Hasta La Creative!

MillerCoors named Philadelphia-based agency Quaker City Mercantile (formerly known as Gyro Worldwide) as lead creative and digital strategy agency for its Miller High Life brand. The creative account had formerly been with Leo Burnett, whose shopper marketing agency Arc will continue to work with the brand, with DigitasLBi handling digital work.

MillerCoors also tapped roster agency Mekanism to handle its Keystone Light brand. Both changes were made months ago, but just confirmed to AdAge by brand representatives yesterday. We reached out to MillerCoors as well but have yet to receive a response. 

Other alcohol brands on Quaker City Mercantile’s roster include Hendrick’s Gin, Milagro Tequila and Rhode Island’s Narragansett Brewing Company.

Ashley Selman, MillerCoors vice president, marketing for emerging and economy brands, told AdAge that the brand did not assign AOR status on its economy brands but that Quaker City Mercantile’s assignment could include broadcast advertising, digital and packaging. “We are exploring all of that with them right now,” she said. “We wanted to take a slightly different approach, and we felt like getting to know the Quaker City guys and gals they had a really good finger on the pulse of where we wanted to go with Miller High Life.”

She added that the agency’s work with other alcohol brands was not a concern, stating, “One of the reasons we like them is their understanding of alcohol and consumers. We are not concerned about them working on other alcohols. We have a really clear agreement with them.”

The news follows Leo Burnett losing the McDonald’s account to Omnicom in August following a review launched back in April. Leo Burnett is currently defending in a review for General Motors’ GMC brand, launched earlier this month.

Following speculation this spring that General Motors was launching a review for its GMC and Buick brands, a spokesperson confirmed today that the company has issued a creative RFP to “multiple agencies”. The review is exclusively concerned with GMC, however, and the Buick brand will not be impacted.

Both accounts currently reside with Publicis agencies Leo Burnett and DigitasLBi, which will defend in the review. According to Kantar Media, the parent company spent $269 million on measured media for the brand last year.

Leo Burnett was appointed as lead creative agency for Buick and GMC in 2007 without a review and has worked with General Motors in some capacity for over 45 years.

“Expanding the relevance of GMC brand and positioning it for continued success are key priorities,” the spokesperson said. “To support this effort, GMC is inviting multiple agencies to participate in a RFP to develop advertising strategies for the brand. Our current agencies of record, Leo Burnett and Digitas, will participate in this process. This RFP is specific to GMC and does not impact in any way the relationship between Buick, Leo Burnett and Digitas.”

GMC declined to disclose specifics about the review and the new agencies involved aside from the fact that an RFP will be issued within 30-45 days and the review is expected to conclude by the end of the year. Two to incumbent agencies deferred to the client for comment.

Sources told Adweek that Leo Burnett and Digitas were informed of the RFP last week, following the announcement by McDonald’s that it had concluded its own creative/media review by sending its creative account to DDB, thereby ending its 35-year relationship with Leo Burnett and consolidating its account with Omnicom.

Back in June, the Detroit offices of Leo Burnett and Digitas LBi merged to form a new unit called Engage M-1, dedicated to serving General Motors, while retaining separate office spaces and agency brands. 

General Motors has made a few changes to its agency roster in the recent past. In February, General Motors sent creative duties for Chevrolet certified service and Chevrolet commercial vehicles to Commonwealth//McCann nearly a year after sending creative for Silverado to McCann. This year General Motors also sent PR duties on its Cadillac and Chevrolet brands to Kovert Creative and Weber Shandwick, respectively — and the Detroit News reports that the company will issue RFPs for public relations work on Buick and GMC by the end of this year.

The Detroit offices of Leo Burnett and DigitasLBi (which joined forces to form Engage M-1 earlier this summer) launched a campaign for GMC introducing “The Next Generation of SUV” with a 30-second spot promoting the 2017 GMC Acadia.

The spot opens on a orchestra playing the intro to “Eminence Front,” The Who’s “classic” song from well-past-their-prime 1982 album “It’s Hard.” A voiceover says, “There are conductors and then there are maestros” as the scene shifts back and forth between the orchestra and a GMC Acadia driving into the city. A maestro, it continues, “leads with confidence, exactness, inspiration” — unlike a mere conductor.

