Hasta La Creative!

RB has sold its food unit to Schwartz spices owner McCormick for $4.2bn (£3.2bn).

Democratising access, Google has launched a voice based interface for users of Google Analytics, lowering barriers to entry for those unqualified or unfamiliar with the system.

Publicis Groupe has praised strong organic growth of 7.8% in the UK for the first half of the year, as the French advertising giant’s half-year performance was marred by legacy issues in the US.

Unilever is making progress with moves to streamline its advertising operations, its chief executive and finance chief have said.

Sky, Transport for London and Exterion Media created “Stark” makeovers for London’s largest stations to celebrate the launch of the latest Game of Thrones season.

TBWALondon hired Andy Jex as chief creative officer and Anna Vogt as chief strategy officer, effective as of October, Campaign reported earlier today. Jex and Vogt will both report directly to TBWA Worldwide president and CEO Troy Ruhanen.

Jex joins TBWA from Saatchi & Saatchi London, where he has spent over eight years, most recently serving as executive creative director, working with clients such as HSBC and Mattesons. Prior to joining Saatchi as a creative director in April of 2009, he spent over five years as a creative with Mother London, where he worked with brands including Stella Artois and Pot Noodle. Before that he spent five years as a creative with Fallon London, where he worked with brands such as Sony Walkmen and BBC Radio.

Vogt joins the agency from MullenLowe London, where she spent the past seven months serving as group head of strategy, following over a year and a half as head of planning. Before that she spent nearly three years with BBH London as strategy director and partner, following a similar stint as a planner with Grey.

Back in February, TBWA Worldwide bought a majority stake in independent London agency Lucky Generals and subsequently formed a TBWA U.K. Group consisting of  TBWALondon and the new acquisition. According to Campaign, Lucky Generals founders Andy Nairn, Danny Brooke-Taylor and Helen Calcraft led the search that led to Jex and Vogt’s hires and are currently recruiting a TBWALondon CEO.

Image Credit: Campaign

If a chef offered you a dish that included “paralyzing toxins” that “could suffocate you,” you probably wouldn’t eat it. But that’s the sort of choice people suffering from food allergies endure every day. A new campaign from nonprofit End Allergies Together (or E.A.T.) and BBDO New York seeks to raise awareness of food allergies–and…

The bad news is that British Airways’ new pre-flight safety video from BBH London is six minutes long. The good news is that it’s funny and full of celebrities. To raise funds for its global charity partnership with Comic Relief, British Airways–in keeping with a number of airlines in recent years–has turned its standard airplane…

Sean McInerney, VP-technology at Huge, has some thoughts on small agencies’ approach to tech investing that you really ought to hear. Recorded at Ad Age’s annual Small Agency Conference, which took place this year in Nashville.

Also from the conference, Barton F. Graf’s Jeff Benjamin delivered 3 brisk tips on surviving advertising and Kastner & Partner’s Brandon Rochon explained how small agencies should invest in start-ups.

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