Hasta La Creative!

Lyft is in the midst of a creative review in search of an agency of record and has asked big agencies to pitch for the business, but in a video uploaded to YouTube yesterday (featured above) and accompanying Twitter post, Lyft calls on small “wildcard” agencies to take the last seat at the table.

In the video, Lyft states that they have invited large agencies to the review, “But we root for the little guys too” and outlines the rules for submission. Interested parties can submit a 60-second or shorter video, which must take place inside a Lyft vehicle and creatively embody the Lyft brand, to @Lyft with the hashtag #LyftWildcard by June 9th. The winner will then get to compete in the next round of the review.

For one example, here is the pitch from Made Movement of Colorado.

Not everyone is enthused by Lyft’s invitation, however. In AdAge, marketing consultant Rupal Parekh called it “a PR stunt veiled as an effort to make an agency search more hip and fun.” NSW/Swat CEO Richard Kirshenbaum, meanwhile, told Adweek that it was a “gimmick,” adding, “It’s a clever idea for somebody right out of school. But is it really interesting to people of experience and quality who know what they’re doing? The answer is ‘absolutely not.’”

Another hot take from Kyle Snarr of Tribal Worldwide:

#LyftWildcard embodies everything wrong with advertising’s current new biz mentality. More like #LyftFishingTrip. https://t.co/R8pt4rMeHh

— Kyle Snarr (@kyality) June 4, 2015

Lots of strong opinions on this one, though the consensus seems to be negative.

Online travel site Priceline is in the early stages of a creative review, Adweek reports. The company spent over $136 million in measured media last year, according to Kantar Media.

A Priceline rep told the publication that incumbent Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, who won the account back in 2006, is participating in the review. The rep said that despite high brand awareness from ads featuring William Shatner, the company is ” constantly looking for ways to keep the brand fresh and connect with consumers. So that’s what we’re doing.” Priceline’s rep also confirmed that Shatner, along with Big Bang Theory actress Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting remain under contract and will continue appearing in ads.

The review, which is being managed by New York’s Ark Advisors, is expected to conclude some time in September. Media buying and planning responsibilities are not included in the process and will remain at Ocean Media.

In other General Mills news, Adweek reported late last night that the company has launched a media review, its first in 14 years. General Mills spent $830 million in measured media last year, according to Kantar Media.

The Minneapolis-based company’s media buying and planning duties have been with Zenith Media since 2001, when the company consolidated with Zenith following a review open only to roster shops. General Mills joins a lengthy list of companies who have launched media reviews in the past six months (20 by Adweek’s calculations). This month alone has seen media reviews launched by the likes of Sony, Volkswagen Group, BASF, GoDaddy and P&G, the largest advertiser in the U.S.

“Today’s environment calls for exploring new avenues to reach and engage with our consumers,” a General Mills representative said in a statement. “General Mills is conducting a review to ensure we have the right agency partners for the future.”

The review process, which is being managed by Joanne Davis Consulting in New York, is expected to last until the fall.

Lincoln Financial Group is in the late stages of a creative review, with finalists briefed for final presentations, Adweek reports. According to the publication, Lincoln Financial spent around $25 million in measured media last year.

Incumbent Gyro, originally chosen by Lincoln Financial in November of 2011, at which time the agency debuted its “Chief Life Officer” campaign for the brand, is not participating in the review, which is being managed by Ark Advisors in New York. Adweek’s sources have identified the three finalists as Grey, FCB and Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners. Participating agencies have been briefed for final presentations, set for July, and will pitch out of their respective New York offices.

Petsmart has parted ways with agency of record GSD&M and decided to take most of its marketing in-house, just seven months after signing the agency and nine since issuing a creative review, AdAge reports. The company spent $113 million in U.S. measured media last year, according to Kantar Media.

The move follows the purchase of the company by a BC Partners-led consortium in December, a deal which was finalized in March. As a result of the deal, Eran Cohen replaced Phil Bowman as executive vice president, customer service as part of the company’s new leadership team — likely the impetus for the decision. Prior to issuing a creative review last August, the company had fielded much of its advertising in-house, so the move comes as a return to an older model following the company’s short-lived relationship with GSD&M. The announcement follows Land Rover’s decision at the end of March to move all of its advertising to in-house agency Spark44. That same month, Chobani announced it would be dropping Droga5 as its agency of record, in favor of “more in-house and project-based agency partners.”

“While we appreciate the efforts of GSD&M, we’ve decided not to continue our partnership with them,” Michelle Friedman, a spokeswoman at Petsmart, told AdAge. “We will resume management of all creative work with our in-house team.”

GSD&M, meanwhile, said in a statement, “We are proud of the work we created together and wish everyone at Petsmart the best during their transition.”

GSD&M’s work for the brand included “Partners in Pethood” (featured above), a campaign directed by Christopher Guest, which debuted during the Oscars.

The media reviews just keep on coming, as Sony has now become the latest to a launch a global review of its media business. “I can confirm that we are conducting a global media agency review,” a spokeswoman told AdAge. “It encompasses current media agency assignments for planning and buying.”

Sony spent $620.3 million on U.S. measured media in 2014, according to the publication. Its media business is currently divided between Interpublic’s UM (part of IPG’s Mediabrands) — who handles Sony Pictures, as well as pieces of Sony’s entertainment and electronics businesses — WPP’s Mediacom, who handles global media responsibilities for Sony’s mobile devices, and Dentsu’s Carat, who is responsible for Sony Playstation and the North American mobile business. “People familiar with the matter” told AdAge that these incumbents will likely be included in the review.

