Hasta La Creative!

Bullish, the New York-based “most dangerous agency” launched by Deutsch veterans Michael Duda and Brent Vartan nearly two years ago, always told the press that they were a combination ad agency and investment firm.

We were a little skeptical … but it’s a real thing. (Hence the name, get it?)

A week ago, AdAge reported that Bullish had ended its relationship with GNC after a messy Super Bowl spat with Fox Sports in order to invest an estimated quarter of a million bucks in Care/of, a subscription-only vitamin supplement service.

Now the company has made public its second investment—this one in Function of Beauty, a company that makes personalized shampoos.

Yes, that’s right. The brand’s own self-description reads, “We use proprietary algorithms, developed by MIT engineers, to produce personalized hair care products tailored to your unique hair profile and hair goals.”

Bullish celebrated the announcement with a classic banner ad. $5 off your first order!

.@bebullish‘s newest brand investment/building opportunity. @fxofbeauty has over 12,000,000,000 shampoo/conditioner combinations. #$ #! pic.twitter.com/2fwd3i4xbt

— Michael Duda (@MikeDuda) July 18, 2017

Duda told us today that the investment is in “the low six digits” as with Care/of.

Business Insider reviewed the Function of Beauty customer experience earlier this month, calling it “fun, if not exactly life-altering.” Perhaps more importantly, Cindy Gallop is a fan.

As he alluded to post-Brexit, Sir Martin Sorrell appears to be going after European agencies.

WPP has acquired German creative agency (and, presumably, all things lower-case enthusiasts) thjnk AG, More About Advertising reported. According to the publication, founding partners Karen Heumann, Armin Jochum and Michael Trautmann will continue to lead the agency as an “independent brand” under WPP, along with Ulrich Pallas.

As you may recall, Trautmann successfully pitched Bono at Cannes Lions event in 2014.

Founded in Hamburg in 2012, thjnk AG currently has offices in Berlin, Munich, Dusseldorf, Zurich and New York. The agency’s client roster includes McDonald’s, adidas, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Haribo and Paulaner (the Germany brewery founded in Munich in 1634) and Audi, for which they created this “Mechanics” spot in 2015. According to the agency’s website, it is now one of the top three agencies in Germany.

Karoshi is the Japanese word for “death by overwork.” Sadly, the term has currency today, inside and outside of the ad world. On Christmas Day in 2015, 24-year-old Matsuri Takahashi jumped to her death from her Dentsu-supplied dorm in Tokyo. In September last year, a labor standards office in Tokyo determined she had worked 105 […]

The post Will Ad People Ever Focus On The Right Things? appeared first on AdPulp.

Have you noticed how lottery advertising is a category dominated by quirky, fun, and creative advertising? When it comes to the Minnesota Lottery, we’ve been conditioned to expect great things—given the strength of the creative community in Minneapolis. Let’s take a look at the latest from the Land of Lakes: This is Periscope’s first brand […]

The post This Scratch Ticket Is Minnesota-Made For You appeared first on AdPulp.

Holding companies are the bane of the creative agency’s existence. Sell to a holding company and become like the bean counters themselves—that’s the not totally undeserved rap. Thankfully, there is another way. Your agency can remain independent, like Butler Shine Stern & Partners in Sausalito. Then you can choose to do whatever the hell you […]

The post It’s A Free Country (Provided You’re Not Confined To A Cubicle) appeared first on AdPulp.

Appearing online, on social media and in swim clubs and organizations across the country, these posters are part of the USA Swimming’s “Swim Today” campaign from Colle McVoy in Minneapolis. As competition for kids’ time continues to increase, the campaign highlights what makes swimming different and encourages kids to join their local swim teams.

The post O, Say Can You Swim? appeared first on AdPulp.

As we all know, BBDO knocked Ogilvy & Mather off its throne last week to become the Cannes Lions network of the year, breaking a 5-year streak for the WPP agency.

One person who was disappointed with this development was co-chairman, worldwide chief creative officer and awards show specialist Tham Khai Ming.

In a memo sent to all Ogilvy staff as the awards concluded on Saturday, he assured employees not to view this result as a defeat, adding, “we didn’t lose the race, we just ran out of time.”