At GMC, the voiceover adds, they are “in tune with that degree of precision.”

Apart from the poor song selection — beyond overlooking any number of actual classic songs they could have used, “Eminence Front” has been described by Pete Townshend as being “about what happens when you take too much white powder,” probably not the best choice for a car commercial — the spot is somewhat obvious in its messaging.

The 73 musicians in the spot were led by Kazem Abdullah, “an American-born conductor who serves as General Music Director of the city of Aachen, Germany.” Music house Mophonics were behind the special orchestration of the song, which was performed and recorded live. 

“None of the musicians had met before, but after a couple practice sessions, they sounded like they had been playing together for years,” said Bully Pictures director Sebastian Weiland, who directed the spot. “It was an amazing experience.”

“We use very clean shots throughout,” Weiland added. “It was important to me that we built the story. Near the end, we transition from inside the cabin of the car to a wide shot of the audience giving the orchestra a standing ovation. That leads to our hero moment, as we reveal the car in all its beauty and glory.”

Credits:

Agencies: Leo Burnett, Detroit: Steve Chavez, Chief Creative Officer; Erik Zaar, Executive Producer.
Digitas: Patrick McHugh, Group Creative Director; Bill Woodard, Senior Copywriter; Jason Talbot, Senior Art Director.
Production: Bully Pictures: Sebastian Weiland, Director/Director of Photography; Jason Forest, Executive Producer; Gianfilippo Pedrotti, Executive Producer.
Edit: Butcher Editorial: David Henegar, Editor; Rob Van, Executive Producer.
Music: Mophonics, Kris Roggemann, Executive Producer.

Why did the snail cross the road? To go shoot the curl, of course.

This new ad for Samsung frames the enterprising spirit (or, skeptics might say, the biological hardwiring) of a slug in a shell as as a source of great inspiration—namely, for surfers.

That may sound a little stupid, but the the marketers at the consumer electronics company know it—the minute-plus commercial, by Leo Burnett Chicago, somehow manages to be existential and lighthearted at the same time, musing on the inner life of a mollusk as a metaphor for a young boy who loves the sport of surfing.

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Leo Burnett launched the latest in its ongoing “Like A Girl” campaign for Always with the sports-themed “Keep Playing,” released ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Based on the insight that, according to the brand’s research, half of girls quit sports during adolescence, the 60-second spot follows several girls who are determined to stick with the games they love.

“A lot of boys have told me I can’t play rugby, because I’m a girl,” says one such athlete at the opening of the spot, as she’s pictured tackling an opponent. “Keep Playing” goes on to depict a young female weightlifter, shot-putter, boxer and more. “Girls could actually play rugby and they could also be the team captain…” adds the young rugby enthusiast. The spot concludes by inviting viewers to “Show the world how you keep playing #LikeAGirl.”

The timely ad benefits from taking its subjects out of the controlled “social experiment” environment of “Unstoppable,” allowing the girls to tell their own stories in their own environments. Its message is something of an evolution of “Stronger Together,” which celebrated girls’ accomplishments in sports, without dealing as explicitly in the negative attitudes such young female athletes have to overcome. For an example of such attitudes at the their most noxious, one need look no further than the video’s comments on YouTube (or, for your own sake, just take our word for it).

“The Olympic Games are a time when, all around the world, female sports participation is elevated in the public eye. And for that reason, we could not think of a better moment to drive awareness of the critical role sports play in building girls’ confidence,” Always associate director Michele Baeten told Adweek. 

The brand partnered with American soccer star Alex Morgan to promote the spot. She tweeted it out with a message regarding her own story of discouragement, saying, “At age 13, one of my coaches told me that I wasn’t good enough. As a young girl just wanting to play and do my best, that was difficult to hear. It would have been easy for me to quit, but I wouldn’t be the confident person I am today if I had.” 

