Hasta La Creative!

Jason Sudeikis reprises his role as coach Ted Lasso in The Brooklyn Brothers’ spot for NBC Sports’ coverage of the English Premier League, which starts August 16th.

Last year, Lasso went over the pond to coach London’s Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. Now, he’s readjusting to life back in the states. Lasso engages in some early drinking, has an afternoon tea, drives on the wrong side of the road, and turns his apartment into “Teeny Tiny England”. In the process, he meets Tim Howard and lands himself another coaching gig. While Sudeikis’ character is pretty funny and the spot has some amusing moments, it also feels drags a bit at over six minutes in length. Maybe save this one for afternoon tea.

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In the wake of the Donald Sterling scandal, the Los Angeles Clippers are looking for a new agency to help them reposition the team’s brand, AdAge reports.

The team has launched a creative review, which is being led by Boston-based Pile & Co., with an eye toward Los Angeles-area agencies, according to sources familiar with the review. Irvine, California agency HeilBrice has been working with the Clippers since 1999, and it’s unclear whether they will defend in the review. A spokesman for the Clippers confirmed the review in AdAge, but didn’t offer any details, and executives at HeilBrice declined to comment to that publication.

In the RFP, the Clippers identify the need for an agency with experience “rebuilding an established, well-known brand,” language that insinuates the team is looking to distance itself from the Sterling scandal and reposition its brand with a fresh image. The team spent $433,500 in measured media last year, according to Kantar media.

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Universal McCann (UM) has named Kasha Cacy as the agency’s new U.S. president, Adweek reports. Cacy succeeds Sarah Personette, who exits following maternity leave for a position as head of global business marketing at Facebook. In the new role, Cacy will be responsible for overseeing “business development, strategy, cross-channel planning and buying, analytics and custom content development for all North American accounts.”

Cacy has spent seven years at Universal McCann, most recently serving as global chief product officer. Prior to UM, Cacy served as senior vice president, group director strategic planning at McCann Erickson following a three-year stint at Ogilvy.

Global CEO Daryl Lee noted that Cacy is “beloved by her clients,” adding,”We’re making a strategic bet that someone who knows strategy and can act like a client consultant should be the front-face of the brand.”

“My focus will be very client-oriented,” Cacy said. “I have a passion for bringing in new clients, innovating new products and finding the best of what we have to offer.”

Following Cacy’s promotion the agency is looking for a new chief product officer, a search Cacy is reportedly helping to conduct.

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JWT has launched the new “Forever Faster” brand platform for Puma, starting with the new anthem ad “Calling All Troublemakers.”

With the stated mission “to become the Fastest Sport Brand in the World,” Puma tapped the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, and a host of other star athletes for a global multimedia campaign. Alongside Bolt in the 60-second “Calling All Troublemakers” are soccer icons Mario Balotelli, Sergio Agüero, Marta Vieira da Silva; golfers Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson; and the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team. The athletes were chosen for their individuality in “both performance and personality,” and the spot does have a bit of a mischievous streak to it. But Puma sees “Forever Faster” as more than a campaign tagline — it’s also a company motto representing the desire to “quickly identify product designs and innovation, trends and style and bring them into the marketplace in a more dynamic manner.”

“Forever Faster is about Puma making a statement as a brand and reminding people that we are and will continue to be the fastest sports brand in the world,” explains Adam Petrick, global marketing director at Puma. “We’ve always been known as a brand that takes risks and that’s not going to change, Forever Faster clearly represents that. This is going to change the way we approach product design and innovation as well as how we market our brand.” Stick around for limited credits after the jump. (more…)

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A couple of weeks ago we posted on the McDonald’s team’s internal declaration that the company had 18 months to rebrand…or else.

Today — despite both parties’ refusal to offer official comment — someone “close to the matter” who neglected to contact us told AdAge that the responsible party will be Leo Burnett.

The story is vague, but the only thing you really need to know is that McD’s current primary creative DDB and its go-to Happy Meal team at Burnett competed to see who would produce a “significant” campaign that will arrive either later this year or early next year. Burnett (allegedly) won the ensuing Publicis/Omnicom head-to-head.

DDB will retain the account, but this move marks a “boon” for Burnett. The campaign will not stray too far from the “I’m lovin’ it” theme, but based on all we’ve heard we can be fairly certain that the coming work will attempt to focus on the quality of the food on offer under the golden arches.

