Hasta La Creative!

Cramer-Krasselt announced the hiring of Nancy Aresu as executive vice president and general manager of the agency’s New York office, Adweek reports. Aresu will replace the retiring Jeff Johnson, who will remain at the agency through the summer to allow for a smooth transition.

Aresu arrives at Cramer-Krasselt from Young & Rubicam, where she has served as director of client services since September of 2012. Prior to Y&R, she served a short stint as director, development at Rally Marketing Group. That followed terms as executive vice president, managing director at Lowe Worldwide (2005-2010) and Deutsch (2010-2011). Before accepting the position at Lowe Worldwide, Aresu spent fourteen years at Margeotes Fertitta + Partners as a partner and director of client services.

Cramer-Krasselt CEO Peter Krivkovich cited Aresu’s “very outgoing personality, lots of drive” as a key factor in the decision. In the new role, she will partner with chief creative officer Craig Marcus and director of brand planning Jasmine Dadlani to expand the agency’s account base.

After two years with the brand, Cramer-Krasselt has ended its relationship with Panera Bread. Cramer-Krasselt Chairman-CEO Peter Krivkovich announced that the agency would be resigning Panera Bread in an internal memo this morning, AdAge reports.

The memo painted a portrait of a truly dysfunctional relationship between the brand and their lead agency that can be summed up with the phrase “enough is enough.” In it, Krivkovich says “…the constant last-minute shifts in direction, the behind-the-scenes politics, the enormous level of subjectivity that disregards proof of performance — all churn people at a rate that becomes much too much even in this crazy business. The previous agency found that out as well. There is a pattern. And in the end, no amount of money makes it worthwhile.”

Cramer-Kraselt became lead agency on Panera Bread in May 2012, following a review. It had previously been held by Interpublic agency Mullen, which split with Panera citing their own “creative differences.” While it’s not known if a review will result from the resignation, AdAge speculates that “it’s likely one will.” Stick around for a more complete excerpt from the memo following the jump. continued…

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Well, the decision came a tad quicker than we expected but according to reports from you know who, Chicago-based Cramer-Krasselt’s relationship with Porsche continues as the automaker has retained said agency’s services after a pitch that dragged on for six months. You’ve probably read Porsche’s perspective, now here’s a quick note from C-K president/CEO Peter Krivkovich:

“During the past five and a half years, C-K has enjoyed a great relationship with Porsche and we look forward to continued success together.

After the client’s best sales year ever in 2012, the best Q1 in their history to kick off 2013, and all of the industry recognition for smart strategic and creative thinking, we know we’re onto something good as PCNA’s agency partner.

When reviews like this happen – and this was a long and thorough one – it’s a good reminder for everyone that we are prepared for the challenge to work just as hard for our clients now as we were the day we were invited to their first pitch.

In the end, the proof is in the results. And Porsche has them.”

Peter Krivkovich”

As we mentioned last week, sources in the know were telling us that Porsche narrowed down its creative review to incumbent C-K, which has handled the account since 2007,  and Minneapolis-based Olson.

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