Deutsch Wins Creative AOR Duties for Pandora

Streaming service Pandora has chosen Deutsch as its new creative agency of record after a review. The business will be run out of the network’s Los Angeles offices.

The account had been with fellow IPG shop twofifteenmccann, which did not pitch to retain the business.

The client’s VP of brand and product marketing Melissa Waters writes:

“Deutsch truly understands Pandora and has deep ties to the music industry, which will help propel us forward. As we execute our strategy and launch new products in the marketplace, we need a partner with strong digital-first thinking and a category disruption mindset. Deutsch clearly demonstrates a world-class understanding of the millennial mindset and how to articulate a compelling brand position in a competitive category.”

Pandora CMO Simon Fleming-Wood launched the review before stepping down earlier this month after spending more than four years as the company’s first-ever chief marketer. twofifteenmccann’s final work for the client, titled “The Next Song Matters,” launched last month to what we’re told was a “good response.”

Fleming-Wood’s departure followed several other executive-level changes. The company also announced that co-founder Tim Westergren would replace Brian McAndrews (formerly with Microsoft, Disney, etc.) as CEO, that Sara Clemens would be promoted from chief strategy officer to chief operating officer and that CFO Mike Herring would also assume the role of president.

Beyond McCann, the company has also worked with other agencies like Paul Charney’s Funworks, which made its recent “ish” campaign starring various comedy influencers.

In a statement, Deutsch chief digital officer Winston Binch called Pandora “a dream client,” writing, “the marketing team wants to take a digital-first approach and is incredibly ambitious and forward-thinking.”

Deutsch Los Angeles president Kim Getty added, “We’re thrilled to be their business partner and help take the brand to the next level, especially as Pandora launches new products that connect artists and listeners in a true and pure way.”

The client’s yearly spending numbers were not available at the time this post went live.

MasterCard Consolidates Digital, Social Media Work with McCann XBC

MasterCard has further solidified its relationship with McCann Worldgroup by consolidating the digital and social media portions of its marketing business with the dedicated IPG shop McCann XBC.

A client spokesperson writes, “MasterCard regularly reviews and assesses industry resources, as part of responsible vendor and agency management,” adding, “At this time, we can confirm that our digital and social marketing activities in the U.S. have been consolidated under the integrated McCann XBC team.”

This means that the client will no longer work with R/GA or VaynerMedia, which previously handled its digital and social work, respectively. The client did not address whether it held a formal review, and our sources did not mention one. McCann representatives deferred to the client.

The larger McCann organization launched XBC or “ExtraBoldCondensed” in 2012 to collaborate with other IPG agencies on the MasterCard business. At the time of the launch, the McCann organization brought former chief creative officer Joyce King Thomas back to serve as president, and she was later promoted to chairman in July 2014 as Devika Bulchandani succeeded her in that role. Bulchandani, who was formerly EVP of global strategy at McCann, also holds the title of managing director of its New York office.

Tipsters tell us that the agency/client relationship between Bulchandani, Joyce and MasterCard CMO Raja Rajamannar helped facilitate this round of consolidation. In recent months, Rajamannar has joined many other clients in predicting that his company’s investment in digital marketing would soon “significantly outpace” its traditional spend, making the win all the more significant for the McCann network.

R/GA first began working with MasterCard back in 2009, when it replaced MRM//McCann in the U.S. after a review. Vayner has handled social for several years, recently winning a Shorty Award for its work on the “Priceless Reunions” project.

MasterCard’s last major agency shift came in February 2014, when it moved its then-$250 million global media account from UM to Carat.

Spending totals for the digital and social portions of the business are not available at this time.

Macy’s Drops JWT for BBH, Figliulo & Partners

As we first reported nearly a month ago, JWT has lost its status as lead creative agency on Macy’s holiday campaigns.

The client, which was typically tight-lipped in responding to our queries in April, confirmed to AdAge that it had in fact issued an RFP late last year–meaning that its decision to seek other agencies predated the lawsuit filed against now-former CEO Gustavo Martinez.

The news does coincide with the departure of Martine Reardon, who is stepping down as the chain’s CMO after five years. Today she gave AdAge a statement:

“F&P and BBH have delivered some exciting and creative concepts that will further cement the magic of our fashion and entertainment brand with consumers.”

The client provided a bit more information to AdAge about how the holidays are its most important time of the year retail-wise, but you already knew that.

Reardon did not clarify which agency will create which portions of the account, but based on their past work it would seem that BBH will be handling the TV campaigns.

The news marks a pretty big win for Figliulo, which has been recovering from its 2014 Sprint loss in recent months by picking up Virgin Atlantic, Seaborn Cruise Line, AC Hotels and, most recently, Pete and Gerry’s Organics.

Cramer-Krasselt Wins Creative for Pacifico, Casa Noble Tequila

MillerCoors Opens Review for Blue Moon, Closes Leinenkugel’s

Here's What 22 Famous Logos Would Look Like If They Swapped Colors With Competitors

We already know what makes a successful logo—remember, simplicity is key. But what about its color scheme? 

A Brazilian graphic designer, Paula Rúpolo, recently experimented with 22 major brand logos, swapping the colors of a brand’s logo with that of its competitors. The results are mesmerizing and, surprisingly, viscerally unsettling. 

“There’s something unbelievably awkward and uncomfortable about seeing globally-familiar brand logos wearing someone else’s clothes,” as Rúpolo puts it.

For brands like Dunkin Donuts and Sprite, where the design is minimal and the brand relies on color to make its logo pop, the outcome is especially off-putting. For others, like Amazon, where there’s very little color to begin with, the swap totally overwhelms the design. 

If anything, the experiment shows how ingrained the colors of major brand logos are in our perception of their designs—and the importance of balancing the two elements. 

Check out the rest below. 

Via Design Taxi

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