Hasta La Creative!

The popular sporting news property Bleacher Report recently named Johannes Leonardo as its creative agency partner after a review.

The site launched nearly 10 years ago in San Francisco, and it has survived as many rivals in the crowded and intensely competitive world of sports journalism failed. (RIP, Grantland.)

One source tells us that the review also involved the New York offices of Anomaly, Mother and Droga5, with the latter going up against JL in the final round.

Reps for those two agencies declined to comment. Bleacher Report’s head of PR confirmed that the company is working with Johannes Leonardo but did not elaborate on the nature of the relationship.

We currently have no official information about the work or the size of the account. Most non-legacy media companies are not large media spenders; Bleacher Report, however, was acquired by Turner Broadcasting System for $170 million just under 5 years ago and later developed the “industry-leading 5 star rated Team Stream app.” Its advertiser page claims 60+ million “unique visitors”, calling itself “the 2nd largest digital sports site on the planet” behind ESPN.

The property began as “a citizen journalism site for sports” and announced its Series A funding round and “public launch” in February 2008. Since then, it has abandoned the user-driven content model, hired several veteran journalists and evolved into more of a traditional multimedia source for sports news, footage and hot takes. In 2011, Adweek readers voted it their favorite sports media brand.

B/R celebrates one decade in business later this spring.

The New York office of MullenLowe recently won a review to become global creative agency of record for Mount Gay Rum. Moving forward, it will be handling all campaigns to promote the Barbados-based, Rémy Cointreau-owned liquor brand.

In recent years, Ogilvy and New York’s Our Man in Havana have produced work for the brand, which can legitimately claim to be the world’s oldest active rum facility (but not one of the 10 biggest selling brands, according to various listicles).

The account is somewhat minor. According to Kantar Media, Remy spent less than $200,000 on measured media promoting Mount Gay in the U.S. in 2015.

But the parent company wants to expand its rum’s share of the market compared to big . In 2013, production company Radical Media discussed rebranding Mount Gay at The One Show’s Creative Week, noting that they aimed to “position the brand in a more premium space.”

Reps for MullenLowe and Rémy Cointreau declined to comment on the relationship.

According to the party who first shared the win with us, it symbolizes MullenLowe New York’s newfound ability to “compete and win against all the big boys” thanks to its new management.

We’ve yet to find a party who will confirm that—but we are pretty sure the phrase “big digital transformation assignment from a high end retail/e-comm player” refers to MullenLowe beating out several hot shops to win E*Trade earlier this month.

[Pic via]

Heineken USA selected Omnicom’s Red Urban as its lead digital and social marketing agency. The client formerly worked with a roster of agencies on digital and social media marketing assignments including creative AOR Publicis, Havas, 360i, We Are Social and Nomades.

Red Urban, which currently has offices in Toronto and Amsterdam, will open a new location in New York to service the client, whose brands include Heineken, Heineken Light, Tecate, Amstel, Dos Equis and Strongbow hard cider. According to a release, the office is a “bespoke solution which will also draw upon a number of agencies and partners.”

“We could not be more thrilled to partner with Heineken here in the U.S. and create something new, bespoke and innovative for them,” Red Urban group business director Emilio Rosas said in a statement. “The landscape is changing rapidly and we believe this fixed and flexible model allows us to respond at the speed of the marketplace with the right talent at the right time!”

“With Red Urban at the helm, and the ability to leverage Omnicom digital and social capabilities, we look forward to taking Heineken’s consumer centric strategy to the next level,” Omnicom Digital CEO Jonathan Nelson added.

Heineken USA chief marketing officer Nuno Teles cited Red Urban’s “fantastic track record for developing winning programming” in the selection, adding, “we look forward to partnering together across our portfolio of premium import beers and ciders.”

McDonald’s chief marketing officer Deborah Wahl (pictured) is leaving the company, replaced in her role by Morgan Flatley.

As you may recall, McDonald’s launched a creative review almost a year ago, which included unusual financial demands that led WPP to drop out of the review last May. That review concluded in late August with the selection of DDB, leading holding company Omnicom to create its dedicated We Are Unlimited unit. We Are Unlimited released its first work for the client, “There’s a Big Mac for That,” back in January.

Flatley joins McDonald’s from PepsiCo, where she has spent the past three years as CMO for Pepsi’s Gatorade and Propel brands. She originally arrived at Pepsi as assistant marketing manager on Brand Pepsi in September of 2004, following three years in account management with Saatchi & Saatchi.

