Hasta La Creative!

Last summer, we brought you news of Lowe Campbell Ewald‘s impending move to Detroit.

Now, Lowe Campbell Ewald has officially opened its new downtown Detroit headquarters, after 36 years in Warren, Michigan. The relocation is something of a homecoming for the agency, which spent 67 years in the city following its formation in 1911. The new office is located in the original J.J. Hudson Co. warehouse at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions. Lowe Campbell Ewald’s new 122,000 square foot space retains the classic “industrial look of the 1920s-era warehouse, leaving duct work and concrete columns exposed.” The space features 100 meeting pods and collaboration spaces, as well as “a three-story LED video wall (the first of its kind in Detroit) and sustainable solutions throughout.”

Over 500 employees will be relocating to the new headquarters, which marks the latest in a series of shakeups for the agency. The past six months have seen the announcement of new leadership, an alignment with Lowe and Partners, and the addition of a New York office, along with considerable new business with clients such as Atkins, LifeLock, Western Governors University, the Detroit Lions and University of Michigan.

“This is a transformative moment for Lowe Campbell Ewald,” said recently-appointed Lowe Campbell Ewald CEO Jim Palmer (not to be confused with Orioles Hall of Fame pitcher/The Money Store spokesperson Jim Palmer). “Detroit is attracting creative and entrepreneurial talent from all corners of the globe, and we want to be part of that movement…Lowe Campbell Ewald was founded in Detroit nearly 103 years ago – it’s great to be back home and contribute to the city’s revitalization.”

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Minneapolis-based agency Campbell Mithun has announced the hiring of industry veteran David Carter, formerly of BBDO New York,  as its new chief creative officer.

Carter is one of the most highly awarded creatives in advertising today, with two of the One Show’s Top Ten Campaigns of the decade with BMW Films and HBO Voyeur. He’s worked with clients including BMW, Amazon, Starbucks, HBO, AT&T, Chrysler, Jeep, Pepsi and Glenlivet Whisky.

“David’s body of work over the years is testament to his belief in platform creativity—drawing upon data, technology and emerging media to deliver brand stories,” said Campbell Mithun CEO Rob Buchner.

Carter was equally optimistic about the move, stating, “You only have to read a headline or two each day to see how quickly the agency and media worlds are changing. The combination of Campbell Mithun’s legacy of big, brand ideas and its commitment to new media thinking and strategy is the perfect fit for me. I couldn’t be more excited.” Carter reported for duty at Campbell Mithun today, representing the agency’s “latest investment in talent since Rob Buchner took the helm in mid-2013.” Other recent moves at Campbell Mithun include Steve Adrndt‘s promotion to COO and the hiring of Denis Budniewski as director of account leadership and growth back in September.

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Amsterdam Worldwide has a new campaign promoting Sony VAIO, l Flip PC, VAIO Tap 11, and VAIO Duo emphasizing the laptop/tablets appeal to both people’s playful and serious sides.

The new campaign, entitled “Both of You,” features four 2-in-1 characters, with the two sides of each personality battling each other, emphasizing that “sometimes we need to work, and sometimes we need to play.” In each of the four spots, neither side of the character wins a definitive victory in their battle of wits, another illustration of how the versatility of a laptop/tablet in one lets both sides of your personality get their way. “Our tech devices have become very personal extensions of ourselves – the question is ‘which self?’ We all have more than one. Now there is truly one device that can handle both of you, so we created a story to bring that to life,” explains Amsterdam Worldwide executive creative director Richard Gorodecky.

“Both of You” has already proven itself a big success. The four online spots debuted in December and combined have already received over 1.5 million views, and that’s without any media spend. The online campaign rolls out in earnest on January 27th, on platforms such as YouTube, Hulu, and AOL (for some reason). “Both of You” will also launch in international markets, including Japan, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Stay tuned for “Both of You (Marla)” and credits after the jump. continued…

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Just in case you were too happy about the impending weekend, we’ve got some advertisements for a divorce lawyer for you.

