Hasta La Creative!

– Bar Refaeli strips down to her lingerie again for a new Passionista ad campaign.

– This Digiday article explores the belief among young agency employees that it’s the agency itself which causes them to job hop so much because staying doesn’t allow them to move ahead. People…same shit, different decade. Nothing has changed in 30 years.

– Apple’s new ad campaign isn’t impressing the critics nor the public.

– The Sun has rounded up what they deem to be the sexiest TV ads of all time, all of which have been covered here on Adrants over the years (Except the 1992 Cindy Crawford Pepsi ad as that was before our time.)

– Social media erupted with joy yesterday in reaction to the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8.

– The Drum gives us its top ten takeaways from Cannes Lions last week. Mentioned: Ogilvy’s award haul, Twitter’s new TV ad targeting tool and Wednesday’s social media peak with Conan O’Brien and Sean Combs.

– Digital marketers were all over the DOMA decision yesterday whipping out quick ads across social media channels.

– Following its recent Facebook Page Insights update, the social media giant has given its Ad Manager an overhaul.

– This Sunday, the iPad version of The New York Times will sport its first page takeover unit. The ad will tout Showtime’s Ray Donovan.

– Former Adrants Editor Angela Natividad offers up her take on last week’s Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity.

Well, this certainly comes as a surprise this morning. We’ve received what appears to be a legit memo sent from Grey New York president/CCO Tor Myhren and COO Michael Houston to staff regarding one of the agency’s most well-regarded accounts. Read on:

“After a spectacularly successful six-year run, we are resigning the E*TRADE Financial account.
We think it’s in both Grey’s and E*TRADE’s best interests. Think of the history we’ve made. It’s worth celebrating.
Across six Super Bowls, the street-wise baby became synonymous with the E*TRADE brand’s maverick, consumer-championing DNA, proving online investing is so easy a baby can do it.

The E*TRADE baby set new records for popularity and effectiveness in the Super Bowl, delivering sales success and unprecedented media buzz in broadcast, print and social media.  The commercials were ranked among the “most popular” on the game by CBS, USA TODAY, ADWEEK, ADVERTISING AGE, TIME, TIVO and NIELSEN, generating over 60 million YouTube views.  In addition, creative recognition for the baby and his friends included Effies, One Show, London International, AICP and D&AD honors. And it was also voted the best campaign in America two straight years by the Wall Street Journal.

E*TRADE, and all the terrific people we’ve worked with, have our everlasting gratitude and best wishes for continued success. We will always look back on this relationship as one of the best and most famously effective in Grey’s history.

Of course, we will do everything in our power to ensure a smooth transition over the coming months.

Thanks to everyone for all you’ve done on this game-changing account for Grey. Let us never forget this was the brand and the work that began our turnaround.

Tor and Michael.”

Sources familiar with the matter tell us it’s legit, and  if you want to recall some of the good times between Grey and its financial client, see above and below. From what we hear from, Grey “just though it’s time” to part ways with E*Trade, which we’ve been told has gone through seven CEOs since the relationship began.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Continuing its quest to proudly tout the fact everything it does is Designed by Apple in California, the brand is out with a TBWA-created animation entitled “Intention.” The work speaks to Apple’s intention to perfect things versus just make them.

Designed by Apple in California an intriguing effort that shifts focus away from people’s fixation with where something is manufactured to where it’s designed. While brands will always seek out the lowest possible costs to make their products, they’re less likely to outsource the design of those products.

For many decades following the industrial revolution, Made in America was a proud statement of fact; that everything a brand made — inclusive of design — was done in America by Americans. As the world shifted to a global economy and brands began to explore less costly, overseas manufacturing options, Made in America became meaningless as, for the most part, nothing is made in America any longer.

But, America is still in the business of developing, inventing, creating, envisioning and, to use a favorite advertising buzzword, ideating. Apple is capitalizing on that fact and touting it as if the statement were just as powerful as Made in America once was.

“Making stuff” will always be important. But, for now, designing it is way cooler.

In Doner’s new spot for the 2014 Fiat 500L, colonial Americans are invaded by a group of red Fiat-driving Italians. To prepare, the American women strip off their bonnets and hoop skirts, revealing cleavage and cocktail dresses. A pub sign is replaced by “Club,” and teacups are shattered to make room for steaming espresso.

Sure, if the Italians invaded instead of the British, we might be less straight-laced when it comes to sex. Our government might engage in fistfights instead of filibusters. But the glamorization of Italy seems to me a boring cliche, an unfounded American fantasy that feeds itself. Because of American media, I expected to see beautiful women and smell-wafting pizza in Rome, but the actual trash-filled streets and knock-off style was less than alluring. The whole thing felt like a self-imposed tourist trap.

Like men in speedos on panoramic beaches, Fiat’s ad is slightly amusing, but I wish it had moved past our traditional perceptions of Italian “fun.” After all, it’s not hard to crack a joke at the expense of Berlusconi and his Bunga Bungas.

Credits after the jump

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

We’re getting word from those in the know that Arc Worldwide, the marketing services arm of Leo Burnett, has lost its retail agency duties for Comcast’s high-speed internet/digital TV unit Xfinity, which was launched by NBC Universal’s parent over three years ago. We’ve put in inquiries to the comms/biz folks at Xfinity (still not sure about that name), but from what we’ve been told on the Spy line, the review has begun and RFP’s have already been sent out to other agencies.

