Hasta La Creative!

Mr. Holt often held back during the debate, allowing the two candidates to bicker, but he did reject Donald J. Trump’s claim that he opposed the Iraq war.

While the new Omnicom Group agency dedicated exclusively to McDonald’s still remains unnamed, the fast-feeder’s CMO Deborah Wahl and DDB North America CEO Wendy Clark discussed the ins and outs of the new relationship during a panel at Advertising Week.

Last month, McDonald’s awarded a DDB-led Omnicom team its U.S. creative account after 35 years with Publicis’ Leo Burnett Co., and Ms. Clark said the RFP for the business, which came at the holding company level, was “voluminous.”

She said she had hundreds of people from almost 20 different agencies within Omnicom working on the brief for 16 weeks. “It was breakneck, but it was good,” said Ms. Clark.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Just about the time Republicans and Democrats will likely be yelling over who won tonight’s presidential debate, Jeep will run an ad that, perhaps impossibly, seeks to unite the country.

The ad, called “Free to Be,” spotlights people with different political persuasions and lifestyles — such as meat-eaters and vegetarians — before ending with the message “what unites us is stronger than what divides us.” The soundtrack is “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out,” by the former Cat Stevens, who now goes by the name Yusuf.

The ad — which spotlights the 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit and Trailhawk models — is by Dentsu-owned McGarryBowen. The agency is a roster shop for Jeep-owner Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, but has mostly worked on the smaller Maserati brand. So the Jeep spot represents a significant new assignment for the agency and is expected to be followed by similarly themed ads. Jeep’s lead agency is DDB, Chicago. The Omnicom shop’s status has not changed, according to a Fiat Chrysler spokeswoman.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Back in April, MillerCoors surprised a few in the agency world by moving lead creative duties for Miller Lite from TBWAChiatDay to 180LA without a review and effectively trusting a different shop with its top brand.

180’s first work for the client is quite similar to TBWA’s, sticking with the “spelled different because it’s brewed different” line from recent ads celebrating the brand’s 40th anniversary. Those spots marked a bit of a departure from TBWA’s debut “Wonderful World” ads, which focused on keeping things positive.

“We Ask” debuts on teevee in October but ran in AdAge today, and it is the most direct challenge to Bud in recent memory. Great taste or less filling? Miller claims to be both.

We’re not quite sure exactly when the account changed hands, but this spot is in keeping with others that followed TBWA’s most recently publicized work, which ran about 6 months ago.

It’s all about listing the beer’s features in a sort of auto ad style. Here, for example, is “Tattoo,” which comes at you from deep within Flavor Country.

Speaking as consumers, we find it a little odd that Miller Lite is pushing taste as its big selling point, especially since the brand and Bud are competing for a shrinking (but still quite significant) share of drinkers who haven’t departed for more artisanal pastures.

According to AdAge and CMO David Kroll, MillerCoors will reveal its larger strategy to distributors in Chicago today. SPOILER: that strategy is attack. And the attack will come on two fronts: Bud Light as a party brand for everybody (the Seth Rogen/Amy Schumer ads) and the recent NFL tie-in team cans thing. Someone “leaked” Kroll’s comments, in which he accuses Bud Light — and, by extension, Wieden + Kennedy — of sticking with “its old approach of hiding behind sophomoric humor.”

We could note that this sentence would apply to a vast majority of brands that advertising on TV, but we’ll let it go.

So the message is: Our beer tastes better and has half the carbs. Here’s AB InBev’s response:

“We are proud that Bud Light continues to be the most popular beer in America. However, we are never complacent and we continue to work hard to give our consumers the crisp, refreshing taste they prefer, and maintain our No. 1 spot. We just launched our new NFL team cans and are excited for the NFL season.”

Looks like we have a cat fight on our hands, people.

Here are a couple of other spots that aired over the summer as a sort of precursor to this new direction.

It’s a tough job, but some agency has to do it.

DAVID Miami hired Jon Carlaw as director of strategic planning, responsible for executing creative media and communication strategies for clients including Coca-Cola, Kraft-Heinz and Burger King.

Carlaw joins the agency full-time after spending a year and a half as freelance strategy director, working with agencies including Johannes Leonardo, McKinney, Preacher and Noble People, in addition to DAVID. Prior to that he spent nearly nine years with W+K Portland as a communications strategy and associate media director, working with clients including Coca-Cola, Target, Chrysler/Dodge, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft. Before joining W+K he spent a little over two years as a media supervisor with CP+B Miami, where he focused on the agency’s MINI Cooper account, helping to establish the brand in the U.S. and winning a Cannes Titanium Lion. He has also held media positions at Intermark Group, FCB Chicago and Ogilvy & Mather.

“Jon brings with him deep expertise and powerful insights for brand building and communications planning, which is why he’s perfect for DAVID and our clients,” said DAVID Miami co-founder and CCO Anselmo Ramos. “We’re so happy to have him part of the team.”