Adams Leaves Saatchi & Saatchi LA

chrisadamsWe’ve received confirmation from those in the know that Chris Adams has parted ways with Saatchi & Saatchi LA, where he served as executive creative director for nearly three years. We’ve been told that Adams’s last day at the agency is this Friday. Meanwhile, we’ve been told that his creative partner-in-crime at the agency, ECD Margaret Keene, is remaining on board at the agency. The pair joined Saatchi LA from TBWA\Chiat\Day LA, where they each spent well over 15 years. During his time at the agency, Adams was involved in the Apple launch of iTunes, iPod, the Power Mac G5 and The Beatles’ debut on iTunes as well as campaigns for Nissan and Pedigree. No word on his next destination.

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Don’t Combine Balls with Cubes, Says Bazooka

Tel Aviv-based BBR Saatchi & Saatchi has launched a new campaign for Bazooka introducing the gum company’s new gum shapes, Bazooka Cubes and Bazooka Balls (insert testicle joke here). The campaign, entitled “Don’t Chew Them Together” features five short spots showing the absurd repercussions of combining the two new shapes. It’s a fun, slightly absurd way to roll out the new shapes. Viewers are also invited to submit their own “Don’t Chew Them Together” videos to Instagram with the hashtag #Bazooka. Our pick of the litter, “Beard,” is featured above, while another, “Laser,” is below. Brush up on your Hebrew (or don’t) and enjoy. Credits after the jump.

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Smart Takes Over as Saatchi NY CEO

brentsmartWe first started hearing about this a couple of weeks ago and now it’s official that Durk Barnhill, who’s spent the last year-plus as CEO at Saatchi & Saatchi New York, will no longer hold the title at the agency as he’s now moving into the role of business development director on Saatchi & Saatchi’s global transformation team. Barnhill, who will also help build the digital capability within the Saatchi network, will be succeeded by 39-year-old Aussie native Brent Smart (pictured), who has served as worldwide managing director of the New York office for two years (with an initial focus on the General Mills biz).

In a statement, Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide CEO and Mr. Lovemarks himself, Kevin Roberts, says, “Brent has a record as an outstanding agency leader, a strategic and eloquent contributor in our boardroom, and a fearless producer of work that is equally creative and commercial.” Prior to Saatchi, Smart spent two years as managing director at BBDO San Francisco. During his career, the new Saatchi NY CEO served as MD for several years at Auckland-based Colenso BBDO and worked on the account side at M&C Saatchi Sydney and Melbourne early on.

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Saatchi & Saatchi’s ‘Miraculous Hen’ Launches Andes Barley Wine

What could be more appropriate than a beer post on a Friday afternoon?

Saatchi and Saatchi Del Campo’s new spot launching Andes Barley Wine features a most enviable bird: a hen who lays beer (specifically Andes Barley Wine) instead of eggs. Who wouldn’t want to own one of those?

First, a little terminology for the uninitiated. Barley wine is a strong, top fermented ale originating from England in the 18th century. It typically has around 8-12% alcohol by volume. Translation: This shit is strong and will get you crunk if you drink it like you would a lager. The word “wine” is meant to indicate that the ale has similar alcohol content to a wine, not that it tastes like or resembles wine.

“Miraculous Hen” was shot in Uspallata, Mendoza and directed by Agustín Alberdi. The scenic location makes an excellent backdrop for the spot, a lighthearted and humorous 1:11 devoid of dialogue. When a man finds that his chicken lays beer instead of eggs he is, predictably, very happy. He hops on his motorcycle to show an understandably skeptical friend the miracle and chases off a dog who is after the bird. Soon he’s sharing the beer with a group of friends, as there’s plenty to go around. When the bird suddenly starts laying eggs again instead of beer, the man cooks up the hen with the fresh laid eggs. It’s a simple spot that succeeds at being memorable without any dialogue whatsoever. I’ve never had barley wine before, but as someone partial to strong ales, this spot makes me want to try Andes Barley Wine. So, mission accomplished. Credits after the jump. continued…

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FiberOne Opens Eyes, Stomachs, Senses of Humor to ‘The Truth About Diets’

You know that feeling you get when watching something that is supposed to be funny: now there’s pressure on the creators to make you laugh, and since you’re aware of it, you’re harder to impress. FiberOne’s ongoing Snack Drama campaign, created by Saatchi & Saatchi NY, has that prerequisite element, and it still manages to flow with humor that’ll make you laugh, or at least smile.