Arc’s relationship with Comcast on retail marketing dates back six years, when it was named a partner on said component by the media giant. Comcast’s move seems kind of odd considering that Arc won big at the Outstanding Marketing at Retail Achievement Awards a few months ago. Anyhow, we’ll fill in the blanks if we hear more from the client as the agency isn’t providing comment.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

As National Pride month winds down for the LGBT community, Grey Poupon and CP+B have teamed for a small piece of content in support of gay rights. A Facebook image posted yesterday afternoon depicts two men in separate cars holding hands through open windows, a heartwarming riff on a famous 1981 ad for the mustard-maker. Earlier this year, CP+B used the famous spot as a backdrop for a “Lost Footage” reveal during the Academy Awards. In the original commercial, two mayonnaise whiteys pull up side-by-side in Rolls Royces. One man happens to be eating some mustard-garnished food in the backseat, while the other politely asks for some Grey Poupon. Instead of sharing, the first man drives off devilishly. Perhaps, thirty two years later, he had a change of heart.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

On June 21, the sun shone for 24 hours in Iceland. No darkness for an entire day thanks to our buddy, the Summer Solstice (you can watch a cool slideshow of the never-ending sun here). The phenomenon is actually called a “midnight sun,” and occurs in a handful of places around the world, including Alaska, but for Reyka Vodka, the celebration begins and ends with Iceland. Reyka teamed up with Red Tettemer + Partners for “A Celebration of Summer Solstice,” which probably conjures up images of the Nordic populous engaging in a nationwide rave with a lot of blonde hair swooshing around.

Prior to the blonde bash, Reyka built up momentum on the obligatory social media channels, even offering free trips to Iceland for winners of an Instagram photo contest. This is not a what-happens-in-Iceland-stays-in-Iceland party, either. Reyka also had solstice shindigs in Chicago and San Francisco. The brand sponsored a total of 54 solstice parties in America, including a main event in a Williamsburg bar. The sun may not have been shining 24 hours straight in Brooklyn, but when vodka is involved, drinkers won’t notice the difference anyway. Credits after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

As everyone laments the conclusion of a great NBA season, we’re all reminded that it’s almost vacation season. Some of us find a beach, others opt for a refreshing hike. You may only think of Colorado ski resorts as a winter vacation hub, but with some creative guidance from Seattle-based Wexley School for Girls, the Copper Mountain resort wants to remind vacationers that it’s still looking to thrive as the summer gets sweaty. Three new Copper Mountain spots will be airing in the coming months. “Golf Triathlon” will be released first on June 24.

The ads are a continuation of Wexley’s “Everyone Deserves a Snow Day” campaign, somewhat puzzling considering school is out and there aren’t snow days to be had. The set-up is overly simple: a standard nuclear family trading uncomfortable banter on a skilift. The premise of a gold triathlon is a dynamic idea in theory, ripe with potential humor, but here it is rendered boring. Showing the golf course to the viewer may have fixed the boredom. The two unreleased spots, “Events,” and “Woodward,” are much of the same: jokes that don’t make you laugh. Same background, same skilift, no variety. A bland campaign for a bland Friday.

You can see the other two spots and credits after the jump.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In March, Mozilla announced its “Firefox Flicks” competition, calling on aspiring filmmakers, animators, and creatives to make films emphasizing the power of the Web on mobile devices. Somehow Edward Norton is on the board of judges.

Mozilla reports that as of now, Europe, Asia, and Africa are beating North America for best entries. There are only two other rounds of judging before the final contest, and the final deadline for entries is July 31, 2013. So, let’s represent?

The regional prizes of $5,000 and $2,500 sound sweet, but the grand prize of getting to produce a short film with no corresponding screening sounds like a bit of a swindle. Is Mozilla going to use the resulting spot in a campaign? Will it be distributed in some way?

The two winners of the Early Entry Award have made fun films, showing that Mozilla’s getting the attention of ambitious students. I’m just curious to see how the Mozilla will move the projects from their insular space, making them really matter.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Over the years, AdPulp has written many stories referencing Kevin Robert’s book Lovemarks, an overly designed Saatchi & Saatchi promo piece wrapped in a trademarked branding process. It’s amusing to note now that in 2006, a former CEO of a department store was so enamored of the book he hired Saatchi to turn his store into a “Lovemark.” That beloved department store? JC Penney.

But Lovemarks the book is so…well, 2004. After 9 years, what does the agency say now? We find out in Loveworks: How the world’s top marketers make emotional connections to win in the workplace by Brian Sheehan, a former Saatchi executive and now Syracuse University Professor.

Sheehan doesn’t forget where he came from. What we get is simply a hagiography of Saatchi and Saatchi, as the book offers case study after case study of agency clients he seems to think can be chalked up to being a “Lovemark.” Swiffer. Reebok. Nike (a Saatchi client in Brazil). It doesn’t matter what the product is, they all somehow fit into the Lovemarks ethos. The conclusion of the book? “Love is working.” Not exactly an unbiased analysis.

The redeeming value in Loveworks comes from the interesting studies of brands working internationally (Saatchi & Saatchi has offices in pretty much any country you can name). The story of Safeguard soap being introduced to the Chinese market, for example, provides some fun and valuable insight into marketing in other cultures. But at heart, Loveworks simply acts as an agency credentials book, where any emotional connection forged with consumers is deemed to be one born from “love.” We’ve seen many agencies attempt similar ways at branding themselves, but this one comes with a cute phrase. Are there lessons you can apply at your own agency or brand? You’ll have to decide for yourself whether Loveworks is all you need.

Special thanks to FSB Associates for providing me with a review copy.

The post Loveworks Promotes An Agency, Not A Marketing Methodology appeared first on AdPulp.