Hasta La Creative!

The front-page banner headline of the Philadelphia Inquirer story this morning about Wasserman Schultz’s exit is “TURMOIL AT THE TOP.”

And the possibility/likelihood that the anti-Bernie emails were leaked by the Russians? Oh Lordy. Speaking of the Russians, so far two DNC attendees (including one guy in a #nursesforBernie T-shirt) have asked me if I’ve read that Talking Points Memo post about the Trump-Putin bromance yet. (I have and it’s really something: “Trump & Putin. Yes, It’s Really a Thing.”)

Bernie Sanders is scheduled to take the stage at the Wells Fargo Center tonight. So he’s the designated healer of the disunified Democratic party, I suppose.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

WPP media investment group GroupM appointed John Montgomery to the newly-created position of global executive vice president of brand safety.

In the role Montgomery will work with GroupM’s community of digital advertising and media trading experts at GroupM agencies including MindShare, MEC, MediaCom and Maxus to create a coherent set of global standards operationalizing safety standards for GroupM clients in all advertising markets and ensuring compliance with anti-fraud regulations. He will report to global chief digital officer Rob Norman.

“Clients want to know their brands are safe and that the digital components of their media plans are effective in every region in which they operate,” Norman said in a statement. “And importantly, they deserve to get what they’re paying for — the engagement of their targeted audiences with their brand messages, accountably and safely. John is one of the world’s foremost authorities on digital brand safety. He holds the respect of clients, media partners, and regulators for his innovative thinking and practical approaches to making digital advertising respectful of consumers, more effective for advertisers and consequently a viable business for publishers.”

Montgomery joined GroupM as North American chairman of GroupM Connect in January of 2015. Before that he served as he served as COO of GroupM Interaction for North America , leading the digital data strategy, innovation and policy for the group. He served as CEO of Ogilvy Group Netherlands back in 2001, before relocating to New York to lead the Interactive media practice for MindShare and Ogilvy. He was then appointed as Global CEO of MindShare Interaction in 2006.

“John Montgomery understands that brands, agencies, publishers, and technology companies share equal responsibility for maintaining the integrity of the digital advertising supply chain, so that we can inspire the trust of consumers and guarantee them the best possible experiences with interactive media and the advertisers that support it,” said IAB president and CEO Randall Rothenberg.

Montgomery himself said, “GroupM’s advocacy for higher quality standards in digital in the U.S. continues to be challenging, but rewarding, and I believe the entire industry has benefited. Going global with these efforts promises to be an even bigger lift given the differences among players and platforms, as well as vendor and marketplace readiness in different countries.”

Longtime Coca-Cola marketer Emmanuel Seuge is leaving the beverage giant to start his own company investing in startups. Mr. Segue, who joined the company in 1997 as an intern, most recently served as senior VP-content for Coca-Cola North America. He played a key role shaping Coke’s approach to entertainment marketing and content creation.

“Emmanuel has helped to transform our approach to content in North America by bringing creative, social, entertainment and ventures together to engage with people in the most compelling ways in a new era of content creation and consumption behaviors,” Ivan Pollard, senior VP-strategic marketing at Coca-Cola North America, stated in an internal memo to employees announcing Mr. Seuge’s departure.

A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola said it has not yet named a replacement. Mr. Seuge’s new company will involve an equity fund that invests time and money in emerging start-ups, she said.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

HBO’s Vinyl has already proven that one man can’t carry a franchise, even if he happens to be a charismatic actor who was good in that boring retro gangster show that lasted three seasons longer than it should have.

But Bobby Cannavale was a nice choice for this new Wieden+Kennedy Nike ad, which aired last night and already has about 8 million YouTube hits.

In “Unlimited Future,” Cannavale speaks to some of Nike’s (and the world’s) best-known athletes as babies, giving them a very unconventional pep talk.

That ad reminded us of a few things that we sort of knew: Mo Farah was separated from his family; Serena Williams and her sister grew up in Compton; top Chinese NBA draft prospect Zhou Qi is “mysterious“; Neymar Jr. did not choose to be a Jr. Also, LeBron went to Cleveland and Nike made an ad about it after he won.

Even though you can’t determine your parents, your place of birth, your social class or any number of other variables that will ultimately have a significant impact on your life, you CAN control whether you decide to work your ass off from the moment you first become self-aware enough to start considering it. And a Nike contract can be the ultimate product of all that work for an athlete who isn’t yet a household name.

“The road to greatness is a long one, made up of staunch determination, inevitable struggles and hard-won triumphs,” the release tells us.

It’s part of a pre-Olympic series profiling Nike contract athletes that provides a pretty good twist on the common millionaires as underdogs narrative, and it allows for a lot of winking references to famous names without crowding any of those familiar people onto the screen.

To get serious for a moment, though: the Rio games are gonna be a big mess, right?

