Hasta La Creative!

Barely a month after parting ways with Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Rob Reilly, who last served as partner/worldwide chief creative officer at said agency, has moved over to McCann Worldgroup, where he assumes the role of global creative chairman. Reilly, who spent a decade at CP+B, and now joins an agency that is promoting Linus Karlsson to creative chairman of its Chevy-focused unit, Commonwealth, and Andreas Dahlqvist haCCO of said unit as well as president of the McCann Creative Leadership Council. Karlsson and Dahlqvist had previously served as CCO and deputy CCO, global brands, respectively of McCann Erickson.

In a statement, McCann Worldgroup chairman/CEO Harris Diamond says, “With the addition of Rob and with Linus and Andreas’ new roles—teamed with Luca Lindner (President, McCann Worldgroup) and our other Worldgroup creative leadership that includes Prasoon Joshi, Washington Olivetto, Joyce King Thomas, Monica Moro, Leandro Raposo and John Mescall, as well as the rest of our creative teams around the world—we continue to strengthen our focus on global client leadership and our commitment to delivering McCann’s highest standards of creative excellence.”

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And now, back to the grind. We’ve received confirmation that Suzanne Michaels, who’s spent the last four-and-a-half years at the Chicago branch of what is now DigitasLBi, is leaving the agency effective Jan. 6 During the last 18 months of her time at DigitasLBi, Michaels, who we’ve been told is joining up as executive creative director at Critical Mass, served as SVP/creative and led digital, mobile and social efforts for Team Sprint. From what we’ve been told, Lewis McVey, currently GCD, is stepping up as SVP, creative leader for Sprint, effectively immediately. As for Michaels, prior to her time at DigitasLBi, the creative exec worked at the likes of Tribal DDB and JWT.

Along with the departure of Michaels, DigitasLBi Chicago is also losing Rick Walter, technology manager, who’s leaving his post effective Jan. 3 and moving into a project management role at a small startup consulting group. From what we gather, both partings are amicable.

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After spending the last two years at McCann New York, creative director Robert Lund is moving on. From what sources familiar with the matter tell us, Lund is joining up in a similar role as CD at The Barbarian Group come Jan. 6. Copywriter by trade Lund joined McCann in fall 2011 alongside his creative partner, art director Adam Ulvegärde, after working on accounts on accounts including IKEA and Reebok at Stockholm-based Forsman & Bodenfors for a handful of years. During his time at McCann, Lund also served as a creative at the agency’s Chevy-dedicated unit, Commonwealth, and has picked up a Titanium Lion among other prizes along the way.

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Sources familiar with the matter confirm that Organic has parted ways with both Anna Banks, VP/strategy and planning, VP/marketing intelligence, Tom Thomas. No word yet on if there are plans to replace, but from what sources tell us, Omnicom-owned Organic is in the process of “restructuring.” Prior to her five-year stint at Organic, Banks served as VP/digital strategy and innovation at Organic while Thomas has worked on the client side at the likes of Sprint and Oracle before his stint at the agency.

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We always love the memos and at least, this one seems like a positive one from Tim Andree, global chief exec of Tokyo-based holding company Dentsu, which among other things, acquired Aegis Group to the tune of $5 billion in spring of this year. We can reserve further explanation as Andree, who helms an agency roster that includes mcgarrybowen, 360i and Firstborn, says it all.

“Dear Dentsu Network Family,

In March of this year, we completed the deal to bring Aegis Media together with the Dentsu Network.  Since that time, you’ve all done an amazing job at maintaining stability across our businesses, while continuing to provide first-class service to our clients.

We’ve seen some very positive signs of the market’s interest in our combined offering, with a number of joint new business wins including:

·      Sony: digital projects including Sony PlayStation in the U.S.
·      Burberry: global media and digital account
·      Mondelez: creative, digital and media projects across North America, Europe and Asia
·      Kraft Lunchables: creative, design, digital, media and PR across North America
·      Staples: media, creative and digital across North America

In addition, we have jointly won a number of local and international opportunities which have been equally important for the momentum of our combined businesses.

As we approach the New Year, we are preparing to take the next step toward integrating our two companies.  As of January 1, 2014, Dentsu Network and Aegis Media will both be replaced by the Dentsu Aegis Network.

While this won’t have great impact on most of your day-to-day roles, it will tie us more closely together as a network, helping us deliver more meaningfully on our vision to be the most collaborative and convergent agency network, and creating a stronger platform for growth.

