on the wrong plan.
-The Cannes Lions crew has announced its final five juries for categories including Film Craft, Design and Media. link
-VFX/design studio MPC has added Chris Bernier as VFX supervisor/CG lead. link
-Seattle shop Radarworks is involved with a new campaign promoting Acer and Paramount’s co-marketing partnership for the upcoming flick, Star Trek Into Darkness (one spot above, see the other work here).
-Google’s third city pick for Fiber service is reportedly Provo, Utah. link
-Twitter’s latest pitch to advertisers involves “keyword targeting in timelines.” link
-In case you missed it last week, McDonald’s and Arnold have both apologized for a recent Big Mac ad effort. link; link
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Yes, Maybe Chat Lines Do Serve a Purpose After All
The folks at Toronto-based agency Blammo, which in recent times has showcased Canadian ad players and gave us a kooky Halloween campaign for Arby’s, now induces a little shudder with this effort for a chatline company called QuestChat. Don’t let the hot and heavy fool you as the end result is not, uh, the gratifying one you’d expect, the buildup can be considered both sensual and amusing or all/none of the above. Take your pick and enjoy the 3am ad while we refrain from pulling out several stereotypical/cliched jokes from the bargain basement of comedy. Credits after the jump.
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Burlington Coat Factory Biz in Review, Who Knew?
We truly had no idea the creative account was in review for retail chain Burlington Coat Factory, where we’ve bought our share of oversized jackets and what not back in the day for half the price. But apparently, it is so, and from what we’re hearing from sources in the know, Silver+Partners–aka, the Eric Silver-run, New York-based shop formerly known as Amalgamated–is in the mix. S+P would not comment on the matter and we’ve yet to hear back from BCF, which has worked most recently with Cramer-Krasselt.
From what we’ve been told, though, C-K hasn’t worked with the brand for the past three months and only did project work involving concepting creative but did not produce actual creative, which was handled in-house by the client. This leaves us a bit confused considering that in 2008, it was reported that Burlington Coat Factory awarded the agency its creative duties following a review. Whatever the case, C-K was invited to participated in BCF’s current review, but declined. While spies are saying Silver+Partners is taking on the biz, we’re hearing that it’s yet to be awarded. We’ll keep you posted.
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