Hasta La Creative!

Connected life services company Asurion appointed The VIA Agency as its agency of record, following a review conducted by Pile and Company.

“We’re about to unveil a new product that will redefine what it means to offer protection for connected devices making this is a critical point for our business,” Asurion director of marketing communications David Mirande said in a statement. “We are essentially the biggest company you’ve never heard of, due to the fact that our work is behind the scenes. Now, we want to change that and show how we can help anyone have a better experience with technology, and be the consumer’s operating system for life.”

One of The VIA Agency’s first assignments for the client will be introducing its new “high-touch, proactive solution to insure connected devices.” Multichannel work is expected from the agency as early as this quarter.

“We’re excited to help Asurion creatively showcase that they offer much more than just protection, they make technology blissful,” said VIA CEO Leeann Leahy, who joined the agency last September. “One thing we like about Asurion as a company is that like us, they aren’t afraid to reinvent the routine and that’s why we’re beyond thrilled for this partnership.”

Chipotle needs a good, thorough rebranding. The chain’s problems clearly can’t be solved by hiring a new crisis communications firm or launching a new social media campaign or hiring some food influencers to bring attention back to the quality of its ingredients.

You guys have obviously seen the stories about CMO and former copywriter Mark Crumpacker, who was indicted on cocaine possession charges in a Manhattan drug bust last week and subsequently placed on administrative leave.

A momentarily fascinating follow-up in Bloomberg today reveals that Crumpacker’s coke purchases synced up with his employer’s biggest crisis moments over the past year or so, implying that he was “driven to drugs” by public fallout and falling revenues attached to the bacteria story.

This may or may not be true. But in January of this year, the chain definitely ended its relationship with PR firm Edelman, all but confirming that the world’s biggest reputation shop was not doing enough to repair its reputation. (This was after Edelman won some Cannes Lions for the “Scarecrow” campaign.)

Chipotle hired GSD&M to handle media/strategy in 2014 and then went with Dentsu’s Carrot for social media last year. But the company hasn’t had a creative AOR in some time after working with Mother New York, DeVito/Verdi, etc.

The reason given for that decision has been that traditional advertising doesn’t matter so much for a company like Chitpotle, which until recently relied on social media, PR/word of mouth and projects like the “Cultivating Thought” series in which various authors’ work appeared on company cups. It wasover advertising, really.

We also hear that this may not have been the most pleasant client in history, surprise surprise. But it’s no longer in that position of power, and we think now would be a good time for Chipotle to issue an RFP.

The company has admitted that it “cannot market its way out” of its current struggles, and the “free burrito” extravaganza didn’t quite work. But whenever it does decide to go all-in on the rebound campaign, it will need to have some distinctive and omnipresent work tied to that effort. This is something that PR and media agency partners, with all due respect to them, cannot provide.

Wouldn’t it be in Chipotle’s best interest to hire a new creative agency in an effort to get consumers to stop thinking about cocaine and E. Coli? The goal would be to refocus on one key point: this place still has better food than almost any other massive chain, Mexican or otherwise.

We almost want to believe in Chipotle’s ability to overcome these scandals, and that feels kind of weird.

It worked for Jack in the Box, remember?

Red Robin appointed KBS as its agency of record, following a review launched by the casual dining chain at the beginning of April. KBS takes over for San Diego-based incumbent (and fellow MDC Partners agency) Vitro, which the brand selected as its AOR back in January 2013. The scope of the assignment includes digital media planning and buying through KBS media agency The Media Kitchen, as well as brand strategy and creative.

“KBS demonstrated a whole new approach to our business and marketing strategy,” said Red Robin CMO Jonathan Muhtar, in a statement. “They challenged our way of thinking and showed us how we can leverage the currency of burger culture to guide our strategy. We’re confident that they’ll be the perfect partner as we look to engage existing customers and reach new burger aficionados.”

“Red Robin understands that modern companies need a strong and multi-faceted marketing platform to engage customers and to progress their business in today’s tech-driven society,” added KBS U.S. CEO Ed Brojerdi. “We’re excited to work with such an iconic brand and use the power of our network to bolster its reputation.”