Given McD’s declining sales and ongoing perception challenges, this will be a tall order.

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Providence-based independent agency Nail Communications has added Stonyfield to its client roster, following a formal review.

“Nail demonstrated that they have creative power and heart,” said Ben Angeloni, vice president of marketing at Stonyfield. “What’s more, they truly understand the Stonyfield brand and how to maximize our resources to make a marketing impact.”

Nail’s first majro initiative for the brand is a marketing campaign called “#CheatOnGreek,” introducing the brand’s new Petite Crème, which is modeled on French fresh cheese fromage blanc. The campaign, which will launch in September, includes digital, social, experiential and in-store elements.

“We are proud to work with a brave, bold and innovative company like Stonyfield,” said Jeremy Crisp, managing partner at Nail Communications. “The Yogurt Wars are about to get more interesting, as Stonyfield’s Petite Crème will tempt consumers to #CheatOnGreek.”

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DigitasLBi announced the addition of Emilie Vasu as vice president, group director of business development and marketing today. Vasu will be based in New York and report directly to Chief Marketing Officer Kenneth Parks, starting September 8th.

“Emilie is a highly motivated, collaborative professional with exceptional track record discovering and growing new business and strengthening existing relationships. We’re thrilled to have her join our team,” says Parks.

Vasu arrives at DigitasLBi from JWT, where her departure follows that of Ann Mack in April and the news yesterday that CCO Jeff Benjamin is leaving the agency for “a new creative venture.” While at JWT, Vasu served as director of business development. During her tenure she “prospected, pitched and won the Google Enterprise and PUMA accounts, and played a key role on the agency’s Global Growth Team, guiding global JWT new business strategies.”

Before JWT, Vasu spent four years at Venables Bell and Partners as account director. While there she oversaw the launch of Intel’s global “Sponsors of Tomorrow” campaign, and worked on accounts including CLEAR, Odwalla, Pacific Gas & Electric, and eBay. She has also served stints at agencies including Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Deutsch New York and OgilvyOne.

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Advance Auto Parts has named Minneapolis-based agency mono its creative agency of record. The Virginia-based company, which recently purchased competitor General Parts International, will partner with the agency to “oversee many aspects of its marketing and brand strategy.”

“We’re thrilled to build a relationship with an agency unafraid of challenging the category standards,” said Charles Tyson, EVP-Merchandising, Marketing & Supply Chain at AAP. “With mono we’ve found the perfect partner to foster innovation in our upcoming marketing campaign as we look ahead to the second half of the year.”

“We are incredibly excited to be working with AAP,” said Chris Lange, co-founder and creative co-chair of mono. “AAP is a brand that is laser focused on who they are and who they want to reach. They are up for thinking differently and approaching the auto parts category in new ways. For us, that is inspiring.”

mono will hit the ground running, with new work launching this summer.

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The Barn at BBH, “a training program for emerging advertising talents” has a new social campaign hijacking popular dating app Tinder for Social Tees Animal Rescue, a non-profit animal charity that rescues animals from kill shelters and “provides them with a safe haven and veterinary care until they are placed in a proper home.”

Social Tees Animal Rescue and The Barn at BBH hope that some of the 10 million users browsing through Tinder daily looking for love will love fall in love with their dogs’ profiles instead and bring one home for adoption. Since some Tinder users are not into the whole commitment thing, BBH has set up “the option to foster an animal for two weeks or to adopt for good.” It’s a cute idea, and it has already proven successful.

The Barn at BBH began populating Tinder with animal adoption profiles on July 31st and received over 1,500 matches in the first 24 hours. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness about pet adoption and the 7.6 million dogs sent to animal shelters yearly in the U.S., in addition to finding individual homes for the pets involved. Check out the video above for a better look at the campaign, and stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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BWM, Melbourne tapped Arnold Schwarzenegger in their latest campaign for Realestate.com.au.

In the spot, Arnold decides to move back to Austria, mistaking Australia’s .au for his birth country. His assistant tries to inform him of his error, but Arnold is too excited over the possibilities he’s found on the site and tells his assistant to book him some inspections while leaving the filming of his current movie to his “double.” While its humor doesn’t quite hit its mark, it’s refreshing to see Arnold still willing to play on his persona, and make himself seem ridiculous in the process. And Arnold’s star power should certainly get people’s attention. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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