Hasta La Creative!

Weeks after losing the global Heineken account, Wieden+Kennedy has won Bud Light in the U.S. and Corona worldwide (which will be handled by its Amsterdam office).

Bud Light will no longer work with previous AOR BBDO, the shop behind its “Up for Whatever” campaign.

The statement from Jorn Socquet, the company’s U.S. marketing VP:

“We’re pleased to announce that Wieden + Kennedy has joined our roster, assuming the role of lead creative agency for Bud Light. With an award-winning body of work in both CPG and alcohol segments and an impressive global footprint, Wieden + Kennedy brings a powerhouse of talent and experience to Bud Light, and we looking forward to taking the brand to new heights together.

Wieden+Kennedy’s appointment to Bud Light in the U.S. is part of an AB InBev global strategic partnership that includes creative support for the global brand Corona outside of the U.S.”

Socquet also gave this quote to Adweek’s Kristina Monllos:

“We’ve always looked at Wieden from the sidelines as an agency that one day we would potentially want to work with.”

It would seem, then, that the client has been looking to make a change for some time. This news is the culmination of a series of shifts that included several executive changes and the relocation of its operations from St. Louis to Manhattan. In March, the future of the account began to look more uncertain as BBDO moved the team working on the business from Chicago to New York.

Other recent changes:

• Socquet became US CMO in early 2014
• Lucas Herscovici was promoted to the new role of “VP digital marketing” in the U.S.
• The company chose to outsource its media buying, sending the business to MediaCom
• AB InBev hired 360i as its lead digital agency and IMG as its sports marketing agency
• Bud Light sent its Hispanic account to ALMA

It’s also worth nothing that, before landing with W+K, Bud Light went from DDB to mcgarrybowen to Translation and then to BBDO–all within a period of less than two years.

For the record, AB InBev clarifies that the most recent change had nothing to do with the problematic tagline that scored the company a round of bad press back in April, further supporting the theory that its new management team had been planning the change for some time.

According to Socquet, who cites W+K’s work for Nike as one reason for the switch, the new agency’s first work for the client will probably be next year’s Super Bowl campaign.

Earlier this week, Heineken went to Publicis after breaking with W+K, so we can debate which major beer brand got the better deal.

Whatever.

A year after introducing a bespectacled, bearded financial seer of sorts who warns customers about overdraft fees and more for KeyBank, Mithun revisits the character with a new campaign that deals primarily with the same subject matter.

The Minneapolis agency has unveiled two new spots for its Cleveland-based client that feature our hero providing on-the-spot financial interventions for two new consumers, once again helping out folks who are on the verge of making a critical error at checkout–something the parties involved dub “oops moments.”

Here’s the first:

Regarding the campaign–which ultimately promotes KeyBank’s premium banking offers and hassle-free account services–the brand’s marketing director Tom Wennerberg says in a statement:

“Avoiding fees is an important consideration when choosing a new banking relationship and the Hassle-Free account gives our clients the ability to make more confident decisions with their money. Mithun’s creative connects real life events to something consumers are looking for — clear and simple banking with no surprises.”

Along with the ads above, Mithun’s media unit Compass Point Media has handled placements in KeyBank core markets with an emphasis on television, radio, print and digital.

Dodge is launching an ad campaign this weekend starring the Hellcat trims of the Challenger and Charger, along with the Viper GTS.

The production, titled “Predators,” has 30- and 90-second cuts and uses the Phil Collins hit “In the Air Tonight” as a surprisingly mellow backdrop while the roaring cars tear up Miami streets.

The 90-second spot will run in select movie theaters across the country from Friday, July 3, to July 23. Each version of the commercial begins airing on cable TV on Sunday, July 5.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Prince is the new Taylor Swift. The artist has pulled his catalog from most streaming services, with a few notable exceptions. His music is still available on Jay-Z’s Tidal, a coup for a business that’s struggled since its high-profile launch earlier this year. Prince’s music is also still on digital radio services such as Pandora and Songza, which operate on so-called compulsory licenses that make it tricky for artists to refuse to participate.

Prince’s actions point toward a possible future for monthly streaming services that could undermine the idea altogether. The promise of an Apple Music or a Spotify is that once a subscription fee is paid, listeners don’t have to worry about anything. But already, someone who wants access to both Taylor Swift’s 1989 and Prince’s Purple Rain has to buy two subscriptions, or supplement the supposedly comprehensive service she has chosen with a few actual album purchases.

This is already how the online video world is shaping up, with such companies as Netflix and Amazon.com competing to produce original shows. But people are used to spending a lot of money to watch TV. A big part of the appeal of those services comes from replacing costly cable subscriptions, and anything seems cheap compared with a monthly Comcast bill. The $10 monthly cost of Spotify, Apple Music, or Tidal is already much more than the average person spends on music over the course of the entire year.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Just two weeks after Wieden & Kennedy and Heineken parted ways, the agency is taking over as the new lead agency for Bud Light in the U.S. The shop will also take on Corona outside the states.

The move marks the fourth agency change in less than four years for Bud Light, whose sales have been decline as more drinkers shift to craft beer. The Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned brew has been handled by BBDO, New York since mid 2013, and before that made stops at McGarryBowen and Translation after ending a long-running relationship with DDB.

W&K will also oversee Corona globally, but not in the U.S., where the beer is owned by Constellation Brands, not A-B InBev. Corona’s U.S. agency is Cramer-Krasselt.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Media
Graubünden Tourism

Advertising Agency:Jung Von Matt/Limmat, Zurich, Switzerland

Mr. Essex, vice chairman of the independent agency known for its innovative digital-age campaigns, will move into an advisory role.

Adidas Golf has selected Venables Bell & Partners as its new lead creative agency following a review, Adweek reports. Incumbent Kastner & Partners were one of the six finalists in the review, which included ten agencies total. Media buying and planning were not part of the review and remain with Carat. Adidas Golf spent approximately $45 million on measured media last year, according to Kantar Media.

Kastner & Partners had worked with the brand for over three years, recently changing its approach to highlight golf as “as a sport with athletes of the highest caliber,” according to chief creative officer Jamie Riley. Riley joined Kastner & Partners from 72andSunny last September and we spoke to him about the agency’s recent campaign for Adidas Golf in February. The following month, however, it was revealed that he was leaving the agency, along with managing director Richard Turner.

Melissa Ziegler, global brand marketing director for Adidas Golf, told Adweek the brand’s shift in approach was the impetus for the review, saying, “We are shifting to be more aligned with the Adidas brand and the idea that golf is a sport, and golfers are athletes. So, we wanted to find a new agency partner that could really help us bring that to life.”

(TrendHunter.com) In what seems like an effort to breakdown beauty stereotypes, BuzzFeed’s Loryn Brantz remakes several famous Disney princess designs that replace the princesses’ elegant, small and…

Mr. Boire, Sears Canada’s chief executive, will succeed Michael Huseby, who is becoming executive chairman of Barnes & Noble Education.