(Before I proceed, I’d just like to acknowledge the future commenters preparing their disparaging remarks aimed at FiberOne, Saatchi NY, me, AgencySpy, humanity, anyone who has every liked anything. We get it. You don’t think it’s funny. Or you think the campaign is a derivative of 42 other campaigns that were already created. Or you work in advertising but secretly hate your career and suffer from pathological self-loathing. You can disagree, but please do it with some respect. Okay, go ahead now.)

Anyway, “The Truth About Dieting” is funny. It’s a one-minute satire of diets ranging from the hypnotherapy diet to the juice cleanse. If you’ve seen earlier Snack Drama spots, which we covered ten days ago, you will recognize some of the actresses who are whining, screaming, or just going bat-crazy because of their ridiculous diets. There’s surprisingly no product placement, and if you don’t pay close attention, you may not even recognize that it’s an ad at all. So for people who like subtle branding and not-so-subtle humor, this video is for you. A simple yet effective concept that should play well on television.

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Saatchi Health, Wellness to Operate Under One Name, Add Heartbeat Ideas to the Fold

Heartbeat_LOGO

Well, here’s the “interesting news” that we briefly alluded to last week in our post regarding Ned Russell‘s move up the Publicis Healthcare ladder. First off, 15-year-old, bi-coastal, healthcare-focused digital agency Heartbeat Ideas, which boasts 90 staffers and works with notable pharma clients including Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi, has aligned with the Saatchi & Saatchi healthcare roster. Now, New York-based Saatchi & Saatchi Health and Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness will operate as one entity under the latter name while Heartbeat will now carry the somewhat long-winded name  of “Heartbeat Ideas, a member of Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness” and “Heartbeat West, a member of Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness.” The combined agencies will still be housed under the Publicis Healthcare Communications Group umbrella.

As far as leadership goes, Heartbeat founder/CEO Bill Drummy will remain at the helm at Heartbeat while joining the leadership team at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness that also co-managing directors Kathy Delaney (who also retains her role as global CCO at PHCG) and JD Cassidy. In a statement, Drummy says, “For fifteen years, we’ve been on a mission to bring a more effective, digitally-forward approach to healthcare marketing.  By becoming a member of Publicis Groupe and Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, we now have the opportunity to be a critical ingredient in an entirely new agency formulation for healthcare clients, one that is thoughtfully designed to turn the new realities of the rapidly changing healthcare marketplace to our clients’ advantage.”

On another note, while folks on the Spy line have mentioned  staffing adjustments at S&S Health/Wellness a few times over the past week, we’ve been told otherwise by the PHCG camp. We’ll keep you posted if we hear of any more developments. Update: Sources in the know tell us that there are “some people” who have left the organization, but not because of downsizing and Saatchi Saatchi Wellness is currently hiring.

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Fiber One Turns Bad Tweets into Great Theater

Nobody wants to read your food tweets. If you’re on Diet of the Week, it’s best to keep the passive-aggressive self-loathing to yourself. However, if a brand were to recycle your bad tweets and make them into funny commercials, that might be worth our attention.

Fiber One, fresh off of the ridiculously catchy “Total Eclipse of Your Heart” spots from Saatchi & Saatchi, returns with a new and very creative “Snack Drama” campaign (still waiting to see if the agency’s involved with this one). Real tweets about diets are read aloud and then acted out in purposefully bad/awkward theater. For example, a dieting girl who doesn’t want to eat a friend’s cheesecake is seduced by a personified cheesecake man dressed in white tights (above). There’s also The Kale and I, about a girl who brings socially awkward kale chips to a party. The writing is solid for a campaign that could’ve easily hammed up the execution with corny jokes. Aside from negatively portraying healthy foods like kale, the only other critical aspect is that the videos lack the pulse of Fiber One’s previous campaign. Humor is good, but what exactly is Fiber One saying about their own brand? I don’t know, and that’s something for them to work on in the future.

The Kale and I and credits after the jump.

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Let’s Watch People Get Hit With Water Balloons in Slow-Mo Courtesy of Sprite, BBR Saatchi

What’s even more fun than watching someone get hit in the face with a water balloon? Watching it in slow-motion.

This summer, BBR Saatchi & Saatchi, Israel wanted an attention grabbing way to introduce their new “Refresh It” tagline for Sprite Israel. So they set up booths at three different beaches and hit people in the face with water balloons, while a camera filmed all the action in slow-motion.

