Hasta La Creative!

It looks like Puma is rounding out its agency roster as the German sports shoe/apparel brand has appointed DigitasLBi as its global digital agency. The news comes just two months after Puma selected JWT as its lead creative agency. As for the DigitasLBi appointment, we’ve been told that there was “a competitive review” (no names as of yet) for the business, which marks a new type of agency relationship for Puma.

In a statement, Remi Carlioz, Puma global head of digital marketing says, “DigitasLBi will have a crucial role in translating our new Forever Faster brand messaging into the digital world and building momentum in the lead-up to the consumer launch of our global Forever Faster brand campaign in the second half of 2014. An agile agency with a global reach, DigitasLBi brings a unique savvy thinking and creative, real-time marketing to the table and is a perfect fit to PUMA to help us re-establish our brand in the minds of our customers.”

DigitasLBi Boston will handle the Puma digital work, which includes development, leading/implementing global digital strategy, creative, analytics, social and community management, real-time marketing, as well as production and design for key digital campaigns and related marketing initiatives with global scale.

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Turkey deported an Azerbaijani journalist on Friday for “posting tweets against high-level state officials,” according to an Interior Ministry order obtained by his newspaper, the English-language daily Today’s Zaman.

With Valentine’s Day less than two weeks away, a few creatives at San-Francisco based agency Swirl are releasing a video called “Less Than One” with an accompanying website.

The 5:30 “Less Than One” explores the question, “Do you believe in a soulmate?” as a couple wrestle with that question. The woman asks her boyfriend this at the beginning of the video, and he replies that it just doesn’t make sense. He then examines the likelihood, mathematically, of her finding the right guy, and by the end seems to concede that perhaps fate does play a role in finding the right person. “Less Than One” is well-produced, written, and acted enough to make all this watchable and slightly less cheesy than the synopsis I’ve just provided might suggest. The accompanying website allows users to input information about their location, age, and romantic preferences to calculate their own chances of finding a soulmate — although their calculations seem to ignore the possibility of finding someone outside your nearest city, kind of a big oversight in the age of Internet dating sites. Credits after the jump. continued…

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After spending a few years going forth with W+K, universally-known jeans brand Levi’s has moved its ad duties to Draftfcb and year-old agency The House Worldwide, which will share duties on global marketing, creative and strategic support. Levi’s CMO Jen Sey says in a statement, “We are very excited about this new model. We’re getting handpicked creative talent from Draftfcb and The House networks at both the global and local market level. This model will provide us with the efficiency and consistency we need as a global brand as well as the means to  drive relevance around the world by accessing top-notch local talent when we need it. In doing so, we’ll strive to reach passionate new fans in every market in which we operate.”

The 160-year-old brand previously worked with W+K since 2008 in the U.S. as well as BBH abroad. Among those participating in Levi’s new “customized” agency model are Draftfcb San Francisco, Draftfcb Los Angeles and The House Worldwide’s ChinaMadrid in Spain and CumminsRoss from Australia.

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The team behind Young Glory, who this year added a design category to “the only industry awards program rewarding creative consistency” have launched a new, global talent agency called YG Talent.

Young Glory mines the best under 30 talent for a competition spanning 8 creative briefs over 8 months. Over the years, they’ve attracted talented creative directors such as AKQA’s Rei Inamoto, R/GA’s Nick Law and Wieden+Kennedy’s Jim Riswold as judges. This has positioned Young Glory’s organizers as the caretakers of an ever-growing database of well-tested young talent.

“We realised that we were sitting on a real goldmine of talent  – talent that was tested and vetted by some of the industry’s finest. So we thought why not allow agencies to tap into that? Through our monthly participations, we’re able to identify the next generation of  creative superstars before everyone else. And most importantly for agencies, before they become too expensive,” says Young Glory co-founder Rafik Belmesk.

YG Talent will offer agencies “the opportunity to hire young to mid-level art directors, copywriters and designers from the four corners of the globe, solving an ever-present issue on agencies’ agendas: hiring the talent that will keep increasingly digital and diverse creative departments brewing,” providing talent in North America, Asia, Australia, Europe and New Zealand. Check out the video above, and head on over to YG Talent for more information.

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Fresh off of nabbing general market ad duties from Mother NY for Burger King earlier this month, Culver City, CA-based agency Pitch has made some moves within its creative department. Most notably, the agency has promoted Xanthe Wells, most recently executive creative director, to the role of chief creative officer. Wells (pictured above) joined Pitch as ECD in early 2013 after spending over seven years at TBWA\Chiat\Day L.A., where she worked with clients ranging from Kraft to Pepsi. The new CCO replaces Eric Springer, who left Pitch for the top creative gig at Draftfcb last year.

Along with the Wells promotion, Pitch has also welcomed aboard fellow Chiat LA alum Gage Clegg, who, along with his significant other, Becca Morton, parted ways with the latter agency last spring (but subsequently stayed on as GCD). Clegg joins up with Pitch as group creative director.

