Hasta La Creative!

Kansas City-based agency Barkley promoted Melany Esfeld to director of integrated production and Esfeld subsequently pledged Barkley to “Free The Bid” as part of a larger commitment to greater diversity in the creative process.

“Inviting more diverse voices into the creative conversation is a no brainer and only makes the work better,” Esfeld said in a statement.

Esfeld joined Barkley as a senior producer at the beginning of 2016 and was promoted to executive producer the following May. Prior to joining Barkley, Esfeld spent five years as director of production for Factory Deisgn Labs, working with clients such as Sports Authority, The North Face, Oakley and Callaway. She began her career as an integrated producer with CP+B, where she worked with clients including Burger King, Domino’s, Microsoft, Volkswagen and Best Buy.

“Melany has had a major impact on the craft and quality of Barkley’s work. But in addition to her ability to make the work better, Melany makes everyone she leads better,” Barkley executive vice president, executive creative director Katy Hornaday said in a statement. “She is a force of nature when it comes to galvanizing a team and finding solutions where everyone else only sees limitations.”

“I have loved Barkley since day one,” Esfeld added. “I am humbled to lead a team who approaches every project with how it can be done in the biggest possible way. But most importantly, I am inspired daily by the fearless talent within the Barkley family.”

This is a guest post by Jillian Gibbs, founder and global CEO at Advertising Production Resources (APR).

A survey last year by the World Federation of Advertisers revealed that two-thirds of the respondents have decoupled production in some way: taking over the bidding process, directly hiring and paying vendors (like production companies), and/or outsourcing the management of the entire process to a third party other than the AOR.

The marketers who are taking on more control have brought creative in-house, hired on-staff production managers, and brought on internal digital production teams. Additionally, the nuts and bolts of production are moving out of the hands of agencies, in addition to trafficking, business affairs, and music licensing.

What is causing this dramatic shift? Why are marketers absorbing the labor-intensive aspects of production responsibilities instead of relying on the traditional agency model?

The pace of change is more than any one-stop-shop or AOR can handle.

Advertisers want the opportunity to work with the right creative partner for the best work. They also need options for content creation automation to reduce the layers of approvals so that they can be more responsive and work in real-time.

The challenges of this chaotic environment cannot be overstated. With tighter budgets and the escalating need for cost transparency, numerous alternative production models have emerged to fill in the gaps.

So, how can marketers navigate and optimize this new and complex normal? Where are the opportunities and what does the new AOR relationship look like?

Einstein said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.”

Marketers need a content production strategy to pull together all of the disparate production parts, whether it is done in-house, through agencies, production companies directly, with media platforms or wherever.

The challenge is the silo approach to content production which remains prevalent and forms a disconnected environment riddled with miscommunication, waste, and ineffective cross-channel messaging.

Change management will be key to our future success. As members of this industry, it is our collective role to evolve the eco-system, introduce new approaches and processes, and solve how the marketer manages, operates, and orchestrates their production network.

There is room for everyone to contribute high-quality creative that reaches the right audience at the right time.

We need to eliminate waste, leverage talent and production partners, and ensure the marketer has the agility and platform to work with the right creative resources for the right type of work.

There is space for innovation using blockchain, automated tools, and redesigning the ways of working.

The new normal is here, and we shouldn’t fear it. Agencies and everyone else in the industry should have a role to play in ensuring that marketers and their brands are successful at enhanced communication with improved efficiency.  We need to be open to change, and embrace our new role in supporting marketers on a more progressive way of creating all content.

In its race to catch Amazon in online retailing, Walmart issued misleading e-commerce results and fired an executive who complained the company was breaking the law, according to a lawsuit by the executive.

Tri Huynh, a former director of business development at Walmart, claims he was terminated “under false pretenses” after repeatedly raising concerns about the company’s “overly aggressive push to show meteoric growth in its e-commerce business by any means possibleeven, illegitimate ones.”

Under CEO Doug McMillon, Walmart has invested billions to catch up with Amazon in e-commerce over the past few years, and last year enjoyed quarterly online sales growth rates surpassing 50 percent, well above peers that include Target and Best Buy.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Interpublic Group’s Golin has teamed up with The 3% Movement, SheSays and EvolveHer to create an initiative dedicated to putting an end to unhealthy agency cultures that keep women from advancing their creative careers.

The “Have Her Back” campaign launches today online and will include an in-person training event in Chicago on April 10, which is Equal Pay Day. The event is open to women of all levels and ages in advertising who are looking for ways to get back into the agency world, as well as other agencies and holding companies that want to learn.

“It’s very apparent that we’re not dealing with the bigger issue in the industry, which is the toxic, openly hostile culture that women have to deal with day in and day out,” says Caroline Dettman, Golin’s chief creative officer.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

A&E Networks will use its upfront pitch to advertiser to highlight its women leaders and creators.

Amid the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, A&E is looking to show media agencies and their clients that the company, whose networks include History and Lifetime, has a long history of empowering women both in front of and behind the camera.

To this end, network talent like Toni Braxton, who will star in Lifetime’s original movie “Faith Under Fire;” Marcia Clark who headlines the A&E true-crime show “Marcia Clark Investigates the First 48;” Kristin Davis, who is part of Biography’s series “History, Herstory;” Meg Gill from Viceland’s “Beerland;” Olivia Munn, who joined History’s “Six;” soccer star Mallory Pugh; Queen Latifah, who tops the Lifetime movie “Flint;” and Leah Remini, whose show on Scientology has been renewed for a third season, will take the stage Thursday night to tell inspiration stories from their career and personal lives.

Continue reading at AdAge.com