The Law Offices of Esteban Gergely tapped Grey’s Hispanic advertising agency Wing (not to be confused with Wing) for a series of YouTube ads. Wing’s three YouTube spots use thumbnails to allude to celebrity content: Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise’s honeymoon, Katy Perry and Russell Brand’s wedding, and Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore’s anniversary. When viewers click on these videos of divorced couples however, they are met with a “This video has been removed by user” message, followed by “Divorce happens.” and information for the Law offices of Esteban Gergely. The campaign is designed to “to shock and awe as users are initially searching and expecting to see intimate videos of these now-divorced celebrity couples.” Wing based the campaign on the insights that “the removal of a video from YouTube tells a story on its own” since in the social media age when someone gets divorced they “remove evidence of their former happy lives.” It’s quite a departure from the “Better call Saul” style local ads we’re used to seeing from divorce lawyers. In fact, it’s sort of sneaky. Kind of like divorce lawyers. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Hill Holliday has a new campaign for NECCO’s classic Sweethearts, “#1 selling non-chocolate Valentine’s Day candy,”  that personalizes the messages on the candy hearts via Twitter.

Here’s how it works: simply visit the Tweethearts site and tweet your message to @tweethearts, then take a look at your Tweetheat, fill out the name and address where you want it sent, pay $29.99 (yikes!) for a one pound bag, and wait 3-5 business days for the gift to show up. Users who don’t wish to order the candy can choose to simply share the digital image of their peronalized Tweetheart instead, not a bad option for those who don’t feel like ponying up $29.99 for a small bag of candy. Hill Holilday VP and creative director Rick McHugh was very excited about the campaign, saying, “Turning something that’s digital into something that’s physical is a dream creative assignment, and we’re thrilled to bring it to life for NECCO.”

The best part of the campaign has to be Hill Holiday producer Chuck Woodard rapping in the above video. Needless to say, it’s pretty funny. We’ll abstain from commenting further, and hand this one over to the comments section…

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Do you like sake? Do you like throwing stars? Ever wish there was a place where you could go to pound sake and throw throwing stars? How about an indoor ninja throwing star range where they serve sake? That sounds like either the best idea ever, or a lawsuit waiting to happen, or both, right?

In what is surely the craziest publicity stunt you’ll hear about today, Whit Hiler, one of the Lexington, KY-based Cornett IMS masterminds behind beardvertising and “Kentucky Kicks Ass”  announced that he was behind the crazy “Ninjas Indoor Throwing Star Range.”Hiler and crew created “Ninjas Indoor Throwing Star Range” because “Everyone loves throwing stars and everyone loves alcohol.” Hiler and Cornet decided to present their “establishment that allows people to pound sake and chuck throwing stars” to the world, presenting it as an establishment that would open in Lexington, Kentucky in the spring. Enlisted to aid Hiler in spreading this madness were “Kris Kross Ange on the design, Golden Nick Child on the video, and Shammy Shamick Gaworski on the web development.”

And spread it they did. The video makes use of YouTube’s “Best Death Scene Ever,” while the website quotes Wu Tang and, according to Hiler, Japanese curse words. They even created a fake Gmail account under the name Satou Watanabe (which has to be the coolest sounding alias this side of Throb Darshall) Soon everyone was talking, tweeting, and posting about the crazy new sake bar/throwing star range coming to Kentucky. For obvious reasons, most people wanted this to be real. The crew received articles from people asking how they could become a franchisee. Articles appeared in the likes of Gizmodo, io9, and Laughing Squid. Hiler even faked an interview with Yahoo, under another cool alias: Timothy San Bernardino.

Throughout the process, Hiler and crew got a lot of attention for Lexington and the agency in which they toil. But when can I really walk into an establishment, get shitfaced on sake and chuck throwing stars, you ask? Well, “maybe we’ll turn this joke into a reality and end up opening the world’s first throwing star range and sake bar later this year,” says Hiler. One thing is for sure though, as we mentioned above, Whit Hiler is a self-promoting ninja.

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Just three months after gaining the Alive! duties, IPG owned L.A.-based, IPG agency Dailey has won some new work for a notable client. Here’s a statement from Nestle itself: “Yes, Dailey LA has taken over duties for Skinny Cow Ice Cream and Candy from JWT NY.” Yes, this is a brand from Nestle, which we’ve been told chose Dailey over JWT and Publicis in its review for ad duties on its sweets brand.