Sony, of course, joins a laundry list of advertisers who recently launched media reviews. Earlier today we shared news of Volkswagen Group’s global media review, while earlier this week BASF and GoDaddy launched global media reviews of their own. Last week, P&G, the largest advertiser in the U.S., launched a North American media review while SC Johnson concluded a review open only to roster shops by consolidating with PHD. That list is by no means exhaustive, as there are plenty of other advertisers, large and small, participating in Media Review Mania 2015.

Web hosting company GoDaddy, which Kantar Media claims spends around $24.7 million on measured media in the U.S., has launched a review in search of a global brand agency partner. It is unclear if incumbent Barton F. Graf 9000 will participate in the review and Phil Bienert, GoDaddy’s chief marketing officer, told AdAge, “We are still finalizing the list.”

The review comes roughly four months after GoDaddy decided to pull a controversial Super Bowl spot following online backlash. While some questioned whether the stunt was planned, the company insisted the response was completely unexpected. GoDaddy, of course, built its brand on outlandish Super Bowl ads, which were universally loathed enough to merit a “Dear GoDaddy, Please Stop” op-ed from Woods Witt Dealy & Sons partner/creative director Harry Woods in 2013. Last month, GoDaddy chose not to renew its sponsorship of Danica Patrick, who starred in many of the company’s Super Bowl spots, another sign that the GoDaddy is changing its marketing approach. Barton F. Graf 9000’s most recent ads for the brand featured Jon Lovitz taking a CGI beating.

“We felt the time was right for us to be looking for a global agency partner to take our brand global,” Bienert told AdAge. “The criteria are that agencies have global scale, that they have a presence doing brand advertising in multiple markets — not just in North America but in Asia Pacific, Latin America and Europe – and that they understand our brand and our mission.” He added, “We’re ready to push beyond simple brand campaigns that revolve around a 30-second TV commercial and leverage our distinctive small-business data platform as a key ingredient in our brand marketing.”

Will Zoku spell the end of the hotel room as we know it?

It’s way too early to tell, but that’s the bold proclamation already made already by the parties behind the new loft chain, which, all hyperbole aside, serves as a compact home office/bedroom hybrid. Aimed at a sector of business travelers labeled “global nomads,” Zoku–which will officially open its first venue in Amsterdam in fall 2015–aims to transcend the standard hotel experience by unveiling what it deems “social spaces” within a hive-like environment that encourages work, play and longer stays.

How so? Well, the idealistic brand not only provides a loft-style sleeping space but an alcove desk with office supplies, a four-person table for dining and even retractable staircases–so in essence, a playroom for adults.

To help initiate Zoku’s Amsterdam launch, the brand collaborated with hometown agency We Are Pi to develop a brand identity, etc. The brief film above provides a glimpse into the loft, which was conceived following crowdsourcing and research efforts by London-based consultancy, The Future Laboratory. In a statement, Future Laboratory co-founder Chris Sanderson–whose firm worked with interior design/architectural firm Concrete to bring Zoku to life–coins a new term, saying:

“The merging of business and leisure – a trend we have identified as bleisure – represents one of the fastest growing and dynamic business opportunities in recent years. Today’s business travellers are re-writing the rules. Their outlook on work and play demands new services and a new approach to the hospitality sectors. The business hub will be the opportunity of the next decade in terms of hospitality value creation.”

Along with Amsterdam, Zoku plans to target more creatives throughout Europe by opening up operations in Paris, London and Berlin, with global expansion on the horizon.

Film credits:

WE ARE Pi

Managing Director: Alex Bennett Grant
Partner: Patrick Garvey
Strategy Director: Jessica Perri
Strategist: Andrea van den Bos
Executive Creative Director: Rick Chant
Executive Creative Director: Barney Hobson
Creative Design Director: Nessim Higson
Art Director: Kaz Salemink
Account Manager: Sam Speed
Account Executive: Hollie Beever
Executive producer: Kimia Farshidzad
Project Manager: Ambar Surastri

Film and Photography Production

Photographer: Bill Tanaka
1st Assist: Collin Hill
Art Director / Props: Meike Sier
Catering: Nanja Theus

Editor: Sanne van Hecke
Animation Production: Joe Flemming
VO artist: Jason Huggings, Intervoiceover
Music and sound design: Michael Kneebone, Toolbox

Procter & Gamble has launched a review of its North American media business, Adweek reports.

P&G is the largest advertiser in the U.S., spending an estimated $2.6 billion annually, according to Kantar Media. The account is currently split between Starcom’s MediaVest, which handles most of the business in the U.S. and Dentsu Aegis’s Carat, which handles media buying in Canada. It is unclear if either agency will participate in the review.

The move follows the decision last summer to divest or shed 90-100 of its brands and the appointment of Kristine Decker as brand director, North America brand operations in January. Late last month, P&G also announced its desire to “make deep cuts in the number of advertising agencies it works with, hoping to save up to half-a-billion dollars in fees.”

So our sources were right: Royal Caribbean did not choose the established player (Deutsch NY), the edgy alternative (Droga5) or the smaller upstart (22squared) in its extended creative review.

The client instead concluded that review today by choosing Mullen, now known as Mullen Lowe, as its lead creative agency to succeed JWT.

A source tells our colleague Andrew McMains of Adweek that the client’s final review–of its media agencies–is now down to three:  Media Storm, Mediahub and defending incumbent Mindshare.

The recent Mullen/Lowe merger raises a couple of questions. First, will the client favor Mullen’s media arm Mediahub for its buying business? Second, who will run creative on the account?

(Given the fact that Campbell Ewald will “return to its roots as an independent agency within the IPG and Mullen Lowe Group portfolios,” that shop will clearly not work on Royal Caribbean. But will current Lowe employees who were not also Mullen employees work on it?)

Expect hiring announcements to come…and expect them to be complicated by the many moving parts of the newly formed Mullen Lowe Group.