Hasta La Creative!

It’s been some time since we’ve heard the name Suzana Apelbaum but the New York creative vet has now landed a new gig as group director at VML’s New York office. Apelbaum most recently served as CD at Anomaly NY, where she spent two years worked on digital efforts, for Converse, AmEx, P&G and Marriott among other things. During her 15-year ad career, Apelbaum also served as a digital ECD at StrawberryFrog and held CD positions at a variety of other agencies ranging from Hello Interactive to JWT.

Now as GCD at VML, Apelbaum will work across all the WPP-owned agency’s New York clients including Dell, Hillshire Farms, Ball Park and Campbell’s. Additionally, she will partner up with VML sister agency Y&R on several integrated clients.

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It’s been a busy day it seems at camp Crispin as the MDC-owned agency has promoted two of its veteran staffers to role of managing director in separate offices. In Boulder, 10-year vet Danielle Whalen, who most recently served as EVP/group account director on  Applebee’s and Fruit of the Loom, has assumed the MD role. Whalen originally joined CP+B in 1999 as an account manager supervisor, but left two years later and then rejoined the agency in ’04 to help lead the Burger King business. During that heyday, the agency produced such efforts as, yes, Subservient Chicken and subsequently award-winning campaigns like Whopper Freakout. In addition to BK, Whalen has also worked on Old Navy.

Joining Whalen in MD status is Carter Nance, a fellow EVP/group account director who’s been with CP+B since 1999 who currently oversees Domino’s and VitaminWater and will now take on the new role in the Miami office.

We’ve been told these are new positions and as a result of the move, CP+B fills out its MD posts in Boulder, Miami and L.A., the last of which has been assumed by Mason Reed since spring 2012. With the goal being to move to “a more decentralized structure,”  CP+B president Steve Erich says, “Danielle, Carter and Mason are three amazingly strong account leaders who all started in the Miami office over ten years ago, fully embody the beliefs of CP+B and understand the power of great creative product. They will work with their individual offices, as well as the collective agency, to drive our client businesses and the performance of CP+B.”

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If his profile being removed from the leadership page wasn’t proof enough, a phone call has confirmed that John Antinori is no longer at R/GA. Not sure about the details of his departure or if he’s headed somewhere else as of yet, but we’re checking. Anyhow, if you didn’t know, Antinori had been with the agency for the digital age for nearly 15  years and spent the last eight heading up its production department, first under the title of SVP/managing director, production and then the more fancier position of EVP/chief production officer. Prior to his lengthy stay at R/GA, Antinori worked as a producer/game designer for the likes of Take 2 Interactive.

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Last week, we brought you the behind-the-scenes video for Air New Zealand’s collaboration with Sports Illustrated, the flight safety video, “Safety in Paradise.”

Now, without further ado, is that full clip (above). “Safety in Paradise” celebrates 40 years of Air New Zealand flying to the Cook Islands, and 50 years of Sports Illustrated helping adolescent boys explore their budding sexuality with their Swimsuit Issue. The new safety video features swimsuit models Ariel Meredith, Chrissy Teigen, Hannah Davis, and Jessica Gomes hanging with Cook Island natives — as well as a cameo from three-time cover model Christie Brinkley (who just turned 60!) from her Hollywood home.

“The behind the scenes video has generated much conversation around the world about our brand and the Cook Islands as a destination since it was released last week. It’s exciting for us to release the full video today and we hope it will encourage many viewers to consider a trip to the Cook Islands,” says Jodi Williams, Air New Zealand global head of brand development.

To celebrate the launch of “Safety in Paradise,” Air New Zealand is giving online viewers the chance to win one of five trips for two to the Cook Islands. The video goes live today and “will be progressively rolled out on board across Air New Zealand’s fleet from the end of February.”

“Safety in Paradise” marks the latest in a long line of innovative safety videos from the airline, including videos starring Richard Simmons, Bear Grylls, and Betty White, and a Hobbit-themed safety video timed to coincide with the release of Peter Jackson‘s first Hobbit film. It also marks just one aspect of a “major worldwide marketing campaign planned to celebrate the 50^th anniversary” of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

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Well, with this item, we are certain that Ric Peralta and ATTIK have indeed parted ways. According to the parties involved, ATTIK-co founder/executive creative director Simon Needham and managing director Margie Kane are now leading the Dentsu-owned, San Francisco/Hermosa Beach, CA-based agency’s day-to-day operations. Peralta joined ATTIK, perhaps best known for the Scion work over the years, a decade  ago as global CEO of the agency. A year later, he was promoted to partner and eventually remained on as CEO following Dentsu’s acquisition of ATTIK in 2007. During his career, Peralta’s also worked as VP of brand at frog design and managing director of fuseproject.