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Speak of the devil, TBWA\Chiat\Day liken driving the Nissan Qashqai to ziplining from your office into a crowded city street in their latest work for Nissan. While this will translate as “thrilling” and “exhilarating” to most people, to someone with a fear of heights it comes across more as “terrifying.”

The 60 second spot is directed by Joseph Kosinski, who you might remember from his work on TRON:Legacy and last year’s Oblivion. Kosinski and company really did a lot to give the spot an urban feel, from the crowded nighttime city location to the Fatboy Slim song “Right Here, Right Now” used as the soundtrack. The spot ends with voiceover stating “This is how driving should feel,” tying together the ziplining metaphor, followed by the tagline “The Ultimate Urban Experience.” Being in the North American market (where the Nissan Rogue is offered instead), I wasn’t familiar with the Qashqai before watching this. While I’m still not sure why the Nissan Qashqai is “the ultimate urban experience,” the well-shot ad certainly does a good job of making it look appealing. I’ll give ziplining from tall buildings a pass, though.

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Jeez Louise, we’re still awaiting to hear from both parties on the matter, but it doesn’t sound good. As you may have read last week, StrawberryFrog staff has sued D.C.-based PR company APCO, the latter of which acquired the agency in early 2012. Well, things are getting ugly. We’ve received word from very reliable sources, and one has spun a holiday-themed yarn like this:

“Strawberry Frog Amsterdam, a massive PR corporation from DC called Apco Worldwide led by Margery & Evan Kraus, and their made-up entity called the “Dutch Advertising Consortium.” The latter was created to save reputations after Apco attempted to shut down the Amsterdam SF office in October…via email. (Talk about breaking up with someone over a post-it note!) The issue now is that “The Dutch Advertising Consortium” may file bankruptcy in the next few days to avoid paying 20 employees and contractors—a move that could leave many broke from unpaid invoices and salaries.

The best part, is that the amount owed to employees would not even make a small dent in their combined revenues of 200M! Be sure to raise a glass to the Ebeneezers at @apcoworldwide and @frogism and tell them what you think about this kind of behaviour in our industry. Let them know that just like the epic tales of Scrooge or the Grinch, @apcoworldwide and @frogism can still turn it around and #dotherightthing by paying employees and contractors what they are owed. We believe in Christmas miracles. “God bless us, everyone!” Thank you, The Tiny Tims.”

FYI, agency founder Scott Goodson emphasizes that the Amsterdam company is controlled by Apco and is not StrawberryFrog, nor is it connected to StrawberryFrog New York. We’ll update when we hear more.

Update: APCO has sent us this statement:

“Hi Kiran –

StrawberryFrog Amsterdam was a standalone investment for APCO Worldwide, and not part of the operations of either StrawberryFrog or APCO.  As we informed the media in early November, APCO decided to end this investment since the clients that had been serviced there had either moved their marketing in-house or switched to other agencies.

We are appropriately following the process for shutting down a business in which we invested, as we informed StrawberryFrog Amsterdam’s staff in early November. We will continue to act in a responsible manner in accordance with Dutch law as the process continues.”

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If you were watching the Golden Globes last night, you may have caught the debut of W+K Portland’s “Join Together” spot for Sony, which will run for the next six weeks.

The new work (perfectly set to The Who’s “Join Together”) celebrates Sony’s longtime practice of joining a “steadfast passion for artistry and commitment to engineering” in a matter of 90 seconds. Directed by Imperial Woodpecker Stacy Wall , the spot also comes equipped with its fair share of star power, whether it be director/Knicks mascot Spike Lee (filming with Sony’s 4K CineAlta camera), Academy Award-nominated actress Quvenzhane Wallis (now starring in Sony Pictures flick, Annie), actor Grizz Chapman of 30 Rock and Columbia Music artist, DJ Cassidy. In the process, the spot highlights a wide range of Sony’s most iconic products and innovations.

The broadcast effort is supported by the “Be Moved” brand experience site, and four product-focused online videos: “Inventing Furniture,” “Eyeballs,” “Skeptics” and “Floor Plan.” These online videos highlight some amazing new technology from Sony with a dash of light humor. Check out “Skeptics” below, and stay tuned for “Eyeballs” and “Floor Plan,” along with credits, after the jump.

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