Hasta La Creative!

Yesterday, the New Orleans Times-Picayune updated readers on the status of hometown agency Peter Mayer Advertising: the shop had to lay off 40 employees after losing the CenturyLink account.

No one at the agency would confirm the loss, but “sources” told the paper that the client in question was CenturyLink, or the largest telecom provider we’ve never heard of. Mayer helped launch the brand back in 2009, but the company began talking about a creative review way back in May 2013, with more sources telling Adweek that executives were “examining their creative account with a primary focus on digital marketing.” McKinney also reportedly continued “do[ing] some work for the combined company” after its merger, and Vendi of La Crosse, Wisconsin now references CenturyLink in the past tense.

Here’s the official statement from Mayer:

“In the lifespan of any agency, there are times when client needs generate significant growth and other times when the business contracts. Therefore, we are in the unfortunate position of having to rebalance our workforce to meet the needs of current clients. This is a painful thing to have to do. Our employees are the most talented, hardest-working and creative professionals in the industry.”

No word on CenturyLink’s future plans, but we expect their search for a new shop to become official soon. The last news of a new campaign from the company came in March 2013 with no agency information provided.

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Dutch agency Skipintro celebrates the relaunch of the famed Rijksmuseum in a new campaign that puts Dutch music center stage.

The campaign includes a 30-second broadcast version, and 60 and 90-second online versions, of an ad showcasing the Rijksmuseum as a place to appreciate all forms of Dutch culture. Instead of tacking on music at the end of the production process, director Mattias Schut brought creative production outfit The Ambassadors on board at the start of the process to compose a piece of music that was then performed by a group of Dutch musicians in the museum’s main public walkway as visitors appreciate the art of the Rijksmuseum and the music simultaneously.

“From a musical point of view, being involved from the start of the creative process enables you to lift the production in a way that would be impossible to create in such fine detail without having a close relationship with the director,” said Sebastiaan Roestenburg, founder and sound designer/composer, The Ambassadors. “It was vital to start by researching the required feel of the music, so that we could create something that would truly work as the starting point of the whole production.” (more…)

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BETC recently launched a new campaign for ibis hotels focusing on the chain’s communal spaces with a musically-themed broadcast spot.

In the spot, entitled “Room to Play,” a group enjoy spending time in one ibis’ communal spaces. Each move a guest makes elicits a specific sound, until the entire room is playing in unison to Caribou song “Crayon.” It’s a fun approach, a welcome departure from the typical fare in the category which helps ibis stand out.

“The musical execution dramatises ibis’ unique design and guest offering, proving that it’s a desirable destination for everyone – whether you’re a business traveller, couple on a city break or young family on holiday,” explains BETC London Creative Director Rosie Bardales.

The ad, which is being broadcast in both 30 and 60 second versions, debuted last Friday across Channel 4 owned and partner channels, and will also run during the new season of Homeland beginning on October 24th. “Room to Play” will be supported by in-hotel activations which use  “sound to bring a further surprising, interactive experience to hotel guests in ibis shared spaces.” (more…)

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In quick client news, we hear that Geometry Global, which recently appointed Jon “Not That One” Hamm (formerly of Momentum Worldwide) as its global CCO, will represent General Mills Shopper Marketing as part of WPP’s Shopper Marketing team.

Here’s the internal announcement:

We are pleased to announce General Mills as our newest client. Geometry Global will be part of the WPP Shopper Marketing team solution for General Mills named ShopperWorks.

ShopperWorks is a customized solution led by Geometry Global in partnership with Rockfish, Barrows, Bravo, and Kantar Retail. Together, the team will work to deliver Shopper Marketing solutions for General Mill’s brands in areas such as: retail and field activation, shopper insights, multicultural marketing, digital shopper, e-commerce and retail media.

You’ll note that quite a few agencies count themselves as members of that team, though WPP might want to update the page since JWTAction has been Geometry Global since June 2013.

In other Geometry news, the agency won a couple of awards for campaigns in Asia.

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180 Amsterdam puts Replay’s Hyperflex jeans to the test in a new online video demonstrating the elasticity of the brand’s newest offering.

In the ad, which stars Brazilian supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio and features FC Barcelona players (including Neymar), Ambrosio’s alter ego — Doctor Ambrosio — conducts a series of tests designed to highlight the Hyperflex’s elasticity. The pants are put through such “modern lifestyle tests” as twerking, playing soccer, hip hop dancing, and some more twerking for good measure, ending with the tagline “Stretch your limits.” The 90-second online spot is certainly on the goofy side, but it does demonstrate the Hyperflex’s stretching capacity well, and it has the star power to generate a lot of views. In addition to the online spot, the campaign also includes print and OOH components.