The appointment follows a recent string of account wins for KBS which includes creative duties for Keds and Monster and, just last month, digital for Stanley Black & Decker.

Yesterday McDonald’s appointed Colin Mitchell as global vice president for the McDonald’s brand. In the new role, Mitchell will move to Chicago and take responsibility for communicating McDonald’s brand vision and positioning throughout the company’s global organization. He will report to McDonald’s global CMO Silvia Lagnado. 

The appointment comes amidst a creative review which McDonald’s launched in April in an effort to consolidate its U.S. ad business. WPP subsequently dropped out of the review last month, citing unusual financial demands and leaving Omnicom’s DDB and Publicis’ Leo Burnett as the remaining finalists.

The two agencies are completing the final stage of the pitch this week. In May, various sources told Adweek that McDonald’s had made “unheard of” demands of its potential agency partners, which must allegedly operate at cost for all future projects as part of a contract that forbids agencies to make a profit without meeting certain unnamed performance goals.

Mitchell arrives at McDonald’s from Ogilvy & Mather, where he has spent the past sixteen years. Most recently, Mitchell served as worldwide head of planning at the agency in a role he has held since February of 2008. While with Ogilvy & Mather, he has worked with brands including  IBM, Coca-Cola, BlackRock and Cisco. Mitchell is also a board member of the Advertising Educational Foundation and the Advertising Research Foundation, as well as a Fellow of the Partnership for New York City.

“Colin is widely respected as one of the brightest and most talented planners in the advertising industry and we are delighted to welcome him to McDonald’s at such an exciting and important time,” Lagnado said in a statement. “His invaluable experience working with major global companies and his passion for brand vision and strategy will have a lasting impact in our business.”

In what Business Insider is calling “The first domino from the ANA ad agency rebate report,” JPMorgan’s U.S. consumer and commercial banking division Chase hired auditors to examine its relationship with Pubicis media agency ZenithOptimedia, which handles media buying for the brand.

Following the report released earlier this month, which alleged widespread non-transparent business practices by media buying companies, which was widely denounced (of course) by advertising holding companies, it’s perhaps unsurprising that a client would resort to such an approach. A Business Insider source told the publication the decision to bring in the auditors two weeks ago was “a direct response to the high-profile report,” although other sources contend the audit had been in the works for months. 

Of course, the fact that auditors was hired does not mean that there’s evidence of any wrongdoing or non-transparent business practices on ZenithOptimedia’s part, but it could potentially to a contract renegotiation or other action.

“We have launched an audit of Zenith, and have paused new work with them in the meantime. They’ve been cooperative, and we look forward to completing this quickly,” a spokesperson told Business Insider’s Lara O’Reilly.

A Zenith spokesperson followed: “We have a great relationship with JPMorgan Chase, with a strong partnership for more than a decade. Audits are a standard part of the business process. We look forward to a collaborative audit process and a continued relationship.”

Another source tells the publication that Chase is considering launching an in-house, programmatic unit for ad buying, bypassing the need for an outside media buying agency. It will be interesting to see Chase’s next move following the audit, and if other clients follow suit in the wake of the ANA report.

Chase has recently made some changes on the creative side of its agency roster, choosing VaynerMedia as its social media AOR in May.

Last Friday, we wrote about Florida Lottery appointing Tampa-based agency PP+K as its general market agency of record following a review. We noted that a spokeswoman for the Florida Lottery declined to comment to Florida Politics prior to a “safe-harbor period” ending some time on Friday, which coincided with the deadline for losing bidders in the review to file an administrative protest over the decision. Now SaintPetersBlog reports that incumbent agency St. John & Partners has filed a 166-page bid protest.

St. John & Partners had held the account since 2009. Following the review which resulted in St. John & Partners winning the account, Zimmerman Advertising lodged a protest of its own, which held up the award for several weeks.

