Hasta La Creative!

Icaro Doria started at Omnicom’s DDB New York as chief creative officer this week. The new gig marks his return to the U.S. after leaving in 2010 for the irresistible opportunity to open Wieden & Kennedy Sao Paulo, where he was founder and executive creative director. Starting from nothing, Mr. Doria quickly built up a 130-person shop that last year was World Cup central, turning out global work for Coca-Cola and Nike during the World Cup tournament hosted by Brazil.

Before W&K, Mr. Doria was group creative director at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco, following creative roles at Y&R and Saatchi & Saatchi in New York.

We caught up with the Sao Paulo native for a few fun facts about him for this week’s edition of Six Things.

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BETC Paris teamed up with film collective We Are From LA (the team behind Evian’s “Baby and Me,” as well as Pharell’s “24 Hours of Happy”) in a surreal new spot for Air France, entitled “France is in the Air.”

“France is in the Air” marks the airline’s first global spot since 2011, and an extension of the retro-themed initiative of the same title launched last year. The 45-second spot features plenty of pink clouds, matched by the saccharine synth pop of Glass Candy, along with swings, dessert, flowers, fashion shoots and ballerinas (a random conglomeration vaguely suggestive of its home country). If that sounds a bit confusing for an ad promoting an airline, well, it is. To its credit, though, it will make people stop and wonder what it is they’re watching, which is more attention than viewers give to most ads in the category.

Justin Bieber is officially eating his own tail.

To promote his upcoming roast on Comedy Central slash desperate plea for respect, Canada’s cruel revenge on America participates in a parody of his much-buzzed about, possibly-but-he-swears-it-totally-wasn’t-Photoshopped Calvin Klein ads.

Jeff Ross dresses as model Lara Stone and does a good job of creeping hard on Bieber, who keeps playing the same drum fill over and over, like the greasy pop machine he is, posing as the real boy he seems to be.

It’s not as funny as Kate McKinnon’s SNL parody, but Bieber gets points for self-deprecation. And while he doesn’t really have to do anything special to be comical, he does up the ante a little, pretending to be anxious, rebuffing Ross’s grabs, and ultimately returning the favor.

The brief high point, though, might be the comedian’s jiggly beer-belly dance. Overall, the video makes for a pretty good teaser … or at least, a reminder that there might be some entertainment value in watching Bieber get chewed out.

And while it’s impossible not to wonder what Martha Stewart, Shaq and Snoop Dogg might have to say to Bieber, it can’t be a good sign—if not surprising—that Seth Rogen seems to have something better to do that night.

We Are From LA a réalisé le nouveau spot pour la classique Converse Chuck Taylor vue à travers l’oeil de ceux qui la portent : les inconnus, les presque-connus, les musiciens, les acteurs, les nerds, les artistes, les bizarres, les vieux, les jeunes. Autant d’anecdotes à raconter et qui font l’histoire de leurs baskets. Sur une excellente musique de SebastiAn, à découvrir.

GroupM’s response to allegations raised by industry consultant Jon Mandel over industry-wide media rebates in the U.S. has come swift and strong.

“In the U.S., rebates or other forms of hidden revenue are not part of GroupM’s trading relationships with vendors,” said Rob Norman Chief Digital Officer at WPP’s Group M. “GroupM and its agencies have not sought nor received any rebates from U.S. media vendors or other parties with whom we do business on behalf of our clients. In other markets around the world, rebates are sometimes part of the buy-sell relationship between agency and vendor. GroupM returns those rebates to advertisers in compliance with and as required by our client contracts.”

GroupM comprises Mediacom, MEC, Mindshare and Maxus, among other specialist groups, and until now has not weighed in publicly on the issue.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

David&Goliath launched a series of six mini-documentaries for the California Lottery entitled “CA Believes.”

Each of the six videos celebrates a inspiring Californians who “Believe in Something Bigger.” In the case of Bruno (video above), who rose from dishwasher to restaurant owner, that means providing pasta meals to local Boys and Girls Clubs. For others it’s painting community murals, using music to reach children in the classroom, providing poems on demand, starting a youth equestrian club in Compton, or defying a disability to become a competitive track and field sprinter. All six stories are housed at http://cabelieves.com/, where visitors are also invited to submit their own inspiring stories using the hashtag #CADream.

As David Angelo, founder and chairman of  David&Goliath explains, “‘Believe in Something Bigger’ started as a tagline for Powerball. But soon we realized it could mean something bigger. It became the start of a movement. And it inspired us to find six different people in different places doing some pretty special things.”

He explains that the line has evolved to represent not just the size of monetary prize, but the overall mission of the California Lottery. “What we love about the CA Lottery is that it is an organization that lives its mission from the inside out, 24/7,” he says. “This campaign is a fresh way to demonstrate to people that the Lottery stands for more than just monetary jackpots. CA Believes is a rallying cry to inspire Californians to believe in the power of possibilities and that true inspiration can ignite real change in our world.”

Le skateur Decio Lourenco, connu pour ses descentes en vitesse sur sa planche et sur des routes bien raides, a collaboré avec la marque Peugeot pour le spot de la 208 Peugeot. Produite par William Blanc de Cream et réalisée par John Israel, cette vidéo montre le sportif en train de descendre une route sur le toit de la voiture. Une publicité qui joue avec les sensations fortes des sports extrêmes, à découvrir.

Mis en image par Laurent Rodriguez
Artistiquement dirigé par Nam Simonis
Monté par Cyril Besnard aka Young Francis
Post produit par Digital District
Supervisé par François Schmidt et Guillaume Nadaud
Flame Artist : Alex Kolasinski
Mis en musique par Jean Waterlot @ Sound of Vision
Production service par Emmanuel Coste @ Nowhere else.

We’ve been talking all week about talent in the agency, marketing and media worlds — how to beat your rivals, essentially, at building the best team. But as the digital and branding space grows and morphs, so do jobseekers’ options. So we’re wrapping up today with specific advice from some very different agencies about their latest tactics.

Susie Nam, Managing Director and Head of Accounts, Droga5

Great talent will work for the work. We are first and foremost, defined by our work. We talk about, we obsess over it, we lose sleep over it, we want more of it. …. Whether an account manager or creative director, we find success in people who will run through walls for good creative and that the only path to good work is through strategy. Our best people are “thinking man” versions of their respective disciplines: thinking man suit, thinking man designer.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Facebook continues its campaign to invade Google’s ad-tech turf.

Facebook is building an ad exchange that would automate the sale of other publishers’ ads, according to people familiar with the matter. LiveRail, the online video ad-tech firm that Facebook bought last summer, will be the one operating the exchange, which will handle video and display ads.

The exchange will let publishers sell their ads through real-time auctions facilitated by LiveRail. Advertisers will be able to bid on the publishers’ inventory through automated ad-buying tools called demand-side platforms (DSPs) that would place their bids on the exchange. It’s unclear when the ad exchange will go live.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Mr. Lack led the division from 1993 to 2001 but is returning to a unit engulfed in turmoil since the crisis involving its news anchor, Brian Williams.