Hasta La Creative!

WPP-owned, Kansas City-based agency VML appointed Pat Piper as group creative director on Wendy’s, for which it won full creative duties back in March. In the new role, Piper will report to VML executive creative director Chris Corley.

“I’ve known Pat since the beginning of my career,” Corley said in a statement. “He is an ace writer and an amazing motivator. We’re lucky to have him as a creative leader for the team.”

Piper joins VML from Hallmark, where he most recently served as creative director of the company’s marketing design studio, following around two and a half years as senior editorial director of packaging and mass merchandising. Prior to joining Hallmark he served a brief stint as vice president, executive creative director for C13 Creative Consumer Concepts in Overland Park, Kansas, managing a team of 17 designers and illustrators and working with clients including Arbys, Chick-fil-A, Sonic Drive-In, Del Taco, Perkins and Bob Evans.

The new GCDs work has been recognized by most major awards shows, and he is best known for Sonic’s long-running “Two Guys,” which he created with art director Matt McKay. In a 2008 interview, McKay described the campaign as “a throwaway idea” that grew far larger than its creators had anticipated.

Piper joined Barkley as a copywriter in 1998 and spent three years writing for clients such as Pearlevision, UMB Banks, Blue Bunny Ice Cream and Citgo before being promoted to associate creative director. During his four years as an associate creative director he worked with clients including Sonic Drive-In, Payless Shoesource, Missouri Lottery and Kansas Lottery. In 2005 he was promoted to VP/GCD and oversaw the Sonic account while also working with UMB Banks and the Kansas City Wizards.

VML also appointed Andy Heddle as group channel director, ecommerce, tasked with enhancing the agency’s ecommerce capabilities while working out of its Kansas City headquarters and reporting to chief innovation officer Brian Yamada.

Heddle joins VML following nearly nine years at Best Buy. Most recently, he served as senior director of the retailer’s ecommerce partnerships practice following a little over a year as senior director, online and direct sales Best Buy productivity. He joined the company as head of online and direct sales, BBY Mobile for Best Buy Europe, following over six and a half years with Caraphone Warehouse.

Heddle will work on several key accounts including Sprint.

Earlier this month, VML announced that it would extend its lease with the Kansas City airport for another 11 years, expanding the space and “add[ing] as many as 376 additional employees to the 510 who work there today,” according to city government documents.

Today we learned that Best Buy — longtime client of Crispin, Porter + Bogusky — will follow a string of big-name companies like Chobani and FIAT Chrysler in abandoning the creative agency of record model and working instead with various shops on a by-project basis.

This means that CP+B will no longer be the client’s AOR.

From a Best Buy spokesperson:

“This is part of broader changes to our marketing strategy and it is consistent with moves we have made in other areas of the business.

Some marketing work will be consolidated and other pieces will be brought in-house. We will continue to have agency support, but it will be focused on specific projects.”

Best Buy had this to say about the agency itself:

“[CP+B] has been a great partner and they are [welcome] to bid on future projects.”

So the relationship between agency and client will not end immediately and the former may indeed work with the latter on future projects. Best Buy’s campaigns for the Summer and Back to School seasons will be led by CP+B and run as scheduled, but these efforts will be the last to list Crispin as the client’s agency of record.

Crispin initially won creative duties for Best Buy’s Geek Squad promos, working on that account long before they brought Bieber and Ozzy together for Super Bowl XLV. In 2007, the agency won more work at the expense of BBDO and eventually became Best Buy’s creative AOR; its most recent BB campaign to appear on this blog was a Rushmore-inspired back to school ad that ran last July.

A source tells us that the client has already begun issuing the RFPs in question and that AKQA is one of the winning agencies.

Both CP+B and AKQA refrained from commenting on this story.

According to an article in PC World, starting today, in an apparent move to become a more upscale brand, the electronic retailer best known for transistors, capacitors, and other relatively obscure doo-hickeys will change its name to “The Shack” and focus more on mobile technology. While Radio Shack, I mean The Shack, has always carried flat screen TV’s, laptops, and cell phones, is the gradual shift from hardware accessories consistent with its brand? Do consumers automatically think of Radio Shack, I mean The Shack, when they need the latest in wireless technology?

Exactly.  The shift from its original focus means the encroachment into traditional electronic retail. How competitive is The Shack compared to the big boys of electronic retail – Best Buy, Circuit City, Walmart, etc. – especially considering the comparatively microscopic store size?

Today’s launch includes a live event called “Shack Summer Netogether,” featuring two 17-foot laptop computers in NYC and San Francisco, allowing live video and audio exchanges between the two cities via webcam.

In an interview with PC World’s Jeff Bertolucci, CMO Lee Applbaum says the new moniker stems from loyal customers, associates, and investors referring to the company as The Shack. Applbaum also mentions that while they have a loyal customer base in electronic parts, they’re also aggressively targeting mobile technology. “You will see a real focus on mobility and wireless products from leading brands in our new advertising.”

Stay tuned to see how this risky move unfolds.

Sara Barton is a copywriter, social media strategist, and avid blogger who is in search of her next opportunity. Contact her via Twitter, LinkedIn, or her blog.