Hasta La Creative!

In case you missed it, banking brand Wells Fargo has taken something of a beating in the arena of public opinion due to a scandal involving millions of fake savings and checking accounts created by employees in response to alleged performance pressures.

Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve also punished the company by effectively restricting its ability to grow until it makes changes to its board of directors.

And just this week, Senator Elizabeth Warren chided the company’s relatively new CEO Tim Sloan for admitting that the company had “charged nearly 600,000 customers for auto insurance they didn’t need,” “improperly charged 110,000 customers fees to extend their mortgage rate locks,” and “bungled its reimbursements to the auto loan and mortgage rate lock customers.”

This was all after the fake account issue had seemingly been resolved.

Now, we hear that the company is turning to a familiar party for help: its ad agency of record, BBDO San Francisco.

According to our sources, the shop plans to launch a new campaign with “a multi-million dollar budget” that is specifically designed to improve the bank’s reputation after more than a years’ worth of bad headlines.

Since winning the account in early 2014 (it had been with DDB for nearly 20 years), BBDO has indeed produced some surprising efforts. Its first campaign, for example, starred a real-life lesbian couple learning sign language before a touching last-minute reveal about their plans to adopt a deaf girl also played by a real-life deaf girl.

Regarding this post, a BBDO spokesperson referred us back to the client for comment. Wells Fargo representatives wrote, “We typically launch a new brand campaign every year in the Spring.  Currently, we are working through the details of our 2018 plans.”

So it’s unclear exactly how the agency will attempt to address the issues that its client has faced over the past year-plus. How would you do it?

As the first pitchers and catchers start to report to spring training the San Francisco Giants have named 215 McCann as the team’s new agency of record, following a review.

“We met with several agencies, and we connected with 215 McCann immediately,” Giants executive vice president of business operations Mario Alioto said in a statement. “We had a strong chemistry from the start and 215 McCann seemed to really understand our brand and our organization goals. The quality of their work — both strategy and creative — was equally impressive. Having worked together for a few months now, we are thrilled with our decision.”

“The Giants are widely regarded as pioneers and leaders in professional sports and throughout the community,” added 215 McCann chief creative officer Scott Duchon. “We look forward to celebrating this team that represents Bay Area values of innovation, diversity and inclusion.”

215 McCann will be tasked with launching a new campaign celebrating the MLB team’s 60th anniversary in San Francisco.

The Giants franchise pre-dates such conventions as the four-ball walk (1889) and the modern distance of the pitching mound to home plate (1893). Founded as the New York Gothams in 1883 and renamed the Giants three years later, the team stayed in New York until the 1958 season when it moved to Seals Stadium, which had been the longtime home of the Pacific Coast League’s San Francisco Seals, before spending nearly four decades in Candlestick Park. The Giants settled in their current home, AT&T Park, in 2000.

It shouldn’t be hard for 215 McCann to find events to celebrate as the Giants have had their share of recent success, winning three World Series titles since 2010, most recently on the strength of a historic World Series pitching performance by Madison Bumgarner in 2014.

Is your agency in the market for another hospitality client?

This morning Adweek reported that MullenLowe has ended its relationship with Hyatt after approximately two years due to “creative and financial differences.”

It’s the most recent in a series of changes at the hotel company, which announced approximately three weeks ago that it would be eliminating the global CMO and global head of capital strategy, franchising and select service positions on its executive board in favor of a single chief commercial officer who will oversee various operations including global marketing.

According to at least three sources familiar with the business, Hyatt has launched a global creative review seeking one agency to promote all 12 of its brands.

We unfortunately don’t have much information about the RFP so far in terms of competitors or specifics, but it does appear to be creative only, unlike the 2016 review that saw the client consolidate global creative with MullenLowe and assign its PR and social media business to other shops.

Kantar Media has Hyatt spending $35 million in 2016 and more than $20 million last year, and we hear almost all of that paid media was in the U.S. market. But the client has not launched any major campaigns since last February, and others tell us the number may be closer to $10 million.

All of the involved parties declined to comment on the record. Good luck.

Shelton, Connecticut-headquartered BIC has selected New York-based Merkley+Partners as its U.S. media agency of record.

