Hasta La Creative!

Huawei, the Chinese telecoms giant, is launching a marketing campaign with the tagline ‘Test Pilots Wanted’ in a bid to highlight the speed of its 4G mobile products.

SCA is reviewing global advertising arrangements for brands including Plenty and Tempo in a bid to appoint a single agency for each of its international tissue brands.

Rescue Remedy, the Nelsons-owned brand, has appointed Inferno to handle its UK advertising account. The agency was appointed to the business after a pitch that also involved the incumbent, TBWA\London. Inferno will build brand awareness of the range, which includes droppers and sprays used to address insomnia, depression and stress. An initial campaign will launch next year across print, radio and outdoor. TV work is expected in the next two years. Al Young, Inferno s chief creative officer, said: “We are incredibly excited about this creative opportunity to share a much-loved brand with a broader, bigger audience.” Mark Turrell, the UK general manager at Nelsons, said: “Rescue has big ambitions in 2013, and we needed the right agency to accompany us on this journey. Inferno s pitch was brave, inspiring and challenging whilst based in sound research and a thorough understanding of our target market.”

OMD UK has appointed Ann Wixley, the creative director at MEC, as its first creative director. In her new role, Wixley will develop the creative culture at OMD and sharpen its creative output by working with client teams, media owners and the specialist Omnicom agencies Fuse and Drum. Wixley will also be asked to back creative talent development. Initiatives will include a partnership with the School of Communication Arts. She joins the newly formed executive board created by the OMD managing director, Dan Clays, following his arrival at the agency in April 2012, and will report directly to him. Wixley has worked at MEC since 2007, and was the activation/creative director at the sponsorship specialist MEC Access until December 2009, when she became MEC s creative director. Before moving to London, Wixley was the activation director at the South African media agency Nota Bene and an account director at the agency Speakers Corner. Wixley was previously a professional dancer and the principal ballet dancer at the Cape Town City Ballet and the South African Ballet Theatre. Clay said: “We re delighted to welcome creative talent like Ann. “OMD UK is at the start of something new and having Ann on board marks our first step in a new and exciting direction.”

Vizeum has bolstered its planning department with three hires including Andrew Lloyd, who takes the role of planning managing partner. Lloyd, who will share responsibility for the quality of the agency s planning product with the rest of the management team, will report to the Vizeum chief operating officer, Jo Sutherland. He moves from MediaCom, which he rejoined last year as a business director heading the communications planning team for clients including M ller. Lloyd previously worked at OMD UK, where he was the business director for McDonald s. Vizeum has also poached James Hankins from MEC to fill the new role of head of integrated planning. While at MEC, Hankins led the Gocompare.com, Kuoni and Homeserve teams as the strategy director. Vizeum has also hired Luisa Bright, previously the client director on General Motors at its sister Aegis agency Carat, as its head of digital. Bright will support Vizeum s innovation agenda and report to Patrick Affleck, the managing partner, digital. Richard Morris, the managing director of Vizeum, said: “We are a planning-led agency, so it is no surprise I want to assemble the strongest possible strategy and planning capabilities within Vizeum. Andrew, James and Luisa will only add to our strength and reputation in this area.”

The Zoological Society of London has hired Arena Media to manage the media account for ZSL London Zoo and ZSL Whipsnade Zoo. The agency won the 2 million business after a pitch against undisclosed agencies. Initiative, the incumbent, did not repitch for the account. Targeted campaigns will roll out in March. The win comes as London Zoo gears up for its new exhibit, Tiger Territory, which will open in spring 2013. Rich Storton, the commercial and communications director at the ZSL, said: “Arena Media s creativity and digital expertise shone out for us at the pitching stage. We were very impressed with their understanding of our business and their enthusiasm for our brands.” Chris Armond, the group business director at Arena Media, said: “This is a really exciting time to be taking on the account, and we ll be working to engage family audiences across traditional and digital media.”

JD Williams, the catalogue retailer, has appointed McCann Manchester to handle strategic and creative work for its Jacamo brand after a pitch. Jacamo, the specialist menswear brand that offers large-size clothes, spends around 2 million a year on advertising and has recently opened its own retail stores. The brand currently uses the former England cricket captain Andrew Flintoff as its spokesperson. Previous advertising for Jacamo was fronted by the comedian Johnny Vegas. McCann will now help refine the positioning of the brand and create a multi-channel campaign. Alison Forbes, the head of brand, menswear, at JD Williams, said: “We are really excited about working with McCann. Their pitch got to the heart of our brand and they weren t afraid to challenge us. They also presented some great ideas across all channels that we can t wait to bring to life.”

The Account Planning Group has appointed Ogilvy Mather s Sarah Newman as its first full-time director. Newman, the global planning partner at Ogilvy Mather, takes the new role after the retirement of Steve Martin, the APG secretary, who steps down at the end of November. The APG, which is chaired by the Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO chief strategy officer, Craig Mawdsley, is creating a new structure around Newman, who will work to support the chair and committee. The group will also look to build a secretariat to provide administrative and marketing support for APG initiatives for the planning community. Emily Travis will continue in her role as the APG head of marketing. Newman, who served as the APG chair before Mawdsley, has worked with the body to grow its membership base and increase its training support for members. She also devised its Noisy Thinking events series.

Albion is opening a PR and social agency called Albion Drive, which will target en-trepreneurs and challenger brands. Its launch clients include the tequila brand Jose Cuervo, which is already an Albion client, as well as the start-ups Branient, Touchnote and TransferWise. Albion Drive opens its doors this week. The agency is based in Albion s Shoreditch offices in London and will be led by Bryce Keane, formerly a digital strategist at Cohn Wolfe. Albion Drive will manage conversation management and traditional PR, and marks the first stab by the agency in the earned media space. Jason Goodman, the founder and chief executive of Albion, said: “Marrying our proven strategic capabilities to a new PR and social offer has created a very compelling proposition for entrepreneurial business. It s great to be working on day one with some amazing businesses.” Albion Drive is the second standalone business to launch from Albion. In 2011, it created Albion Cell, a direct marketing agency that offers specialism in digital sales, eCRM and live data. The founder of the peer-to-peer currency transfer service TransferWise, Taavet Hinrikus, said: “Albion Drive understand the mentality of a challenger brand like ours and are bursting with ideas. The team have the disruptive approach companies like ours require.”

Gatwick Airport has called a review of its £15 million five-year media planning and buying account, currently held by Mindshare.