Hasta La Creative!

General Mills’ U.S. creative review isn’t closed as previously believed — in fact, the marketer is proceeding with some shops not currently on its roster, including Deutsch and Mother.

The other agencies going through to the second round are incumbents 72andsunny, McCann and, rather than Saatchi, a holding company solution from Publicis Groupe.

In another rather unusual twist, General Mills is requiring that participating agencies are staffed with at least 50% women and 20% people of color within the creative department.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

To some extent, all brands seek to define themselves in ads. Airline KLM, however, takes this process to a reductive extreme in new work from agency Mustache, letting prospective passengers know that it is, in fact, more than anything else … an airline.

read more

Chinese multinational telecommunications company ZTE, which is also the fourth largest smartphone supplier in the U.S., selected The Baiocco and Maldari (BAM) Connection, the Brooklyn-based agency launched by former Grey execs Rob Baiocco and Maureen Maldari in 2014, to lead the U.S. campaign for its Axon 7 Smartphone after a review.

The BAM Connection will be tasked with developing an integrated campaign spanning online video, cinema, OOH, banner ads, digital, print, in-store and radio to drive sales for the Axon 7, which was first revealed in May.

“The BAM Connection is the absolute right partner to help us launch the Axon 7 and highlight the overall value it brings to consumers’ lives,” ZTE USA vice president of strategic marketing Andrew Elliott said in a statement. “We felt BAM excelled in a unique way compared to other agencies, and feel their creative abilities and thoughtful considerations across media are an asset.”

“We are thrilled to launch ZTE’s flagship Axon 7 device, which has already received rave reviews from consumers in the U.S. and other parts of the world,” added THE BAM Connection CEO Maureen Maldari. “Its premium features, combined with its budget-friendly price has already attracted many American consumers and we’re excited to build on the momentum it has already received in the market.”

The win would appear to be a project-based assignment that could lead to more work after the launch. ZTE declined to share more information regarding its billings or the agencies that competed for its business.

ZTE joins a client roster that also includes Akorn Consumer Health, LaPostolle Wine, VF and Valeant. You may also recall The BAM Connection’s effort last December to create alternate acronyms for the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn it calls home.

Sonos wants consumers to know they don’t deserve crappy speakers, shared dirty earbuds or jerry-rigged speaker systemsthe listening community can do better. To that end, the Santa Barbara, Calif.-based seller of sound systems is debuting a new campaign, “You’re Better Than This,” which will begin Sept. 1. Created with 72andSunny, which also worked on Sonos’ most recent holiday push, the new global effort includes TV, digital and out-of-home advertising.

A 60-second video begins with a clip from “I Love You, Man,” the comedy starring Paul Rudd and Rashida Jones, as both actors strain to listen to tiny speakers. The video moves on to other terrible listening situations, like a speaker made of Solo cups, and a sound system hooked up to a roaming vacuum.

“There’s a huge gap between how people feel about music and how they experience it at home,” said Joy Howard, who joined the 14-year-old brand as chief marketing officer last year, in a statement. “We’re using the weight of our brand and our unique position in the industry to create a better future for music.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Tronc’s resistance to a takeover bid from Gannett is either a brilliant negotiating strategy or a confounding plan to maintain independence.

Today in Press Releases, Saatchi & Saatchi’s primarily Lexus agency Team One has hired Tim Wettstein as its newest ECD. Moving forward, he will lead the shop’s Dallas office along with executive director Paul Silverman.

Wettstein moves to Texas after spending more than two years as a CD at 72andSunny, where he worked on such accounts as Target and Carls Jr. while pitching new business. His best-known work (at least according to the release) may be the 2011 Ad Council/Autism Speaks “Eye Contact Installation,” created while he was an art director at BBDO New York. That project is now in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art. He also contributed to 72andSunny’s award-winning Target Bullseye’s Playground project, which sounds a good bit like Pokemon Go.

Team One’s new ECD previously worked at CP+B Miami and J. Walter Thompson Atlanta, where he was a senior partner and GCD before departing for South Florida in 2013.

“Tim brings a truly integrated way of thinking that will be a perfect addition to the creative leadership team,” said Team One CCO Chris Graves in a statement. “He’s a talented creative with a passion for design and problem-solving, and his energy and enthusiasm are contagious. We feel fortunate to have Tim join us at this exciting time and look forward to his leadership in continuing to evolve and push the creative boundaries for our clients.”

The release also tells us that Wettstein is a pilot and “engine enthusiast” with a passion for planes, trains and automobiles.

Just over a year ago, Silverman was promoted to head of the Texas office and lead on the Lexus account at the same time Team One named Julie Michael as its new president. The release claimed that former president Paul Mareski would be “leaving to pursue his dream to relocate his family to his hometown of Detroit and participate in the city’s rebirth,” which might be the most awkward sentence we have read in some time. (Mareski has since launched a Motor City-based consultancy.)

“WE NOW INTERRUPT YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED WORLDVIEW,” reads the typographic message that opens a new promo for “Vice News Tonight,” Vice Media’s joint attempt with HBO to get millennials to watch a daily TV news show (beginning Sept. 26). As the promo continues, an announcer promises “the next generation of news” as more typography — “NO ANCHORS,” “NO SPONSORS,” “NO CENSORS” — flashes across some rather random scenes (explosions, gunfire, a gay pride parade). “Journalism without the makeup, truth without the talking heads,” the announcer continues. “This is not the nightly news. This is Vice News Tonight.”

The absence of anchors and makeup (we’ll see about that) is meant to convey authenticity, while the lack of censors and sponsors positions ‘Vice News Tonight’ as a more unfiltered, truthful form of broadcast journalism. Of course, Vice famously takes money from big brands and filthy advertisers elsewhere in its empire (including Phillip Morris, through Vice’s Edition Worldwide), and Vice Media is partially owned by the mainstreamest of mainstream media conglomerates, including Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox and A&E Networks (the Hearst Corp./Walt Disney Co. joint venture).

But this — this new news show over on HBO? This is PURE!

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Jeff Jones is trading his Target bullseye for an Uber ride. After four years heading marketing at the nearly 1,800-unit retail chain, Mr. Jones will leave the company, effective Sept. 9, to become president of ride sharing at Uber, where he is tasked with marketing and operations.

“Jeff Jones has modernized Target’s marketing and helped drive Target’s strategy, creating momentum for the company and positioning Target for the future,” said Brian Cornell, CEO of Target, in a statement.

The Minneapolis, Minn.-based retailer is conducting an external and internal search for Mr. Jones’ replacement.

Continue reading at AdAge.com