“Replay’s Hyperflex is a revolution in denim,” said Al Moseley, president and chief creative officer, 180 Amsterdam. “Our task was to stretch it to the limits. The tests we put it through were extraordinary. The outcome, as people will see, is truly remarkable.” (more…)

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New York-based agency DiMassimo Goldstein crafted a broadcast spot for FreshDirect entitled “Lonely Shopping Cart.”

The whimsical 75-second spot follows a lone shopping cart, somehow transporting itself around town and picking up a bouquet along the way. It faces its share of dangers, almost getting hit by a car, before showing up at a woman’s door to find a FreshDirect delivery truck. The spot ends with the (grammatically incorrect — “breakup” is a noun) tagline “Breakup with your shopping cart,” which also functions as an explanation (in case it wasn’t clear) for the preceding scene. When hosted online (at Vimeo), the spot then offers viewers a digital coupon for FreshDirect. While the ad is not without its share of old school charm, it may suffer from viewers sympathizing too heavily with the shopping cart, who goes through an awful lot just to face rejection. (more…)

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With Halloween and its accompanying sugary assault on young teeth just over three weeks away, Grey New York and the Ad Council have released a series of “Healthy Mouth” PSAs reminding parents to make sure their kids practice proper oral hygiene.

The PSAs are based on the insight that despite tooth decay being the “single most common chronic childhood disease” (yeah, we weren’t aware that it qualified as a “disease” either), a recent Ad Council survey found that 75 percent of parents admit that their kids sometimes forget to brush. So to show parents that just two minutes a day of making sure their kids take care of their teeth can make a lifetime impact, Grey New York crafted a series of PSAs about things you can’t teach your kids in two minutes. It’s a clever approach, and highlights just how little effort is needed on the part of parents to ensure proper oral hygiene. In one 30-second spot (featured above), a man gives his daughter a crash course on bike riding. In other spots a man spends 30 seconds teaching his child manners and a woman attempts to teach her son to cook. (more…)

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JWT announced today that Lucie Greene has been appointed as worldwide director of JWTIntelligence. She will be responsible for “driving JWT’s consumer insights and trends-focused initiatives, adding bench strength to the agency’s trends unit, JWTIntelligence.” She will be based out of New York and report to JWT Worldwide Planning Director Guy Murphy.

“Lucie’s experience is a strong complement to JWT’s longstanding and highly respected trends unit. She will deepen our understanding of cultural shifts and drive innovation possibilities for our client brands,” said Murphy in a press release.

Greene joins JWT from LS:N Global, the forecasting division of London-based trends consultancy The Future Laboratory, where she led a team of researchers that forecast trends for clients such as Nike, Google, Marks & Spencer, H&M, Estée Lauder and Westfield. She also presented for organizations including Estée Lauder, Virgin, Rolls-Royce, and Ralph Lauren on trends, and led strategic content partnerships with Retail Week Live and Cosmetic Executive Women. Prior to joining The Future Laboratory, Greene was a regular contributor to The Financial Times, Women’s Wear Daily, Vogue UK, Elle Decor UK and The Telegraph, while working with clients such as Richemont Group, LVMH and Space NK on branded content projects. (more…)

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john st. has crafted a new campaign in support of “below-the-waist cancer research” for Stanfield’s.

For the campaign, the agency brought back testicular cancer survivor, Mark McIntyre, who appeared in previous campaigns “The Guy at Home in his Underwear” and “The Gitchhiker” to promote the fundraising experiential event “#StreakWeek,” which runs from October 18-26. Mark introduces the idea, and appears to be promoting actual streaking until the end of the video, where he recommends wearing Stanfield’s underwear, “just to be safe” (and not get arrested). Viewers (both male and female) can support Mark on one of his streaks or participate in a streak of their own, or just use the #StreakWeek hashtag on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. Each time it is used, Stanfield’s will donate a dollar to the Canadian Cancer Society (up to $25,000).

“We wanted to make sure people could get involved however they want.” said Angus Tucker, ECD at john st. “Whether it’s sharing Mark’s journey, donating to a streaker, raising money by going streaking yourself, or just using the hashtag, it all helps and it all goes to a very very good cause.”

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FCB Toronto recently launched a campaign for the 2015 Pan Am Games on behalf of The Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation, centered around a 60-second broadcast spot called “Invade.”

Appropriately enough, the ad imagines Toronto invaded by hordes of athletes, who take to the city to the tune of a cover of the Delphonics “Ready or Not.” It starts innocently enough, with a lone gymnast on a rooftop. But soon a swarm of kayakers is rowing toward the city, followed by equestrian riders storming through neighborhoods, soccer players running through woods and various other groups of athletes. The spot concludes with the message “41 countries, 51 sports,” followed by the tagline “Epic is on.” The spot fits the tagline pretty perfectly, encapsulating the scope of the event in a well-shot, jam-packed 60-seconds that gets more and  more frantic leading up to its conclusion.  (more…)

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