In the coming months, we will be communicating more detail on how our strategy, vision, values and branding for the new group will evolve.  For the time being, though, all branding – including the current websites for Aegis Media and Dentsu Network – will remain in place until further notice.

THE OPERATING MODEL
One of the great assets we gained in our acquisition of Aegis Media was an operating model that Aegis began implementing in 2010.   This operating model is driven by the same values and principles that have built Dentsu Inc. over the past 100 years but we had only started developing outside of Japan with the launch of Dentsu Network in 2012.   A huge differentiator in our industry, this operating model was designed and has been proven to enable frictionless collaboration across multiple agencies, with a range of holistic and specialized capabilities.  And the resulting offering has significantly contributed to Aegis’ growth in recent years.

In 2014, we will be integrating all of Dentsu Network’s agencies into this collaborative operating model.  What this means for you is a whole new world of globally scaled and locally relevant partners, able to provide you and your clients with a broad and complementary range of holistic and specialized expertise, including:

Six Global Network Brands: Carat and Vizeum (holistic media planning and buying), Posterscope (out-of-home specialization), iProspect (search & performance digital), Isobar (digital creative & production) and the Dentsu-branded agencies (integrated media, creative content & innovation)

A strong portfolio of Growing, Multi-Market Brands: including mcgarrybowen (holistic strategic & creative), 360i (digitally led creative & media), Amplifi (global trading & investment platform), Data2Decisions (business metrics modelling & analytics), psLive (event planning & activation), and Mitchell Communications Group (PR).

A diverse and exciting portfolio of Local and Specialist Brands: which enhance our network offering with local knowledge and vertical expertise.

HOW WE ORGANIZE
I will continue to lead the Dentsu Aegis Network as Executive Chairman, alongside Jerry Buhlmann as CEO.  And leaders from Aegis Media and Dentsu Network will come together to form a new Executive Committee, the Dentsu Aegis Network Executive, which will oversee the continued integration and growth of our agencies and client relationships.  From the Dentsu side, this Executive will include Gordon Bowen (Founder, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of mcgarrybowen), Yuzuru Kato (responsible for the management of the Dentsu agency’s 6000 clients, and a board member/Executive Vice President of Dentsu Inc.), Kuni Matsushima (Vice Chairman of Dentsu Aegis Network and a board member/Senior Vice President of Dentsu Inc.) and Kaz Iwagami (global head of Dentsu Media and an Executive Officer of Dentsu Inc.).

Our functional teams from around the network’s agencies and offices – Finance, HR, Legal, Communications, Technology – will be more connected than ever before through global functional teams, who have already begun working together to leverage best practices across the organization.

Moving forward, each region will continue to have its own regional management executive, responsible for the operational management of the group and for the development of specialist and local brands. The Americas and EMEA Dentsu Aegis Network Regional Executives will be led by Nigel Morris, and the APAC Dentsu Aegis Network Regional Executive will be led by Nick Waters, both of whom have previously held those responsibilities for the Aegis Media network.

LOOKING AHEAD
We can be really proud of all our achievements in 2013 — a year that was destined to be a year of transition for all of our businesses — and even more excited by our prospects for the year to come.

More than ever before, we have a unique offering and strong position in the market with enhanced profiles in the US, Europe, and Asia Pacific. We are highly competitive, with a wide range of first-class, global and distinctive products and services that we will we invest in for the future.  An important part of our coming together will be familiarizing everyone with the incredible capabilities we now have in the network.  This work has already begun, but 2014 will be an important year for continuing to build the ties across our network.

The opportunities ahead are exceptional. Backed by the power and innovative heritage of our parent company Dentsu Inc., and now joined by our colleagues from Aegis, we have a tremendous opportunity to grow our clients’ businesses and our own.  Dentsu Aegis Network is a start-up of sorts and we should all approach it with the same kind of energy and enthusiasm that all successful start-ups have. Today’s announcement is an important and exciting next step in the evolution of our collective business, as the newest power player in our industry. I have no doubt that with clear eyes on the road ahead and pure hearts which will drive collaboration and growth, our team can’t lose.

Thank you for your continued hard work and commitment. Have a wonderful holiday, get some rest, and let’s work together to make 2014 our year to shine!