Credits:

Client: P&G Always
Agency: Leo Burnett Worldwide

Creative
Mark Tutssel – Global Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett Worldwide and Creative Chairman, Publicis Communications
Judy John – Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett Toronto
Nancy Hannon – EVP Executive Creative Director, Leo Burnett Chicago
Isabela Ferreira – VP Creative Director
Natalie Taylor – VP Creative Director
Amanda Mearsheimer – Associate Creative Director
Gloria Dusenberry – Associate Creative Director
Anthony Brooks – Senior Copywriter
Jillian Lamb – Senior Art Director
Garrett Vernon – Copywriter
Pete Kellen – Copywriter
Luis Marques – Senior Art Director
Darlene White – Creative Resource Manager

Production
Vincent Geraghty – EVP Executive Director of Production
Mary Cheney – SVP Group Executive Producer
Tony Wallace – VP Executive Producer
Adine Becker – Senior Producer
Chris Clark – Director of Music
Alex Stern – Assistant Music Producer
Linda Yuen – Senior Talent Manager
Julie Lewandowski – Production Manager
Nanette Burnstein – Hungryman/Director
Kevin Byrne – Hungryman/EP Head of Production
Julianne Maloney – Hungryman/Producer
Tami Rieker – Director of Photography
Nikki Vapenski – Whitehouse Post/Editor
Luke Morrison – Mill/Colorist
John Binder/ David Gerbosi/ Peter Erazmus – Another Country/Audio Mix

Planning
Kristin Hayward – VP Participation Strategy Director

Account
Annette Sally – EVP Account Director
Katie Nikolaus – Account Director
Sarah Kaminsky – Account Director
Ashley Sawatzke – Account Supervisor
Suz Sward – Assistant Account Executive
Raleigh Ward – Assistant Account Executive

Legal
Michael Sirota – SVP Associate General Counsel
Tracy Scimeca – Commercial Clearance Manager

Leo Burnett Chicago launched a spot for Samsung celebrating Margret Rumat Rumar Hassan, the 19-year-old 400-meter runner from South Sudan who represents that country’s first-ever Olympic athlete, entitled “The Chant.” 

“The Chant” promotes the Samsung Gear IconX cord-free earbuds, which Hassan puts on in the beginning of the ad. This sparks a switch to scenes of locals chanting for her across her home country, interspersed with her preparing to enter the Olympic stadium. The concludes with Hassan’s name announced over the stadium loudspeaker as she removes the earbuds. 

As far as Olympic stories go, Hassan’s is especially inspiring, and an excellent match for the campaign’s message, as the spot concludes with the “Proud sponsor of those who defy barriers” line, followed by the unfortunate “#DoWhatYouCant” hashtag. While the connection to the product is a bit of a stretch, there’s at least a tenuous connection to the wireless earbuds allowing increased mobility for its users, especially athletes using them during a workout.

“We wanted to find an athlete that represented progress and defied the barriers and overcame something, to be an embodiment of what the brand is and the mentality of the brand. You can’t move forward without overcoming obstacles,” Leo Burnett Chicago senior vice president, creative director Gordy Sang told Adweek. 

“The fact that South Sudan wasn’t a country five years ago and now it’s a country and has athletes representing them in the Olympics is ‘Do What You Can’t,’” added fellow senior vice president, creative director Brian Siedband. 

Credits:

Client: Samsung
Agency: Leo Burnett Chicago
Campaign: “The Chant”
Chief Creative Officer: Britt Nolan
SVP Creative Director: Brian Siedband/Gordy Sang
VP, Executive Producer: Matt Blitz
Senior Producer: Brian Behling
SVP Global Account Director: Radim Svoboda
Account Director: Ashley Beam
Global Account Supervisor: Huy Ngo
Account Executive: Emily Smith
SVP Global Strategy Director: Kara Yang
Strategy Director: Christopher Bridgland
VP, Director of Celebrity Services: Peggy Walter

Production Company: EPOCH
Director: Martin de Thurah
Director of Photography:  Mátyás Erdély
Executive Producer: Melissa Culligan
Line Producer: Anura Idupuganti

Editorial House: Work Editorial
Editor: Stewart Reeves
Executive Producer: Marlo Baird

Post Production: The Mill – NY
Executive Producer: Sean Costelloe
Producers: Eliana Carranza-Pitcher/Nick Strange Thye
Colorist: Fergus McCall

Lori, an abused wife and mom in Michigan, spent two years squirreling away money—hiding bills in a tampon box—until she had the means to escape her violent partner. 

Her story is the basis of a new campaign, #FreeToWalk, from the Allstate Foundation and ad agency Leo Burnett, with a stark and chilling video as its centerpiece. 

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