Hasta La Creative!

ESI Media, the commercial team for the London Evening Standard, Independent, i, Independent on Sunday, and the upcoming London Live TV channel, has appointed former News International strategist Stuart Corke as head of audience and insight.

DraftFCB Chicago has invoked the cuteness theory for their latest Del Monte Foods work, which suggests that people will always respond positively to cats or babies. The Facebook campaign lets users personalize a digital cat avatar with pet photos and create a jingle. Aside from the obvious cooing and awwing, those who play along could win a $100 daily prize or a $10,000 grand prize. I can almost hear the creaky bones of cat ladies crunching as they try to get up from their rocking chairs and walk to their computers without stepping on one of their 47 cats.

The app has been so successful thus far, according to echoes from the Chicago office, that the agency’s needed to add more servers to accommodate the traffic. That means cat ladies are probably making 47 entries for each of their kittens, giving them more chances to win and less chances to ever reclaim a normal life that involves other human beings.

Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Nicola Mendelsohn’s move from Karmarama to Facebook continues a worrying brain drain for advertising, says Daniel Joseph, director at The App Business.

The TV-upfront chess game is about to begin. With about $9.2 billion in broadcast-advertising commitments on the line, here’s how the top six are positioned.

ABC

ABC wants to own its hits, and has ordered 24 pilots, 17 of which are from ABC Studios. It’s poised to end the season in last place in the 18-to-49 demo as shows like NBC’s “The Voice” steal viewers. “Dancing With the Stars” has fallen at a faster pace than Fox’s “American Idol,” and most of its new showslike “Zero Hour,” “Red Widow” and “666 Park Avenue”have been flops.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

And now, a bit of news news. The baton has officially been passed from one Martin Agency exec to another as the Richmond, VA operation’s chairman John B. Adams Jr. is taking over for longtime friend and colleague, Martin president Mike Hughes, as head of the VCU Brandcenter’s Board of Directors, which includes other notable names such as David Droga and Bob Greenberg Hughes, who you’re probably aware is battling cancer at the moment, will step down from his VCU leadership position, one he’s held for two decades, and into the role of chairman emeritus with the Brandcenter’s Advisory Board.

In a statement, the outgoing VCU board head says, ““I’m especially proud of my part in helping to bring [Brandcenter director] Helayne [Spivak] and John to these positions. I can’t imagine two better people to lead the changes and advances ahead. The students, faculty and the industry should all feel very good about this. My 34-year partnership with John and my 20-year relationship with the Brandcenter have been two of the highlights of my career. I envy their opportunity to help define the future of this business and the future of advertising and branding education.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Dylan Williams (below) is a partner and chief strategy officer at Mother. He also sits on the Technology Advisory Board at 10 Downing Street.

Focus sur le photographe Helminadia Jabur qui capture la fumée du mont Bromo, un volcan actif situé sur l’île indonésienne de Java. Le volcan est connu pour ses levers de soleil spectaculaires et sa vue majestueuse. Un rendu de l’environnement et du paysage très impressionnant, à découvrir en détails dans la suite.

ITV’s ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ has delivered the highest audience of this series so far, with an average audience of 10.5 million viewers on Saturday night.

(TrendHunter.com) Filling your home with living plants is a great way to add fresh vibrancy to your living space; these hanging garden planters are a unique way to show off your green thumb.

If you want to…