As Ming noted in his memo, the final tally was somewhat close, especially after Clemenger BBDO’s “Meet Graham” was disqualified from the Titanium and Integrated categories at the last minute because of conceptual similarities to a 32-year old anti-smoking campaign. Dave Lubars of BBDO later called that decision “preposterous” because the underlying issue had been “raised and addressed at the beginning of the festival.”

Ming led both juries.

Regarding the Integrated contest, won by 180LA for its Boost Mobile voting booth effort, he later said, “We felt very strongly that true integration is about transcending intermedia and integrating into culture and society.” This is apparently why “Meet Graham” was not considered Integrated, though no one has elaborated on that point.

McCann’s “Fearless Girl” later won the Titanium Grand Prix. Ogilvy handled PR duties for that project (sponsor State Street is a client), but you wouldn’t know it from this year’s Cannes entries.

According to the agency’s own website, “Ogilvy was heavily involved in the conception and execution of the initiative, especially the press strategy & outreach efforts.” PR Week, however, reports that “the in-house communications team at State Street Global Advisors is credited with handling PR for Fearless Girl—idea creation is credited to McCann New York.”

And according to an internal email sent to us by a third party, Ogilvy specifically requested not to be mentioned in entries submitted by McCann, which pitched Fearless Girl to Adweek and other trade publications. Aside from all the unnecessary confusion, we can presumably agree that sculptor Kristen Visbal deserves a good bit of credit for that project’s success given that she was the one who created the piece itself.

The full memo from Ming:

Photo finish

All good things must come to an end. But I don’t think this is one of them.

After five straight years of victory, this year we just missed out on Network of the Year at Cannes Lions.

When we looked at the photo finish, we saw that we came in just a nose behind. But we didn’t lose the race, we just ran out of time. And in some cases, we ran even better.

Our work this year was brave, and our clients even braver. We took risks we’ve never dared take, and asked more of ourselves than we ever have before. We delivered on everything we asked and ask of ourselves: big ideas, stellar execution, superior effectiveness, powerful emotion. That we didn’t take home the biggest prize in no way invalidates these ideals and the work that was born from them.

As reigning five-time winners, we entered this year with a target on our backs. Our competitors were gunning for us, as they have been for years. That’s an enviable position, one we’re proud to have earned. I’m pleased that we were more efficient in our award output than ever before.

It’s customary to note, when a prize has fallen just out of grasp, that there are lessons to be learned and changes to be made. Not this time. We’ll be back strong because throughout the years we have stayed true to our ideals. “If we accept losing, we cannot win,” Vince Lombardi once said. Each year, even in victory, we have vowed to relentlessly improve. We have spread creativity further and wider than we ever have throughout our organization. We have demanded more of our work and have challenged our clients big and small to create with courage.

Let’s keep doing exactly that. And maybe next year we’ll win by a stride.

On a personal note, true victory is being able to work with all the incredible, talented people across our network every day. All of us should be proud of the work we have produced. We will push on stronger than ever before, together.

We can think of at least one network that won’t be competing with Ogilvy at Cannes next year.

Havas’ headquarters were raided by French anti-corruption police on Tuesday.

RFI reported that the raid was part of an investigation launched in March regarding charges of “favouritism, complicity and profiting from favouritism” related to the agency’s involvement with promoting French tech companies during CES Las Vegas, which also involved a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron (who was then economy minister). Macron’s successor as economy minister, Michel Sapin, told RFI Macron isn’t accountable, pinning the blame on a “malfunction by Business France.”

The offices of Business France were reportedly also raided as part of the investigation.

RFI added that Business France awarded the assignment to Havas without issuing any call for alternative bids.

According to AdAge, Business France claimed in a statement released months ago it made the decision to award the assignment to Havas because it was facing a fast-approaching deadline and already had established a relationship with the agency, but it also recognized “potential irregularity” in the organization of the event.

Yesterday, Publicis Groupe told the world at large that it would be skipping all awards shows and other promotional campaigns for at least a year in the interest of focusing those resources on its upcoming “professional assistant” platform, Marcel (named for founder Marcel Bleustein-Blanchet).

The news came as a surprise to many, including pretty much every creative employee across the Publicis organization.

Some at Leo Burnett Chicago responded in a way that would almost certainly amuse their agency’s namesake: by replacing his name beside the door of its Windy City headquarters with a piece of paper reading “Marcel.”