Credits
CLIENT: Nike
PROJECT NAME: Unlimited Future

W+K PORTLAND
Global Creative Directors: Alberto Ponte, Ryan O’Rourke
Interactive Director: Dan Viens
Executive Producer: Matt Hunnicutt
Copywriter: Josh Bogdan
Art Director: Pedro Izique
Agency Producer: Erin Goodsell
Digital Producer: Patrick Marzullo, Keith Rice
Strategic Planning: Andy Lindblade, Nathan Goldberg, Reid Schilperoort
Media/Comms Planning: Danny Sheniak, John Furnari, Brian Goldstein, Jocelyn Reist
Account Team: Chris Willingham, Alyssa Ramsey, Corey Woodson, Anna Boteva, Carly Williamson

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Superprime
Director: Damien Chazelle
Executive Producer: Rebecca Skinner
Head of Production: Roger Zorovich
Line Producer: William Green
Director of Photography: Rodrigo Prieto
Production Designer: Melanie Jones
Casting: Dan Bell Casting
EDITORIAL
Editorial Company: Exile
Editor: Eric Zumbrunnen
Assistant Editor: Dusten Silverman
Post Producer: Brittany Carson
Executive Post Producer: Carol Lynn Weaver
Head of Production: Jennifer Locke

VFX
VFX Company: The Mill
2D Lead Artist: Adam Lambert
2D Artists: Joy Tiernan, Jason Bergman
Matte Painting: Rasha Shalaby
VFX Producer: Alex Bader
VFX Coordinator: Samantha Hernandez
Executive VFX Producer: Enca Kaul
Shoot Supervisor: Phil Crowe, Tim Rudgard
Color
Company: The Mill
Colorist: Adam Scott
Executive Producer: Thatcher Peterson
Color Producer: Diane Valera
ORIGINAL MUSIC
Music Company: Beacon Street Studios
Composer: John Nau
Executive Producer: Adrea Lavezzoli
Music Company: Walker
Composer: Frédéric Chopin
Track Name: XBereceuse, Op. 57
Arranger: McKenzie Stubbert
Executive Producer: Sara Matarazzo
Senior Producer: Abbey Hickman
Music Coordinators: Jacob Piontek, Marissa Hernandez

LICENSED MUSIC
Artist: Santigold
Track Name: “Kicking Down Doors”
Music Supervision: Walker
SOUND DESIGN
Sound Design Company: Barking Owl
Sound Designer: Michael Anastasi
Creative Director: Kelly Fuller Bayett
Producer: Ashley Benton

MIX
Music/Sound/Mix Company: Lime Studios
Audio Mixer: Rohan Young
Audio Assistant: Ben Tomastik
Executive Producer: Susie Boyajan

Promotional, retail, and shopper marketing agency The Integer Group appointed Todd Brandes as senior vice president, integrated commerce.

Brandes joins The Integer Group from DigitasLBi Chicago, where he has served as SVP/group account director for the past three years while working on integrated marketing programs for MillerCoors, Motorola and Sprint. Before that he served as group account director at OMD U.S. for over a year and a half, focusing on the Intel account, following a short stint as a consultant with The Shadow Gang.

The incoming commerce executive also spent four years with Digital Kitchen (ascending to the role of managing director and partner) and a decade with DDB Chicago in various account, management and production roles. He worked in production on the Anheuser-Busch account for two years before leaving to join Motorola as director of global advertising and content in 2007. 

The agency also announced a series of promotions, elevating Terry Logan to the role of vice president, head of venture and experience design and Ben Kennedy to vice president, market development and digital ventures.

TBWAChiatDay teamed up with Moonbot Studios (who you may remember from such animated spots as “The Scarecrow” for Chipotle) to create a Gatorade short telling the origin story of Jamaican runner Usain Bolt. 

The spot, entitled “The Boy Who Learned to Fly,” opens with Bolt’s mother telling him he’s going to be late for school. For a boy of normal speed, she would probably be right, but Bolt sprints off, scoring a goal in a pickup soccer game and impressing a track coach on his way to class, sliding into his desk just before the bell rings. Said track coach becomes Bolt’s mentor, providing him with lunch (which he forgot in his haste to leave his house in the morning) in exchange for winning a race and then informing him of his potential for greatness and what it will take to get to that point.

From there, the spot flashes forward to the 2002 Junior Championships and the increasing pressure put on Bolt to win.

It’s a fun approach, with the imaginative and colorful animation matching its tone.

Aside from a Gatorade poster as Bolt walks down the tunnel into a track field at the beginning of the spot, the Gatorade brand doesn’t make an appearance until almost the five minute mark, when a modern day Bolt is handed a Gatorade bottle by a water boy. The spot really plays more like a branded short than an ad, with Gatorade aligning itself with the likable Jamaican track legend.

Maybe that’s for the best, as the lack of more overt branding certainly helps keep things light, enjoyable and shareable for both kids and adults while still gelling nicely with the larger “For the Love of Sport” campaign. As proponents of brevity, we do wonder if this story could have been told in a slightly shorter format (the spot runs almost six minutes long). That being said, it doesn’t drag nearly as much as you’d expect given the run time. Check out the making of short below for more on how “The Boy Who Learned to Fly” came together.