Wahl has served as McDonald’s CMO since March of 2014, following four and a half years as CMO for PulteGroup and nearly a year and a half in the role for Chrysler. She has also served in marketing leadership roles for Toyota and Ford.

Wahl’s exit is part of a larger marketing leadership transition that also includes Linda VanGosen replacing Lance Richards as vice president, menu strategy and Farhan Siddiqi replacing Julia Vander Ploeg as vice president, digital for the U.S.

Party City selected Boston-based Hill Holliday as its lead creative, digital and media agency, following a review launched in February which saw longtime incumbent Zimmerman Advertising defend the account. At least one source tells us Barkley also pitched.

We reached out to Zimmerman for comment but have yet to receive a response, which may be because the Ft. Lauderdale agency has also handled PR for Party City.

“While we are sorry to part ways with Party City, we understand that new management often triggers new agencies,” Zimmerman CEO Michael Goldberg said in a statement published by AdAge.”That said, we will always root for them and take pride knowing we helped them double their revenue, more than doubled their profits, increased unaided awareness from 26% to 86% and drove positive comp sales every year of our relationship — something unheard of in today’s retail marketplace.”

Zimmerman’s most well-known work for the brand was this 2009 Halloween spot set to Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller.”

Zimmerman recently picked up creative lead duties on Nissan as the client restructured its relationship with Omnicom in North America. Hill Holliday, meanwhile, parted ways with John Hancock after over 30 years last month.

According to Kantar Media, Party City spent around $50 million in 2015 and $27 million from January to September of 2016.

R/GA has moved further into “traditional” agency turf by way of multinational tech conglomerate Samsung.

Multiple parties have confirmed that R/GA significantly expanded its global remit for the Korea-based company starting in late 2016. Earlier this week, the client’s North American CMO Marc Mathieu confirmed to Adweek that R/GA would be working on its “most ambitious marketing campaign yet” to promote the new Galaxy S8 phone along with W+K and design agency Turner Duckworth. (And then there was the Leo Burnett spot promoting Gear VR. Lots of moving parts here.)

The R/GA ads in question are not “live” yet, but they’re broadcast. And they play on nature themes.

Back in January, we posted on the client moving its global social media business to Bob Greenberg’s agency and away from Big Spaceship, which closed its Seoul office in December after losing AOR status. R/GA has been working with Samsung since it won a digital AOR review in 2013; the business had previously been with Razorfish for less than a year.

According to our sources, R/GA added broadcast TV to its expanding list of Samsung responsibilities for the first time beyond the digital and social media work. Beyond the Galaxy S8, R/GA will also be creating future campaigns to promote the client’s kitchen appliances division.

These wins happened around the same time as the social media transition, but it’s not clear whether there was a formal review because no one has spoken to us on the record.

An R/GA spokesperson deferred to the client for comment. Samsung PR has not responded in any way, shape or form to multiple emails and phone calls made over the past several weeks.

This is somewhat understandable given that the company has larger things on its mind including the launch of the new phone and the arrest of vice chairman and de facto CEO Jay Y. Lee, who is accused of colluding with now-former Korean president Park Geun-hye in a bribery scandal that led to her impeachment and removal from office. Yesterday, officials placed her under arrest on corruption charges.

Samsung also hopes that the Galaxy S8 will help eliminate all memory of the exploding phones that ultimately led to $3 billion or more in losses last year by the company’s own estimate.

Expect to see a lot more R/GA Samsung work to come.

Someone sent Carls Jr.’s sexist adverting back to the kitchen. No more tits and ass. Now, it’s about the meat, the menu, and the brand’s history of innovation. In case you’re not sure what you’re missing here, let’s revisit the recent past in Carl’s Jr. land. Team Tex, meet Team Mex. On 9.25.15, it’s game […]

The post Burger Pioneers Bump Frat Boys from The Carl’s Jr. Menu appeared first on AdPulp.

AkzoNobel Decorative Paint selected MullenLowe as its global creative agency, following a review overseen by consultancy R3 Worldwide.

Sources close to the matter claim the review included BBDO, TBWA and Publicis. BBH London was the incumbent on the account, which sources say is worth an estimated $50 million.

MullenLowe will be tasked with global brand strategy and communications, handled primarily by MullenLowe London, with regional support in Latin America from MullenLowe Brasil.