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Less than three weeks after we first heard that Big Lots was parting ways with Barkley, which handled creative duties for the 1,400-strong retail chain for barely a year, the Columbus, OH-based brand has found a new agency partner in Chicago shop, O’Keefe, Reinhard & Paul. No word on who else participated in the review, but Big Lots chief customer officer Andrew Stein, who most recently led the development of “Ship My Pants” among other things while serving as CMO at Kmart, says, “Big Lots is engaging with our customer in new ways, and we were looking for an agency that understood our challenges and needs in a fast-changing marketplace,” noted Stein.  “We presented OKRP with a project, and they came back to us in a very short time with terrific ideas that aligned with our vision while proving their executional excellence and speed to market. They are a great partner for Big Lots.”

OKRP, if you recall, was launched by Draftfcb alums Tom O’Keefe and Nick Paul along with former Amazon exec Matt Reinhard nearly a year ago. Expect first work, which will initially be digital, from the agency for Big Lots to break in early February.

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Here’s a bit of legal news to kick off another terribly cold day. In case you didn’t hear, an L.A.-based interactive agency/mobile product startup dubbed Mach18 Design is suing WPP-owned IconMobile. Why? Well the lawsuit, which is being brought on by Dykema Gossett, LLP, alleges that Mach18 initially approached IconMobile as a potential vendor and development partner in late 2012/early 2013 in regards to the former’s development of a technology platform intended to “drive the future of global in-car experience” dubbed ARIVE. Before discussions could begin, though, Mach18 first required IconMobile to execute a nondisclosure and non-circumvention agreement.

While the NDA was executed, the lawsuit alleges that IconMobile eventually ignored its contractual confidentiality and non-circumvention obligations to Mach18. How so? Well, according to the plaintiff, Mach18 soon found its calls going unanswered, and “subsequently learned that IconMobile had begun working on a copycat pitch to several of Mach18’s actual and potential business partners shortly after reviewing Mach18’s”proprietary presentation.” To make matters, according to the lawsuit, IconMobile allegedly “dissuaded other consultants and advisors from doing business with Mach18 in an attempt to disrupt Mach 18’s business opportunities.”

We’ll keep you posted if we hear more, but here’s a statement from Mach18′s lead counsel/Dykema partner Christopher Kit Winter: “Mach18’s experience is what every innovator fears. A potential partner’s confidentiality obligations must be sacrosanct, especially when the disclosing party is a startup. The fact that IconMobile is Goliath to Mach18’s David should not mean that IconMobile can ignore its obligations with impunity. Mach18 is prepared to act vigorously to protect its intellectual property and to enforce its contractual rights.” Does Mach18 have a case? You make the call. But anyways, we’ve put in a call to IconMobile, which has yet to respond to the filing as well according to the L.A. startup.

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Last summer, we brought you news of Lowe Campbell Ewald‘s impending move to Detroit.

Now, Lowe Campbell Ewald has officially opened its new downtown Detroit headquarters, after 36 years in Warren, Michigan. The relocation is something of a homecoming for the agency, which spent 67 years in the city following its formation in 1911. The new office is located in the original J.J. Hudson Co. warehouse at Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions. Lowe Campbell Ewald’s new 122,000 square foot space retains the classic “industrial look of the 1920s-era warehouse, leaving duct work and concrete columns exposed.” The space features 100 meeting pods and collaboration spaces, as well as “a three-story LED video wall (the first of its kind in Detroit) and sustainable solutions throughout.”

Over 500 employees will be relocating to the new headquarters, which marks the latest in a series of shakeups for the agency. The past six months have seen the announcement of new leadership, an alignment with Lowe and Partners, and the addition of a New York office, along with considerable new business with clients such as Atkins, LifeLock, Western Governors University, the Detroit Lions and University of Michigan.

“This is a transformative moment for Lowe Campbell Ewald,” said recently-appointed Lowe Campbell Ewald CEO Jim Palmer (not to be confused with Orioles Hall of Fame pitcher/The Money Store spokesperson Jim Palmer). “Detroit is attracting creative and entrepreneurial talent from all corners of the globe, and we want to be part of that movement…Lowe Campbell Ewald was founded in Detroit nearly 103 years ago – it’s great to be back home and contribute to the city’s revitalization.”

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Minneapolis-based agency Campbell Mithun has announced the hiring of industry veteran David Carter, formerly of BBDO New York,  as its new chief creative officer.

Carter is one of the most highly awarded creatives in advertising today, with two of the One Show’s Top Ten Campaigns of the decade with BMW Films and HBO Voyeur. He’s worked with clients including BMW, Amazon, Starbucks, HBO, AT&T, Chrysler, Jeep, Pepsi and Glenlivet Whisky.

“David’s body of work over the years is testament to his belief in platform creativity—drawing upon data, technology and emerging media to deliver brand stories,” said Campbell Mithun CEO Rob Buchner.

Carter was equally optimistic about the move, stating, “You only have to read a headline or two each day to see how quickly the agency and media worlds are changing. The combination of Campbell Mithun’s legacy of big, brand ideas and its commitment to new media thinking and strategy is the perfect fit for me. I couldn’t be more excited.” Carter reported for duty at Campbell Mithun today, representing the agency’s “latest investment in talent since Rob Buchner took the helm in mid-2013.” Other recent moves at Campbell Mithun include Steve Adrndt‘s promotion to COO and the hiring of Denis Budniewski as director of account leadership and growth back in September.

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