Best regards,

Tim

Tim Andree | ?????????
Director, Executive Vice President, Dentsu Inc.
Executive Chairman, Dentsu Aegis Network

DENTSU AEGIS NETWORK
32 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10013
Tel. <redacted>
Fax. <redacted>
DENTSU INC.
1-8-1 Higashi-shimbashi
Minato-ku, Tokyo, 105-7001  Japan”

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It’s been over six months since we’ve heard from one Floyd Hayes, the “ideas man” who’s actually had a fairly productive year considering that he’s launched not only what he’s dubbed “the world’s fastest agency” but also a guerilla marketing school. Anyhow, with the year coming to a close and the holiday season upon us, Hayes, the former creative director at U.K./NY shop Cunning, has emerged to give us this holiday-themed, self-promotional clip, which is pretty self-explanatory. Well, he is the ideas man, after all.

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After getting deluged with tips last night, we’ve received confirmation this morning that Chris Hayes and Conor Brady, chief marketing officer and chief creative officer, respectively, at Huge, are indeed parting ways with IPG-owned agency–each, though, for their own reasons we’ve been told. Here’s a statement from Huge to clarify a bit: “Conor Brady and Chris Hayes will both leave Huge in the new year to pursue other opportunities. They both contributed to what was another record year of growth at Huge where we grew by 40% globally. We’ll be announcing a replacement for Chris in January but don’t see the need to replace Conor at this time. Jon Jackson, who has done an amazing job managing the creative group in Brooklyn, will continue to lead creative in New York.”

No word yet on where either exec is headed to next, but Hayes joined Huge approximately 18 months ago from Y&R, where he spent nearly two years and served in roles including CMO/North America and managing partner/global new business development. Brady (pictured), meanwhile, joined Huge 15 months ago after spending a half-dozen years at Organic, where he last served as chief creative officer. As for Jackson, the executive creative director worked for over a half-decade at Sapient before joining Huge three years ago.

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The latest installment in the Art Directors Club “Behind the Cube” series features Dani Wolf, winner of the Student Thesis Gold Cube at the ADC 92nd Annual Awards last April for his final project at Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design in Jerusalem.

Wolf offers an intriguing look at the inspiration and process behind his Cube-winning “Disform 2012,” which, if you haven’t already seen it, is a really impressive series of signage-in-motion designed for a music festival. He explains how the inspiration for the project came from music and moving sculpture, and gives a small glimpse into his creative process. Looking back fondly on the experience, Wolk calls the process of spending three months on one thesis project “a one-time chance.” It’s a nice, brief (2:44) look at an impressive project from a young designer who should make waves in the future, but may never again have the opportunity to lavish all his attention on one pet project again. Wolf’s “Disform 2012″ project, and this “Behind the Cube” installment really speak for themselves, so please check out the video above. And feel free to chime in with your thoughts in the comments section.

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The folks at Cheil have announced that after three years at the helm as CEO of the holding company’s North American operations, Buz Sawyer is leaving come end of 2013. The soon-to-be ex-chief exec will not be replaced as Cheil-owned agencies McKinney and The Barbarian Group will take on growth/development efforts in the U.S. In a statement, Sawyer, who also spent several years as managing director of W+K New York (marking his second stint at the agency) along the way, says, “Cheil remains committed to transformation on a global scale and market-by-market,” said Sawyer. “I’m pleased to have helped put the network on the path to long-term growth and competitiveness in the US, Mexico, Canada, and in South America, and wish Cheil continued success. I’m expanding my role at Hyper Island beyond board chairman to strategic development adviser as the company builds towards exponential growth, and I’ll be consulting with creative people and businesses seeking to embrace change driven by tomorrow’s transformative technology.”

You may recall that Sawyer took on a strategic development post at Sweden-based digital school Hyper Island in summer 2010. During his long career in the ad biz, the departing CEO also spent time at Lowe Lintas and BBDO.

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Wow, it’s that kind of day. Well, this is big news as we’ve received confirmation from Arnold and its parent company Havas that Pam Hamlin has been promoted to the position of global president/Arnold Worldwide, effective immediately. As a result, Hamlin replaces global CEO Robert LePlae, global CEO, who, after “a period of transition, will leave Arnold to pursue other interests.”

Regarding the appointment of 15-year agency vet Hamlin, Havas chairman Yannick Bolloré, “I’ve had the opportunity on numerous occasions to spend time with Pam and the leadership team of Arnold Worldwide. They are a passionate and talented group of leaders, and David and I are confident in their dedication to clients and their expertise in delivering creative ideas that drive business.” At this point, we’re not sure if LePlae’s departure has to do with losing Volvo (and judging from the Spy line, don’t even know if it was amicable) but we’ll take the “transition” explanation for the time being. The former global CEO spent just 15 months at Arnold after serving as North American president at both McCann and TBWA for a couple of years.

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