Hasta La Creative!

Conde Nast, the publisher of Vogue and Vanity Fair, ended recent speculation Wednesday when it named former Fairchild Fashion Media President and CEO Gina Sanders to the newly created position of president of global development at Conde Nast.

Two weeks ago, Conde Nast sold Fairchild, publisher of Women’s Wear Daily, to Penske Media for a reported $100 million. But Ms. Sanders, a 26-year Conde Nast veteran who became president and CEO of Fairchild in 2010, didn’t go with Fairchild; Conde Nast CEO Chuck Townsend said then that she would assume a role with parent company Advance Publications to be announced shortly.

Ms. Sanders’ next step became a subject of conversation partly because she is widely considered on a track for growing leadership responsibilities at Conde Nast. Ms. Sanders’ earlier posts at Conde include VP-publisher stints at titles including Lucky and Gourmet, and she was founding VP-publisher of Teen Vogue, but the assignment to run Fairchild established her credentials as an operator of a multi-title company division.

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You know summer is over when New York Fashion Week and its media maelstrom descends upon our fair city. TDA_Boulder, however, has some words of advice for the “super” models attending the events in this faux PSA for client Sir Richard’s Condom Co.:

Use protection lest your accidental children be too beautiful for this world.

The spot will run on TV during cable coverage of the Week on E! while simultaneously appearing on the web pages of big-name fashion pubs like Vogue and WWD.

It aims to “build brand awareness among social/style influencers, especially female”, though we wonder if the models themselves will relate.

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Director Nick Spooner has joined The Sweet Shop for commercial representation. A writer, producer, cartoonist and animator, the East Coast-based director has worked on campaigns for clients such as AT&T, Ford, Ikea, Tide and Volkswagen. Earlier in his career, he worked at Comedy Central, where he wrote, produced and directed campaigns for the brand. He has won awards at Cannes, The One Show, London International Awards and the Jay Chiat Awards.

VFX studio MassMarket Media has formed a film and TV division after inviting the creative team of Look Effects to join the company. Look Effects, which has offices in Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver, is closing and LookFX partners Henrik Fett and Mark Driscoll will become co-managing directors of Mass Market’s feature division. Existing projects underway at Look Effects will be completed by MassMarket.

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Spending on shopper marketing has grown faster than anything but digital and social media for packaged-goods players the past decade. But traditional media companies rarely get a piece of the action, which usually involves temporary price reductions or other deals along with in-store advertising and the battle for precious end-cap display space.

A new program from Unilever’s men’s personal-care brands at Target breaks from the usual shopper-marketing approach on several scores. It ties in with Conde Nast’s GQ, (including placing magazines in the displays) and puts men’s personal-care products in the men’s clothing department. The program is meant to rely more on the element of surprise than price discounts. And unlike most CPG promotions, it has no set end date, said Matthew McCarthy, senior marketing director of antiperspirants and deodorants at Unilever, who’s led the effort that also involves Unilever’s skincare and haircare brands.

“Part of this is that we’re learning with Target and GQ. And if it does well, you can rest assured that we’re continuing this and will build on it,” Mr. McCarthy said, noting that MindShare and Mindshare ESP are also involved. He’s pleased that the program, started in July, is now in 1,800 Target stores (out of more than 1,900), with initial sales results looking positive, including the number of shopping carts that have Target apparel along with Axe, Dove, Vaseline, Suave or Clear products.

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In a case of tips confirmed, we have the official press release announcing that McCann has won the Choice Hotels account.

McCann Erickson will handle creative while MRM//McCann will run “digital and customer relationship marketing responsibilities” for the chain; Deutsch New York was the other finalist in the pitch. This is the first major agency change for the brand since it awarded creative and promotional duties to Leo Burnett and Doner in 2009.

While Choice may not be a household name, many of its properties are: Days Inn, Ramada, Super 8, Howard Johnson, etc. Company SVP Robert McDowell writes:

“McCann presented a strategic, creative vision and platform for telling the powerful Choice story.”

Havas will retain media duties for the brand; Cohn & Wolfe is its PR AOR.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Time Warner’s Warner Bros. unit plans to offer buyouts to an unspecified number of workers as part of a drive to increase profit following a dismal summer season at movie theaters, according to two people with knowledge of the situation.

The Burbank, California-based studio, led by Chairman-CEO Kevin Tsujihara, may fire staff if too few employees take the offer, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Cost cuts at the film, TV and home-entertainment businesses will go beyond personnel, the people said, without being more specific.

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes is pushing division heads to operate more efficiently after rejecting Rupert Murdoch’s $75 billion takeover bid and promising investors his standalone growth plan will create more value. John Martin, CEO of the Turner division that includes CNN and TBS, has offered buyouts to about 6% of its U.S. employees.

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