BIC spent over $9.8 million on measured media in 2016, according to Kantar Media.

Merkley+Partners will be tasked with media buying and planning in the U.S. across BIC’s lighter, stationary and women’s shaver brands, tasked with handling media across channels with a particular focus on data-based digital and social strategies.

“We are excited to partner with Merkley,” BIC vice president, marketing, North America Ross Ullman said in a statement. “We believe their focus on media efficiency and expertise in digital delivery solutions will have a significant impact on the effectiveness and ROI of our marketing campaigns.”

“BIC is truly an iconic brand that’s been a category leader for over 60 years,” Merkley+Partners CEO Alex Gellert. “We couldn’t be more excited to partner with an organization that has such a storied past and such a bright future.”

The news follows fast food chain White Castle consolidating its creative with account with Merkley+Partners last month, after assigning the agency the retail portion of the account last July.

Jack Link’s has launched a review of its creative account.

“Across all of our business units, we routinely conduct evaluations to ensure we have the right strategic and executional partners. At this time, we’ve decided to evaluate our creative partnerships,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “We’ve enlisted Pile, an agency search consulting firm, that will strategically guide and manage the search process. Our current AOR, Carmichael Lynch, will be invited to participate in the process as well.”

Incumbent Carmichael Lynch has confirmed it is is not participating in the formal review as conducted by Pile, but is continuing to work with the brand during the process.

“We’re proud of our 13-year partnership with Jack Link’s and the brand we’ve built together, resulting in a household name and the No. 1 snack in convenience stores nationwide,” a spokesperson for Carmichael Lynch said in a statement. “We’ve declined to participate in the formal review process and continue to focus on the work at-hand and launching our newest campaign together.”

While the agency is not part of the review process, it seems that Jack Link’s is evaluating the agency on its recent and current work for the brand and has not ruled out the possibility of working with Carmichael Lynch in some capacity in the future.

“They are being evaluated and considered in the overall process, however they are not participating in the official Pile process. Instead they will be evaluated on current and ongoing work,” a Jack Link’s spokesperson explained.

Jack Link’s spent around $9.1 million in 2016 and over $10.7 million in the fist nine months of last year, according to Kantar Media.

Carmichael Lynch’s recent work for the brand includes a regional Super Bowl ad and a September campaign featuring NFL stars Clay Matthews and Odell Beckham Jr. which followed the previous year’s “Workin’ Out With Sasquatch” campaign. The agency’s branded content extension with Inside the NBA was named to Adweek’s 2017 Media Plan of the Year list.

CP+B has won creative duties for Goose Island Brewery, which became one of AB InBev’s first craft acquisitions back in 2011.

The agency first tweeted about their new partnership last week, and the client confirmed the assignment today.

Excited to announce our new partners @GooseIsland! So stoked about this one, we redecorated #CPBBoulder. pic.twitter.com/GHa8VaRRwE

— CP+B (@cpbgroup) January 26, 2018

“Goose Island set out to find a creative partner that can help us translate a 30-year craft brewing legacy into big ideas that are relevant and disruptive. We’re confident CP+B will help us realize our goal of getting America some damn fine beer as we look ahead to our next 30,” Goose Island Beer Co. president Todd Ahsmann said in a statement.

“We’re excited to partner with Goose Island, a brand always on the forefront of the American craft beer movement that continuously and passionately reinvents the category,” added CP+B global chief creative officer Linus Karlsson. “We’re equally as passionate thinking big for the brand and the journey ahead.”

Chicago-based VSA Partners won advertising, branding and packaging responsibilities for Goose Island in early 2014 and launched the brand’s first national campaign, entitled “To What’s Next.” A recent stunt by the brand saw Goose Island president Todd Ahsmann and co-founder Greg Hall pitch a Super Bowl ad idea to AB InBev’s marketing team.

Goose Island spent nearly $13.2 million on measured marketing in 2016 and over $7 million in the first six months of 2017, according to Kantar Media.

Domino’s has appointed The Community as its U.S. Hispanic agency of record, following a review.

The Community will be tasked with creating campaigns encompassing traditional, social, digital, and mobile advertising for the U.S. Hispanic market. Its first work is expected to launch in mid-2018.