Credits:
Client: Gatorade
Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day Los Angeles
Production Company: Moonbot Studios
Senior Vice President, General Manager: Brett O’Brien
Senior Director, Consumer Engagement: Kenny Mitchell
Director of Digital Strategy: Jeff Miller
Manager, Digital Media: Abhishek Jadon
Senior Director Sport and Athletic Services: Jeff Kearney
Sports Marketing: Kyle Grote
Sports Marketing: Aminah Charles
Chief Creative Officer: Brent Anderson
Executive Creative Director: Renato Fernandez
Creative Director: Mark Peters
Senior Copywriter: Cyrus Coulter
Senior Art Director: Paulo Cruz
Director of Production: Brian O’Rourke
Executive Producer: Guia Iacomin
Senior Producer: Stephanie Dziczek
Producer: Cristina Martinez
Print Producer: Gabriella Nourse
Art Producer: Gabrielle Sirkin
Managing Director: Jerico Cabaysa
Brand Director: Robyn Morris
Brand Manager: Erika Buder
Associate Brand Manager: Theo Kirkham-Lewitt

Dentsu Aegis has acquired b-to-b creative agency Gyro as the global agency network continues its acquisition spree and invests in b-to-b.

Gyro will absorb Dentsu Aegis’ existing b-to-b group Interprise, which it launched earlier this year. The combined offering will span media planning and buying, creative services and events, among other capabilities, the company said in a statement.

Gyro, known for its ability to combine business strategy with emotional storytelling, in January was named Ad Age’s B-to-B Agency of the Year for 2015. The 600-person, U.S.-based shop ended 2015 with $171 million in revenue and a handful of new accounts, including Aflac’s b-to-b account, Ball Corp., Honda Aircraft Co. and Vodafone, plus a large b-to-b project for Google in Europe. As a result of an influx of new business from existing clients HP and Visa, the shop doubled its employee base to 65 in its San Francisco office. It also moved into new headquarters on Wall Street to serve its New York clients.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

China’s top internet regulator ordered major online companies including Sina and Tencent Holdings to stop original news reporting, the latest effort by the government to tighten its grip over the country’s web and information industries.

The Cyberspace Administration of China imposed the ban on several major news portals, including Sohu.com and NetEase, Chinese media reported in identically worded articles citing an unidentified official from the agency’s Beijing office. The companies have “seriously violated” internet regulations by carrying plenty of news content obtained through original reporting, causing “huge negative effects,” according to a report that appeared in The Paper on Sunday.

The agency instructed the operators of mobile and online news services to dismantle “current-affairs news” operations on Friday, after earlier calling a halt to such activity at Tencent, according to people familiar with the situation. Like its peers, Asia’s largest internet company had developed a news operation and grown its team. Henceforth, they and other services can only carry reports provided by government-controlled print or online media, the people said, asking not to be identified because the issue is politically sensitive.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

The telecommunications company is buying an entity that has made repeated missteps for years, but the deal gives it a bigger footprint in digital content.

In Figliulo&Partners Founder and CEO Mark Figliulo‘s new opinion piece for Campaign, he sums up the current state of advertising as essentially a few holding companies, led by a handful of finance gurus, who then select business-forward leaders for individual agencies rather than creatives. The solution, according to Figliulo, is to “empower the storytellers to make sense of” the complex problems facing the current marketing and communications landscape.

“I don’t mean they should lead a campaign or a department, I mean they should lead the whole damn thing,” he clarifies, drawing a parallel to the fashion industry, where “it’s the creative directors who are the visionary leaders of their companies.” He argues, “The same thing has to happen for agencies.”

In other words, today’s creative leaders shouldn’t lead just teams of other creatives, “but strategic and analytic teams, media agency teams, client teams and ultimately millions of consumers.” Such leaders would need to be collaborative and have an understanding of disciplines sometimes seen as outside the creative purview, such as tech, strategy, analytics, marketing and even finance.

Figliulo makes the argument that having a CEO with a creative background is a “priority statement.” Choose a CEO with a financial background instead and you’ll get “procurement-led communications”; one with a client-service focus and you’ll get “‘give the client what they want’ communications.” At such agencies you have to look down the organizational chart quite a ways before you find someone with a creative background. With a creative leader, however, you’ll get the kind of “idea-led communications” that can lead the way forward.

Figliulo does sneak a bit of self-promotion into the piece, ending by presenting his own agency as evidence that a creative-first model can work. He says he “hand-picked an amazing group of partners that are truly exceptional at what they do,” noting that they are “much smarter about finance, strategy, production and client relationships than me.”

He adds, “They are even better at running a viable business than me, but we work well together because we all know that at the end of the day, it comes down to the power of the idea, and the skills of the creative leader to make that idea happen.” 

That would be him, right?