Hasta La Creative!

After less than a year away, Clemens Brandt has rejoined the fold at BBDO New York to serve as director of digital operations, reporting to director of integrated production Dave Rolfe and chairman/CCO, David Lubars. Last we heard, Brandt left BBDO last summer for a gig at B-Reel, specifically for the production company’s B-Reel Products division, where he served as executive producer in its New York office.

During his first stint at BBDO NY, which lasted approximately 18 months, the returning exec served as a VP/interactive executive producer on campaigns including the Will Arnett-starring holiday effort for AT&T and the Nokia Lumia 920. Prior to initially joining BBDO, Brandt served as an interactive producer at W+K London for three years.

We’ve been told that Brandt officially assumed his new role at BBDO NY this week and will now oversee the agency’s digital production, in-house digital studio (K5) and general BBDO digital operations. In a statement, Rolfe tells us, “We are very fortunate Clemens has returned. He’s the perfect guy to help steer our day-to-day approach toward better digital fluidity and integration. Connecting technology to idea and vice versa, getting the right teams in place and strengthening our digital production and tech staffing.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Betty White, Joe Pesci, Robin Williams, and… Kenny G. Aside from picking the most odds-and-sods group of entertainers out there, Snickers and BBDO New York have a knack for choosing celebrities with just enough relevance for the “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign. The title for best Snickers jokester is a toss-up between White’s roughhousing football player and Pesci’s whiny wingman. The latest spot, “Cards,” won’t top its predecessors, mainly because Kenny G doesn’t speak throughout the whole clip, but you can always lose yourself in his patented melancholy saxophoning.

It’s strange to think that the first ad with White came out over three years ago, but these spots seem to have enough social support to keep on kicking, even as the celebrities get less celebratory. Maybe for the next one, BBDO could get all four celebs in one room at the same time – a group of hungry people who all need to eat Snickers. That way, we could get Pesci to look at Kenny G and unleash a “Who is this fuckin’ guy?” tirade. Everybody wins, even Kenny G, since he’d be in two commercials in the past decade instead of one. Credits after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

If there were a Crowd Pleasing Lions contest at Cannes, this Smart car commercial from BBDO Germany would have run off with it this year. It's all the more delightful because it was something of a surprise—a TV spot that hadn't been blogged and reblogged endlessly over the past year. It's a great little David and Goliath story about a Smart Fortwo that goes offroading, leading to all sorts of amusing sight gags—and a killer ending that had the crowd cheering loudly when it was screened Saturday at the Palais with the other Gold Lion winners. (It won gold in both Film and Film Craft.) The soundtrack is great, too—rounding out the ad's attitude perfectly. Smart, indeed.

Following the usual “competitive review,” BBDO NY and its sibling Atmosphere Proximity have been appointed as AORs for Emirates in North America. As a result of the airline’s move, which goes into effect August 1, Emirates not only extends a digital/social relationship with Atmosphere that’s lasted nearly a decade, but now adds BBDO to the fold as both agencies will collaborate on an integrated marketing campaign that’s expected to break late summer.

In a statement, BBDO NY president John Osborn says, “This is a great opportunity. An opportunity to build on the quality, leadership and footprint of the biggest international carrier in the world.  We are thrilled to be partnering with Atmosphere Proximity to help Emirates achieve its aggressive sales goals.”

Prior to BBDO, Emirates (which is also kicking off a global media review) worked with Boston-based ISM on its North American ad duties. This marks the second win for the agency this week following its appointment as creative agency for the ING New York City Marathon.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In case you didn’t scan yesterday’s Sports Business Daily, the trade reports that BBDO New York has been named creative agency for the ING New York City Marathon, which is returning after being cancelled last year of course due to the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. Speaking with SBD, Ronnie Tucker, VP of marketing for NYC Marathon organizers the New York Road Runners, says, “We were looking for some new thinking because of our feeling this is a unique opportunity; we have to get it right. From the beginning, BBDO showed a lot of passion for the marathon.”

We’ve also obtained a memo from sources sent from BBDO NY president/CEO John Osborn, who says among other things, “We will be responsible for developing a multi-platform communications campaign to drive awareness, tune-in, and engagement of the 2013 Marathon. We were selected for a number of reasons, not the least of which was our knowledge and success handling other key New York activities, ranging from the New York Miracle to our current efforts on behalf of New York State.  Thanks to everyone involved who helped bring home this business.”