We sought a collaborative creative partner that would help us continue to elevate our brand with the influential Hispanic community,” Domino’s vice president, advertising Karen Kaiser said in a statement. “The Community’s combination of strategic thinking, creative bravery, and passion for our brand is what differentiated them from other agencies.”

“Domino’s is not only a class leading brand but also a company that truly sees and understands the importance of the Hispanic consumer,” The Community president Luis Montero added. “Our mission is to leverage our progressive multicultural approach to help Domino’s become the dominant No. 1 pizza brand in every Hispanic neighborhood and we couldn’t be more excited about our collaboration.”

ALDI is in the midst of a review of its U.S. account and incumbent McCann Detroit has been eliminated in the process, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Sources claim Leo Burnett is among the finalists in the review.

McCann declined to comment. ALDI U.S. has yet to provide a statement as of publication time.

ALDI spent just over $51 million on measured media in the U.S. in 2016 and $40 million in the first six months of 2017, according to Kantar Media.

ALDI named McCann as lead agency for its U.S. account back in 2009. The agency brought on Gary Holme as senior vice president and creative director on the account in 2015, but he appears to have left the agency a year and a half later.

McCann Manchester has long handled ALDI’s advertising in the U.K. and retained the account following a review in 2016 which included Mother, JWT, M&C Saatchi, and  Havas. In 2015, McCann Worldgroup Germany was named AOR for ALDI Nord.

Patrick Coffee contributed reporting to this story.

In December, home improvement giant Lowe’s confirmed that it would be the latest retailer to break with tradition in abandoning the traditional agency of record model.

That news came in the form of a creative review that launched after Lowe’s parted with its CMO and moved its media buying business from OMD to Starcom, thereby ending an exclusive 12-year relationship with Omnicom.

This review, however, is unique in several ways.

Lowe’s is hardly the first client eager to keep its options open on the agency front. But according to three parties with direct knowledge of the matter, the current review is organized by region, with three separate pitches involving agencies in the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest portions of the United States. (Lowe’s is based in Mooresville, North Carolina.)

Each pitch involves three finalists competing to be Lowe’s creative agency for their respective regions. Our sources say the process is now in its last stages, with final presentations occurring last week.

Moving forward, Lowe’s will retain all three winners, maintaining the equivalent of an open-format business relationship with each. In other words, the different shops could simultaneously work on different and potentially complimentary projects. According to our sources, major projects will also follow a “jump ball” round in which the three agencies will pitch against one another.

All factors strongly indicate that spending concerns helped shape this approach, with earlier reports stating that Lowe’s looks to move away from major TV and print work in order to focus more heavily on digital campaigns.

But this not a standard consolidation effort in which a major client moves all work to a single holding group. When news of the review first broke, a BBDO representative confirmed that the agency would be defending its business. According to our sources, IPG’s Ep.+Co, sister agency to Hill Holliday, is also competing in the Southeastern pitch.

A BBDO representative deferred to the client for further comment, and an Ep+Co. spokesperson declined to comment. Lowe’s also declined to elaborate on the review, and the full list of agencies involved is unclear at this time.

All of our sources, however, agree that the winners should be announced in coming weeks.

Expedia-owned online travel brand Orbitz selected Havas Chicago as its creative agency of record, following a review which included over ten agencies. Havas will be tasked with creative, digital and social responsibilities.

Orbitzand more than $15 million in the first six months of 2017, according to Kantar Media.

“Beyond the extensive capabilities Havas Chicago brings to the table, they demonstrated a clear understanding of our needs and positioning in a cluttered industry,” Orbitz brand marketing director Carey Malloy said in a statement. “It was like a first date, where both sides just clicked. Havas Chicago delivered on values, transparency and energy that are all similar in our brand philosophy.”

“Cultural relevance isn’t something you can fake,” added Havas Chicago president and chief client officer  Tatia Torrey. “Our approach is deeply rooted in contemporary culture which allows us to be the best partner to brands like Orbitz – a brand that is looking to re-energize its connection with travel consumers. We consistently remain at the forefront of trends, making culture rather than borrowing from it, and we look forward to bringing this value to Orbitz.”