The slow-motion videos were automatically uploaded to consumers’ Facebook pages, and those with the most views won prizes. It’s a fun idea for a social campaign, and while it’s almost hard to imagine during the slow chill of October here in the northeast, the participants seem to be having a blast. Images of your friend getting hit in the face with a water balloon are exactly the kind of thing that you want to pass around Facebook, so this undoubtedly resulted in a lot of shares. The video highlights some of the action, including one dude who holds his dog during the ordeal, and is a fun little diversion. Kind of makes you sad that the summer’s over. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Advertising: Marketers Wax Enthusiastic Over Bees and Honey

Some experts attribute the trend to a boom in exploring the provenance and improving the quality of what Americans eat and drink.

    



M&C Saatchi Stages Submarine, Automobile Accident in Milan for Some Reason

M&C Saatchi gained the attention of passing pedestrians in Milan by creating an installation that looks like a submarine emerging in Milan’s Piazza Mercanti, crashing into a nearby motorist.

The surreal stunt was created for insurance companies Genertel IT and Europ Assistance IT as part of their “Protect Your Life” campaign. It featured a rescue team, a group of stunned sailors, and one irate Smart Car driver. To make sure the point (Which is what exactly? It’s really hard to extract from this confusing scene) was not lost on pedestrian witnesses, “a man in scuba diving gear was on hand to speak to people about the importance of safeguarding their possessions.” Because anytime people need something explained to them: bam, a man in scuba gear.

I’m a fan of good old-fashioned Italian surrealism, so I can appreciate this from that point of view. But I can’t really make much sense of it from a marketing standpoint. Protect your possessions because you never know when a submarine will emerge out of nowhere? If you can make some sense of this, let us know in the comments section.

 

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Brewer Secretly Rigs Plumbing in Man’s House to Make Beer Flow From Every Tap

Those jokers at Saatchi & Saatchi and Tui Brewery have a viral hit on their hands, notching more than 5 million views in about a week for various versions of a video that shows some New Zealand dudes pranking a pal by rigging the plumbing in his house so that every tap dispensed beer. An integrated campaign will follow.

Russ, the good-sport prankee, seems understandably surprised, though not especially upset, when intoxicating brown brew starts flowing from his kitchen and bathroom spigots. (The tap water in my apartment looks like that, and I get kinda woozy when I drink it, but I'm pretty sure it's not beer.)

Tui's technicians and a master plumber painstakingly hooked up kegs to the pipes supplying Russ' house. "It went without a hitch," says Saatchi creative director Guy Roberts, "although the plumber did have to make sure it was properly connected so we didn't feed beer back into the city water supply." (Now there's an ad campaign I'd like to see!)

The effort's not upsetting like some prankvertising stunts, but there is a certain inherent creepiness in having friends and strangers invade your space and make "alterations" when you're not home. Hopefully they removed all the surveillance hardware—14 tiny hidden cameras were used to make the video—or footage of Russ's butt could wind up on YouTube any day now.

This is the kind of stunt Anheuser-Busch could never attempt. If you replaced tap water with Michelob or Bud, who'd notice?


    

Beer Plumbing from Saatchi and Saatchi Fulfills Alcoholic Fantasies

Funny prank, or the ultimate gift?

For Saatchi and Saatchi’s latest campaign for DB Breweries, the agency pranked a friend named Russ by plumbing his house with beer.

Following their plumbing hack, every tap in the house flows with cold beer, fulfilling every alcoholic frat boy’s wet dream. (It is unclear if the toilet is also tapped with beer.) They then set up cameras around the house to capture the reactions of their friend and his significant other. Russ is initially flummoxed by the brown liquid flowing through the tap (usually when that happens it’s time to call a plumber); after smelling and then tasting the beer he delightedly pours himself a glass and decides, “That actually tastes really good.” His wife/girlfriend, on the other hand, seems significantly less amused, presumably with concerns of when water will once again flow through the taps. The spot concludes with Russ climbing under his house, to find the kegs tapped to his plumbing. At this point the prank crew jumps out of hiding, and, predictably, everyone enjoys a good brew.

Since launch last week, the spot has gone viral on YouTube, with the full-length version (watch at your lunchtime leisure above) already racking up over three-million views. There’s also a :90 version, with :60 and :15 TVCS to follow as well as social media support, billboards, etc., etc.

Should Saatchi wish to duplicate this experiment in the States, I would be more than happy to volunteer my apartment. Let’s make this happen guys.

 

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Lexus IS Hybrid, F1 Driver Want You to ‘Trace Your Road’ with ‘Real-Time, Real World Video Game’

Lexus wanted to show that the Lexus IS Hybrid is a unique car, so “Trace Your Road”– a collaboration between Saatchi and Saatchi Italy, Logan, Movie Magic and Fake Love,  is a completely different kind of ad.