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We’ve received confirmation that Steve Nesle‘s time at Blast Radius has come to an end. No word yet on what lies ahead for the creative or if anyone’s replacing him, but Nesle has served as ECD/East for the WPP/Wunderman agency since late 2012. Prior to Blast, Nesle, you may recall, served in a similar role for two years at Deutsch New York and also held senior creative roles at what was then Tribal DDB as well as MRM Worldwide during his career.

Update: Wait, what? After getting direct confirmation from those in the know that “yes he is departing” a half hour later we get word from the same party involved that whoops, Nesle “continues to support Blast Radius accounts out of New York and Toronto.” Perhaps his  position has just changed within the network but this is quite the quick and confusing about-face. We’ll try to sort out this little mess as soon as we can and will update when we hear.

Update 2: Finally, we’ve received confirmation that Nesle’s tenure with Blast Radius is indeed up towards the end of this month.

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Well, we’ve been hearing murmurs over the week about the status of George Nguyen, who has spent approximately the last eight months serving as managing director at TBWA\Toronto, which also works with the agency’s usual suspects including Nissan and Gatorade as well as several Canadian brands (as you’d expect). Well, Nguyen’s position has now changed as he’s assumed the role of chief strategy officer for the Toronto office (the managing director post is now obsolete). Prior to TBWA\Toronto, Nguyen spent four years as managing director of the network’s Vietnam branch. During his career, he’s also held planning posts at Arnold, Lowe and StrawberryFrog.

Along with Nguyen’s change in position, sources familiar with the matter tell us that Jay Bertram, who was running both TBWA\Canada and TBWA\Latin America, has returned to serve full-time as president of the former. From what we’ve been told, TBWA  closed the Latam regional office “a short while ago” and relocated those on accounts to LA or New York and central support staff to New York. Bertram has had two tours of duty with TBWA, the most recent one lasting a dozen years. During his career, he also spent a lengthy amount of time as an exec at Cossette.

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BBDO has just released a new Olympics spot for Visa featuring U.S. Olympic Freeskier Torin Yater-Wallace.

The 45 second spot, “Nightswim,” follows Torin on one of his night runs through “an ocean of snow,” where “it’s only [him] and the mountain.” Torin explains that he skis at night because the days just aren’t long enough, and he can engage his passion in private at night, without the pressures and distractions he faces during the day. The spot closes with Morgan Freeman‘s narration that Visa has been “supporting Olympic athletes for over 25 years.”

Like a lot of the Olympic advertising we’ve been seeing, “Nightswim” is pretty straightforward, allowing the athlete involved and the idea of Olympic sponsorship to speak for itself. The most unusual thing about the spot would have to be the nighttime setting, which allows for some interesting visuals, but also some moments where it’s kind of hard to tell what’s going on. Credits after the jump.

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To celebrate 40 years of flying to the Cook Islands, Air New Zealand has collaborated with Sports Illustrated (celebrating the 50th anniversary of their Swimsuit Issue) for a new safety video featuring swimsuit models such as Chrissy Teigen, Ariel Meredith, Hannah Davis and Jessica Gomes.

“Safety in Paradise” launches next week, but Air New Zealand has shared this behind-the-scenes video of the Cook Islands shoot in the meantime. Christie Brinkley, who was propelled to fame in large part thanks to appearing on three consecutive Sports Illustrated Swimsuit covers, also makes an appearance in “Safety in Paradise,” from her Hollywood home.

“Sports Illustrated Swimsuit has a massive worldwide television, online and print campaign to celebrate the 50^th anniversary and we’re incredibly excited to feature in that activity.  The magazine alone has more than 61 million readers annually and the safety video shoot with Air New Zealand will feature in the special anniversary edition,” said Air New Zealand Head of Global Brand Development Jodi Williams.

Entertaining safety videos are nothing new for Air Zealand, who have been doing it for years, featuring folks like Richard Simmons, Bear Grylls, and Betty White, not to mention the Hobbit-themed one they released to coincide with Peter Jackson’s film. If Delta’s recent 80s-themed safety video is any indication, entertaining safety videos are now practically a requirement for airlines. The “Safety in Paradise” video will begin showing on Air New Zealand flights on February 11th, when some fear an epidemic of uncomfortable in-flight arousal.

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Yes, there is a memo concerning this latest Grey announce and it comes from Grey Group chairman/CEO Jim Heekin, who says this regarding Piers Yeld, who has been with the agency network for nearly six years, serving in a top executive role on one of the agency’s largest accounts as you’ll see below. Here’s the note, ladies and gents:

“I wanted to share the news with you that Piers Yeld, our globe-trotting Global Chief Operating Officer on the P&G worldwide business, will be leaving Grey to conquer new worlds and have some family time.

In reflecting on his 30th anniversary at Grey which he just celebrated, Piers said few people can honestly say they have been fortunate enough to continue to grow professionally and personally at a single agency for so long.  That said, it is impossible to overstate the legacy of accomplishment he leaves us.

On Piers’ watch, Grey has achieved many milestones that have had an immense impact on the success of our global company:

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