Hasta La Creative!

Ms. Streep will play the mother of Alexander Skarsgard’s character in the second series of the HBO series, which also stars Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon.

Once NBC’s revival of Will & Grace became one of this season’s biggest hits–and ABC scheduled a Roseanne return for midseason–it was only a matter of time before a rival decided to bring back another ’90s hit. And now, CBS has announced it will be bringing back Murphy Brown next season, with Candice Bergen reprising…

In December, home improvement giant Lowe’s confirmed that it would be the latest retailer to break with tradition in abandoning the traditional agency of record model.

That news came in the form of a creative review that launched after Lowe’s parted with its CMO and moved its media buying business from OMD to Starcom, thereby ending an exclusive 12-year relationship with Omnicom.

This review, however, is unique in several ways.

Lowe’s is hardly the first client eager to keep its options open on the agency front. But according to three parties with direct knowledge of the matter, the current review is organized by region, with three separate pitches involving agencies in the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest portions of the United States. (Lowe’s is based in Mooresville, North Carolina.)

Each pitch involves three finalists competing to be Lowe’s creative agency for their respective regions. Our sources say the process is now in its last stages, with final presentations occurring last week.

Moving forward, Lowe’s will retain all three winners, maintaining the equivalent of an open-format business relationship with each. In other words, the different shops could simultaneously work on different and potentially complimentary projects. According to our sources, major projects will also follow a “jump ball” round in which the three agencies will pitch against one another.

All factors strongly indicate that spending concerns helped shape this approach, with earlier reports stating that Lowe’s looks to move away from major TV and print work in order to focus more heavily on digital campaigns.

But this not a standard consolidation effort in which a major client moves all work to a single holding group. When news of the review first broke, a BBDO representative confirmed that the agency would be defending its business. According to our sources, IPG’s Ep.+Co, sister agency to Hill Holliday, is also competing in the Southeastern pitch.

A BBDO representative deferred to the client for further comment, and an Ep+Co. spokesperson declined to comment. Lowe’s also declined to elaborate on the review, and the full list of agencies involved is unclear at this time.

All of our sources, however, agree that the winners should be announced in coming weeks.

Gatorade has hired Work & Co. to help the brand with digital innovation, specifically focused around increasing engagement with consumers, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

A Gatorade spokeswoman confirmed that the PepsiCo-owned brand has “partnered with Work & Co.,” but declined to disclose further details. Representatives from Work & Co. referred a request for comment to the client.

Work & Co. won the business following a competitive review, according to the people familiar with the matter. These people told Ad Age that the winning agency would be tasked with creating digital products meant to increase long-term consumer engagement with Gatorade, including on a one-to-one basis. The agency plans to develop and deploy digital products and apps to help the brand better understand its core buyers, they said.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Publicis Groupe has hired Shenan Reed as president, chief client officer for VM1, a’ dedicated Verizon unit housed within Zenith. Reed will be tasked with leading strategic activity across Publicis Groupe’s Zenith, SapientRazorfish, Moxie, Rokkan and The Community units for the client. “I’m excited to join the team,” Reed said in a statement. “I look…

Olympic athletes chase gold, silver and bronze. But for their everyday spending needs, Visa’s fantastic blue plastic sure comes in handy. Almost all of the 54 members of the company’s Olympic and Paralympic endorsement roster, representing 21 countries and 15 sports, pull together for a global campaign ahead of the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang,…

Gatorade has hired Work & Co. to help the brand with digital innovation, specifically focused around increasing engagement with consumers, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

A Gatorade spokeswoman confirmed that the PepsiCo-owned brand has “partnered with Work & Co.,” but declined to disclose further details. Representatives from Work & Co. referred a request for comment to the client.

Work & Co. won the business following a competitive review, according to the people familiar with the matter. These people told Ad Age that the winning agency would be tasked with creating digital products meant to increase long-term consumer engagement with Gatorade, including on a one-to-one basis. The agency plans to develop and deploy digital products and apps to help the brand better understand its core buyers, they said.

Continue reading at AdAge.com