Whether you call it a “life-size video game,” “real-time and real world video game,”or just a unique experiential event created and filmed with impeccable visual design, “Trace Your Road” is daring on many levels. And a little dangerous, actually.

The event, held July 26th, took place inside a large aircraft carrier near Rome. Ten finalists chosen from applicants on Lexus’ Facebook page (now that’s engagement), sat in the passenger seat while F1 driver Jarno Trulli drove through a course, traced on the spot by those contestants, using a tablet that projected the course onto the floor with the help of a collection of 12-20K and 22K projectors. Contestants were penalized if Trulli drove outside the projected course or touched the walls of the hangar. What resulted was a ton of impressive driving and incredible footage. Oh, and no horrific accidents.

The footage for the television spots — produced by Movie Magic and directed by Logan’s Alan Bibby, with app design and generative visuals by Fake Love — was used in  :15, :30, :60, and 1:20 spots. “Trace Your Road” succeeds as a visually stunning spot that pushes boundaries, utilizes innovative consumer engagement and, perhaps most importantly, makes the Lexus IS Hybrid look like a ton of fun to drive. The behind-the-scenes video, also well worth your time, is featured along with credits after the jump.

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Arscott Leaving Saatchi X

After spending the last four years at Saatchi & Saatchi X and serving as VP/executive creative director out of the agency’s Chicago office since last summer, Joanna Arscott is moving on. From what we’ve been told, the creative exec is leaving for “personal reasons.” Arscott initially joined the shopper marketing-focused Saatchi & Saatchi X as a GCD, leading creative on P&G business for Walmart both in North America and internationally before being named VP/ECD for Chicago. Prior to Saatchi & Saatchi X, the London native spent three years as VP/ECD at Momentum Atlanta. During her career, Arscott worked in her native UK at the likes of Saatchi London, Ogilvy and 141 Worldwide.

From what we’ve been told, she will continue with Saatchi X through September. The agency tells us, “She has been a huge contributor and we wish her well.”

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Advertising: In Fantasy and Reality, It’s a Frenzy for Football

Football has been crucial to the American advertising-industrial complex, and with the N.F.L.’s kickoff game on Sept. 5, the marketers have been in a huddle.

    



Toyota Tacomas Are Invincible According to Strange Saatchi LA Ads

Even though the Toyota Tacoma is a truck, it can beat the Grim Reaper at chess. I’m not sure if this is a clouded reference to the 1957 movie “The Seventh Seal,” but regardless, it’s a strange spot from Saatchi & Saatchi LA, and part of a new Toyota Tacoma VS campaign that shows the truck taking on, in addition to Mr. Reaper, a mime, a magician, and a girlfriend with a tear duct issue. The four spots are hit-or-miss and embrace a brand of awkward humor that might not mesh with the truck-buying sector of America.

All four commercials do, however, promote a Tacoma feature, and during a time when randomness seems to be a common weapon of choice for creatives, specificity counts for something. You can watch the remaining three ads after the jump.

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Ex-Saatchi X Chairman/CEO Murray Lands SVP Gig at Walmart

While Walmart has yet to respond to our inquiries, we have received confirmation from other parties involved that Andy Murray, founder and former chairman/CEO at Saatchi & Saatchi X who parted ways with the agency at the end of 2011, has accepted the position of SVP/creative with the Bentonville, AR behemoth.

Since his departure from Saatchi X, Murray has spent the last two years building his own Fayetteville, AR-based social media/marketing technology agency, Mercury 11, which is now on the verge of being bought up by Project:Worldwide. In fact, the global agency network has officially announced its intent to acquire Mercury 11 and merge it with its own Dallas-based shopper engagement unit dubbed Shoptology, which is led by Murray’s old Saatchi X cohort (and former North American CEO), Charlie Anderson.

Terms of the deal are undisclosed, but in a statement, Murray says, “I’m excited for Mercury 11 to join the Shoptology team. Charlie is an experienced builder and has a keen appreciation for how to scale a top team to bring world-class digital shopper marketing solutions to blue-chip client partners. I have no doubt Mercury 11’s capabilities and people will add value to Shoptology’s offering and will be in good hands.”