“To leverage our global presence and further build our brands, we need a strong creative partner who can deliver against our growth ambition,” AkzoNobel Decorative Paints chief marketing officer David Menko explained in a statement. “MullenLowe Group is the right partner that will help leverage global scale and continue to win at the local level. The paint business is in a period of transformation and we are leading the way globally via our innovation, disruptive communication, and above all our passion to improve people’s lives by helping them improving their living spaces with our products, services and tools.”

“We believe they have the right creative mind-set, strategic muscle and global account experience to deliver exciting, engaging and disruptive world class marketing communication for our brands that will have a lasting impact in the markets driving consumer and painter preference,” added global marketing director, communications Nuno Pena.

In a statement, Jose Miguel Sokoloff, global president, MullenLowe Group Creative Council said the agency was “absolutely thrilled to partner with AkzoNobel, working together to build and grow their business globally. We’re looking forward to putting the power of our challenger thinking and creativity to work to drive an unfair share of attention for AkzoNobel Decorative Paints brands.”

The agency’s first campaign for the brand is expected before the end of the spring.

Battery, the independent Hollywood agency best known for its video game campaigns, has won a review to handle global advertising for AECOM, an American multinational construction and engineering firm.

The global remit follows a formal review, and this is no minor account: AECOM is currently on the Fortune 500 list, and its projects stretch from Aiken, South Carolina to Ethiopia.

In another sign of this company’s size, it recently won a $25 million consulting job for the Army Corps of Engineers and, earlier this month, announced plans for $3.5 billion in acquisitions anticipating President Trump’s (proposed) grand infrastructure spending project.

“This is a major honor and responsibility,” said Battery CEO and co-founder Anson Sowby. “AECOM is a huge engine that builds infrastructure around the country and the globe. We’re proud to be working with them, helping them create awareness of the brand, their extraordinary projects and incredible employees.” CCO Philip Khosid called the client “a company that turns dreams into reality, solving many of the world’s most complex infrastructure challenges” and “a truly unique brand, with an important corporate story to tell.”

It’s unclear whether AECOM had an agency of record prior to launching this review. Wolff Olins worked on a branding project for the company in 2012, and the review followed the October 2016 promotion of SVP, chief communications officer Heather Rim to oversee marketing.

Here’s a campaign that debuted around the same time.

Regarding the review, Rim said, “Battery impressed us with their ability to produce creative work that both emotionally resonates and drives business forward,” adding, “We look forward to showcasing our work together throughout the year ahead.”

Despite AECOM’s influence, the company spent just under $500,000 on measured media in 2015 according to Kantar Media.

The first campaign marking the new partnership with Battery launched today in the form of a 6,500 square foot billboard overlooking L.A.’s Highway 405.

Salisbury, North Carolina-based grocery store chain Food Lion has moved its ad business to GSD&M without a review. The Austin-based shop will officially start working on its newest account this week.

Doner Detroit had been AOR on the business since winning a review managed by Hasan + Company that ended in November 2015 (the account had been with Mullen). The MDC Partners shop was alerted about the change earlier this month.

A company spokesperson writes:

“On April 1, GSD&M will serve as Food Lion’s advertising agency of record. We look forward to partnering with GSD&M to serve as a strategic partner with Food Lion in developing integrated marketing campaigns and programs as the company delivers on its ‘Easy, Fresh and Affordable…You Can Count on Food Lion Every day’ strategy.

We also would like to thank Doner for their partnership since December 2015 and wish them all the best in the future.”

A representative for Doner confirmed that the business is no longer with its Detroit office, which went through a subsequent round of downsizing that affected less than 2 percent of total staff. (It’s unclear whether this number relates to the Detroit headquarters or the larger North American network.)

Doner’s first work for Food Lion was the “How Refreshing” campaign, which went live just under one year ago. Moving forward, GSD&M will handle creative, integrated marketing strategy and media planning/buying.

The parties who first alerted us to the shift stated that no review occurred and that the client did not give Doner a chance to defend the business. According to at least one source, Food Lion picked GSD&M based largely on ]a pre-existing relationship stemming from work that the agency did for fellow retail chain Walgreens (which has been a client since 2012).

A GSD&M spokesperson has not yet responded to our request for comment on the win.

According to the latest numbers from Kantar Media, Food Lion spent $13.4 million on measured media in 2015 and around $11 million in 2016.