According to SaintPetersBlog, among the allegations in the bid protest are that Tallahassee consultant David Bishop failed to observe a law regarding a two-year ban on former agency officials lobbying their former employers. The bid protest claims Bishop, a former deputy secretary of the Florida Lottery, lobbied on behalf of PP+K just 15 months after leaving his former position. PP+K maintains that Bishop “never met with any Lottery official privately” and never otherwise “actively lobbied” on PP+K’s behalf. Other allegations include that Florida Lottery broke the state’s Sunshine Law by failing to provide a public hearing discussing “the relative merits of the vendors and arrive at a best value determination and award recommendation,” and that they also never requested a “best and final offer” from participating agencies.

In the bid protest, St. John & Partners asks that Florida Lottery suspends awarding the contract to PP+K, until the decision is resolved either by the court or “final agency action,” either scrapping the award and relaunching the review or awarding it to the incumbent.

Famous Footwear appointed The Richards Group as its new agency of record, following a review. The Dallas-based independent agency will be tasked with creative, brand strategy, digital and social strategy.

“The Richards Group checked off every item on our list in searching for an agency partner,” Famous Footwear CMO Will Smith said. “We were looking for complete cross-platform integration, outstanding creative chops, and strong strategic insights. The Richards Group delivers on all these elements. But one of the things we appreciated the most was their ability to listen. That told us they would be a highly collaborative partner as we move the business forward.”

Y&R Chicago had held creative duties since 2011, following Famous Footwear ending its relationship with Campbell Mithun after more than three years and subsequently launching a review. It is unclear if Y&R participated in the review. 

“We got to know their business as well as we could during the review process, and the briefing they provided us early on was invaluable as we approached the final assignment,” said The Richards Group principal Stephanie Vander Linden, who will lead the Famous Footwear business. “Working with Famous Footwear to find the heart of the brand showed us how well our teams would work together. If that wasn’t motivation enough, we look out the window every day and see a Famous Footwear store across the street. We want to be part of their success.”

The Richards Group’s first work for the brand is expected to run for back-to-school season later this summer. 

Susan Credle, global chief creative officer at FCB, believes in the power of story to move people to buy and to believe. She’s not alone in this, although it pays to clearly make the argument over and over. In a guest piece written for The Wall Street Journal, Credle explains the great tradition that today’s […]

The post FCB’s Creative Leader Sets The Story Straight appeared first on AdPulp.

Contrary to tips we’ve received, Audi’s creative business is not in review.

Audi did, however, launch an unannounced review late last year for sports marketing and experiential work. That review concluded with Audi naming New York-based LeadDog as its experiential and sports marketing agency of record. LeadDog’s client roster also includes NASCAR, ABC, Chipotle, Intel, WWE, Amtrak and Odwalla.

Audi’s general creative account was not part of the review and VB&P remains the brand’s creative agency of record. A company spokesperson writes, “An experiential review was conducted last year and Lead Dog is our agency of record for experiential. The review did not affect VBP’s scope of work.”

VB&P’s recent work for the client includes a March “Rock and Roll” spot set to The Stooges’ “Search and Destroy” and a Super Bowl effort comparing a ride in the Audi R8 V10 to a space launch, set to David Bowie‘s “Starman.”

LeadDog published a tumblr post on the new business in February, but the client never made it official. Since winning the review, LeadDog has worked on several projects for Audi, chief among them the carmaker’s partnership with Major League Soccer.

Microsoft’s $26.2 acquisition of professional network LinkedIn will not immediately impact its relationship with creative agency partner BBDO.

Today a LinkedIn spokesperson writes, “Our relationship with BBDO does not change. Until this deal closes, each company will continue to operate independently.”

Sources close to the matter tell us that BBDO’s San Francisco office has been working with the professional networking company on a per-project basis and that it will continue doing so aside from the acquisition, which was announced this morning.

While the agency’s relationship with the client will not be impacted in the short-term, the future of the business is unclear. For now, at least, we should expect more LinkedIn work from BBDO San Francisco following February’s launch of the brand’s first broadcast ad, “You’re Closer Than You Think,” which debuted during ABC’s broadcast of the Academy Awards. 

Microsoft mostly works with McCann’s dedicated unit m:united on creative, such as this International Women’s Day effort celebrating female inventors. In April, McCann hired former Havas executive creative director Jim Hord to work on the account.