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Fiber One Helps Bring ‘Total Eclipse’ Back With a Vengeance

Who can argue that bombastic 1980s power ballad "Total Eclipse of the Heart" isn't the single greatest piece of music in human history? That's right: no one. Its appearance in a MasterCard spot a while back, with brand-centric lyrics performed by its original singer, Bonnie Tyler, was priceless. And these days, "Total Eclipse" has resurfaced with a vengeance. Diva impressionist Christina Bianco's performance of the song in the style of Adele, Cher, Streisand and others is approaching 2 million YouTube views since being posted earlier this week.

Now, Fiber One gets in on the act with a pair of amusing 30-second spots from Saatchi & Saatchi. As with MasterCard, the words have been altered to fit the brand profile. The "Turn around, bright eyes" chorus morphs into "Turn around, Barry" in one spot and "Turn around, Barbara" in the other as we watch various Barrys and Barbaras, deprived of the tasty-yet-unhealthy snacks they crave, discover the joys of Fiber One. 

"Finally I have a manly chocolatey snack and fiber so my wife won't give me any more flak," wails Barry. Amen, brother, amen. "Forever I've been praying for a snack in my life, and now I have a brownie ending all of my strife," wails Barbara. True that, sister, true that.

While exaggerated, the humor is never so outrageous that it seems cartoonish or stupid, which could have thrown the spots out of whack. So I applaud Fiber One for finding the perfect balance and keeping things more or less … regular.

CREDITS:

Client: General Mills
Brand: Fiber One Bars/Brownies

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Chief Creative Officer: Con Williamson
Creative Directors: Peter Smith, Johnnie Ingram
Art Director: Katherine Kuni                                  
Copywriter: Chris Stevenson
Head of Broadcast Production: John Doris
Senior Producer: Nicole Gabrielle Ogborn
Music Producer: Eric Korte
Business Manager: Christina Mattson

Production Company: Little Minx
Director: Nico Perez Veiga of Nico & Martin
Director of Photography: Nanu Segal
Executive Producer: Rhea Scott
Line Producer: Deb Tietjen

Editing House: Rock, Paper, Scissors
Editor: Carlos Arias
Assistant Editor: Maria Lee
Flame Artist: Edward Reina
Producer: Helena Lee
Executive Producer: Eve Kornblum

Music Company: Butter Music and Sound
Executive Producer: Ian Jeffreys
Producer: Annick Mayer
Composition and Arrangement: David Quattrini and Andrew Sherman

Mix Company: Mr. Bronx Audio Post
Engineer: David Wolfe
Producer: Jaya Oleksnianski


    

Let’s Turn Around with Fiber One

The title is not a bathroom pun. Saatchi & Saatchi created a new campaign for Fiber One built around the 80′s song, “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” originally by Bonnie Tyler. If you’ve ever been within 50 yards of a karaoke bar, you’ll recognize the tune, and apparently, the 1983 hit is getting a second wave of popularity decades later. A May survey by UKbathrooms.com reported that it is the most popular song people sing in the shower. And more recently, actor and vocal impressionist Christina Bianco had a video of her singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in the voices of 19 different divas go viral (1.8 million hits in four days).

So the relevance for the Fiber One campaign is there. We have two spots to show you, one titled “Turn Around Barry,” and the other, “Turn Around Barbara.” Ignoring the missing commas, both are about hapless characters on diets who want to eat food that tastes good but won’t make them fat. Those people do deserve power ballads playing as the soundtrack to their lives. The set-up is slightly confusing, because each ad includes multiple characters who we are supposed to assume are all named either Barry or Barbara. At one point, it looks like one Barry is even holding a leek he’s about to eat whole. But then he finds Fiber One. All in 30 seconds.

Watch “Turn Around Barbara” and read some credits after the jump.

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Goodall Leaving Saatchi NY (Updated)

Details are hazy on this one thus far, but sources in the know tell us that Gareth Goodall, who’s spent less than a year as head of planning at Saatchi & Saatchi New York, is indeed leaving the agency. As of now, no word yet on where he’s headed to or when is last day is at Saatchi, but Goodall joined the agency last fall after spending seven years at Fallon London. He last served as joint managing director/chief strategy officer at the latter agency. During his career, the exec also spent several years as a planner at Ogilvy & Mather. We’ll let you know if and when we hear more.

Update: Well, we’ve received confirmation that Goodall is in fact joining Anomaly as chief strategy officer. No official start date as of yet, but from what we’ve been told, it’s “not too long now.” As for the status of Aisea Laungaue and Ian Daly, who were promoted to heads of planning at Anomaly NY in February, we’ve been told that Laungaue has since left the agency, but Daly remains and will likely report to Goodall.

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