To refresh your memory, here’s Burnett himself announcing his retirement in 1967 while explaining exactly when his successors should take his name off the door. You’ve almost certainly seen this one before, but it’s worth watching again.

See, that was a well-spoken man.

His conditions include: “When your main interest becomes a matter of size just to be big, rather than good, hard, wonderful work…When you lose your humility and become big shot Weisenheimers a little too big for your boots.”

According to the employees involved, an all-staff email from new CEO Arthur Sadoun arrived yesterday right before noon, leading to “total confusion” as they texted bosses and ultimately relied on press reports like our own to figure out what was going on.

“It blindsided everyone,” said a Leo Burnett staffer regarding the email in question, which included a link to the “very unfortunate” video in which Sadoun, Mark Tutssel and others announced the pending launch of Marcel.

“Creatives are confused and concerned,” the employee told us. “Why cut costs by cutting one of the industry’s biggest incentives to deliver great work? Is AI really going to help solve our clients’ problems? Do I really want to work on a Chinese brief from my desk in Chicago? The whole project is tone deaf and de-humanizing.”

According to this report, Leo Burnett management has yet to respond to staff concerns, because they’re all in Cannes trying to win awards.

No word on whether the “Marcel” sign still obscures the founder’s name as of this afternoon.

Today Omnicom announced that it would be merging the Amsterdam office of 180 with nearby Kingsday, a “next generation creative agency with digital and data at the core.”

The new unit, called 180 Kingsday, will now form a “180 micro-network” along with 180LA and 180China, which has offices in Beijing and Shanghai. Al Moseley, the W+K veteran who has been president and chief creative officer of 180 Amsterdam since 2013, will assume the role of international president and oversee the entirety of that network, including the Los Angeles office. Kingsday president Sander Volten will become CEO of the Amsterdam operation while Michael Allen retains the global chief executive title.

This announcement follows a turbulent period for the California team, which lost both ASICS and Mitsubishi over the past several months and went through several rounds of related layoffs, the most recent of which occurred last week.

“The new agency 180 Kingsday will operate from 180 Amsterdam’s current premises on Herengracht in Amsterdam,” Moseley said in response to our questions about the new operation.

“The two teams will merge and work in collaboration with each other and their colleagues across the 180 micro-network, creating a nimble and rich talent pool that will benefit global client business,” he added. “Everyone is excited and enthusiastic; the teams’ combined knowledge and experience will reinforce the new agency and the blending of two strong cultures will be a great asset.”

Regarding the five offices’ client rosters, Moseley said, “All clients are on board with the transition and are equally excited about the prospect of this new way of working. For clients, the merger makes perfect sense; increasingly brands are looking for agencies with broad skill sets and deep understanding of culture.”

He called the merger “part of a bigger play across the micro-network to create a cohesive, fluid and collaborative way of working where teams from LA, Amsterdam and the strategic alliance in Beijing will have the ability and means to work together for clients.”

Moseley did not specifically address the recent changes in Los Angeles but did say that “Other than the aforementioned leadership roles, there will be no staffing changes taking place as a result of the merger.” Stephen Corlett will remain managing director of the Amsterdam office.

“Omnicom has a really great history of supporting agencies within the group so that they can flourish on their own,” said Moseley regarding the network’s parent company. “It’s a really successful way of operating that will see 180 continue to grow and thrive.”

Today a spokesperson also confirmed that 180LA did part with additional staffers earlier this month.

“We had a small restructuring in our LA office to better organize ourselves to manage our clients and work between our offices,” the rep said. “Letting people go is never easy, but we’re taking steps to help those affected in every way possible.”

According to several parties who reached out to us, the restructuring in question affected just over 10 employees, including the agency’s head of design and director of creative resources. One party attributed it to Mitsubishi’s recent decision to end a 7-year relationship with 180LA.

One individual who worked on that account said the client had been sending project work to nearby Omelet for some time and using that relationship to pressure 180LA on rates. Omelet chief creative officer Grant Holland, who joined from 72andSunny a little less than two years ago, also formerly led creative on Mitsubishi at 180LA.

Omelet did not comment on its relationship with Mitsubishi, which has never responded to our requests for clarification regarding its U.S. marketing business.