As mentioned in the Sports Business Daily item, BBDO NY’s multimedia campaign for the NYC Marathon will launch in late September.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Another year, another round of PETA’s “Great Ape Pledge” PSA campaign which aims to bring awareness of the plight of primates that suffer physical/psychological abuse at the hands of the entertainment industry. BBDO New York, which has taken the “Pledge” before with its nifty auto-correct effort from two years ago, joins forces with PETA once again for the spot above, which also features VO services from Oscar-winner Adrien Brody and VFX/production work from The Mill. If you stick around for the end, you’ll see that no real ape was used in the above PSA, which reemphasizes PETA’s whole purpose for launching “The Great Ape Pledge” in the first place.

Instead, the parties involved hammer home the message that primates shouldn’t be used as actors by creating  a photo-real CG chimp that’s seemingly at its wit’s end. If the stark message touched a nerve or inspired you to pledge (it’s perhaps a bit more effective than auto-correct messaging), you can go here. Credits after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The Spy line was spot-on once again as we’ve received confirmation that BBDO New York is indeed making some cuts this week that “are significant and across departments.” No numbers have been revealed (trust us, we inquired), but as your probably know, the agency’s longtime relationship with Gillette recently ended when parent company P&G passed over its shaving brand’s account to Grey a few weeks ago. No word if the “significant” reductions were directly related, but we’ll let you do the math. We’ve been told that the reductions are still happening, so we’ll let you know if we hear more.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Let’s kill two birds, shall we? AT&T must really like little kids. First, we had the Beck Bennett commercials that ran incessantly during March Madness (and still run; check out the newest Mother’s Day-themed “It’s Not Complicated” clip from BBDO after the jump). Now, the telecom giant seems to think we want more, more, more. The latest work from Dallas-based multicultural agency Sanders\Wingo shows young’ns on their mobile devices, saying things like, “In my day…our connection was so slow, we had to take turns online.”

Some viewers may find this cute, others may find it scary, but as kids become more and more comfortable with the latest technology, these types of spots should become the norm. We already have videos of babies who can swipe a page on an iPad, but can’t turn the page in a book or magazine. Regardless, kids will always have to eat the trope-filled Brussels sprout before they get to use any of these devices, and that’s how we get the thirty-second “Veggies.”

Check out the second spot, “Haircut,” the aforementioned “It’s Not Complicated” Mother’s Day effort and credits for all after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

We’ve received confirmation that Carl Jannerfeldt, who has spent nearly the last three years at BBDO serving as a digital creative/copywriter on, perhaps most notably, AT&T’s now-ubiquitous “It’s Not Complicated” campaign, has joined Wieden+Kennedy New York as a senior creative. Sources familiar with the matter add that Stockholm native Jannerfeldt officially assumed his post yesterday and will work across a variety of accounts at the agency, which counts clients including ESPN, Heineken, Delta and Jordan Brand.

Jannerfeldt’s most recent AT&T work, run out of both BBDO New York and Atlanta, featured some NBA legends, though the videos appear to have now been taken private. Ah well, we always our charming efforts featuring the roundtable moderator and the kids, which the new W+K staffer was involved with (one example below).

During his career, Jannerfeldt has also worked as a copywriter for a couple of years the now-defunct, Stockholm-based Farfar.

Update: Got some clarification from the man himself. Jannerfeldt tells us that he was mainly involved in the AT&T “Brackets by Six-Year-Olds” digital campaign that launched during March Madness, the concept of which inspired the spots above, hence why his name was included in the credits. Thanks for the clarification, sir.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Hey, what better way for GE to tout its "brilliant machines" designed for the healthcare sector than to show Agent Smith, the villainous sentient AI from The Matrix, stalking the corridors of a bad-dreamy medical scenario? Actor Hugo Weaving dons the shades, suit and earpiece once more, reprising his famous role in this BBDO New York spot (which broke this weekend during Saturday Night Live) as he rides and pushes gurneys, watches himself get examined, flickers across a CT-scan monitor and hovers menacingly while observing an operation. Whoa. Obamacare is even worse than I'd imagined! Makes you long for the kindly Mr. Data from Star Trek: The Next Generation, who had a cameo earlier in the campaign. Weaving's an awesome presence, though he is sinister in the extreme, especially at the end, when he offers a kid the choice of a red or blue lollipop in a nod to the Matrix films. Heck, the overall tone is so sterile and creepy that even the real life-saving machines look a bit threatening. Somebody pull the plug!