SapientNitro Promotes Nigel Vaz to CSO

SapientNitro Vice President Leaves for Deloitte Digital

Alan Schulman, who has served as vice president, global digital marketing and brand content for SapientNitro since August of 2013, is leaving to become national director of content marketing and creative experience at digital consulting agency Deloitte Digital, where will be responsible for leading its recently opened content design and production studio in New York.

Schulman arrived at SapientNitro roughly three years ago in the role of regional chief creative officer for the agency’s New York office following nearly four years as CEO of digital innovations group U.DIG. Prior to that he served as executive creative director, executive director user experience at IMC2. Before that he spent two years at FutureBrand as global executive director, media and entertainment, followed by about a year as senior vice president, creative director digital at McCann Worldgroup. He has also served as a creative director at FCB Global and executive vice president, managing director at Pittard Sullivan.

“Deloitte’s strategic approach to digital transformation and marketing innovation takes a broader perspective in helping CMOs and other members of the C-Suite beyond the channel-focused strategies and tactics of disparate agencies,” said Schulman. “I couldn’t be more excited about getting further upstream and helping drive Deloitte Digital studios to deliver leading digital and physical creative experiences and content.”

The Community Adds Three Senior Creatives

Miami-based SapientNitro progressive cross-cultural agency The Community (formerly La Communidad) announced the additions of senior art directors Tomás Duhalde and Guilherme Nóbrega, and senior copywriter Frederico Nicolás Díaz. All three will report directly to co-founder and chief creative officer Joaquín Mollá, working with clients including Corona and Modelo.

Duhalded arrives at The Community from Ogilvy & Mather Buenos Aires, where he has spent the last three years serving as an art director (following two as a creative). Prior to that, he spent three years as an art director with Grey Buenos Aires. Over the course of his career, he has worked with clients such as P&G, Huggies and Playboy.

Nóbrega joins the agency from Ogilvy Brazil, where he has served as an art director for the past seven months, following two years stints in the same position at Ogilvy & Mather São Paulo and then Ogilvy & Mather London. Prior to joining Ogilvy, he spent time as an art director with W+K London and DM9DDB. He has worked with global brands including Coca-Cola, Dove, Unilever Apple, Burger King and Motorola.

Díaz arrives from Ogilvy & Mather Buenos Aires, following stints at Grey Buenos Aires and Don. He has worked with clients including Reebok, Huggies and Cablevision.

“Tomás, Guilherme and Frederico share strong creative chops, impressive backgrounds and a global perspective, which is so important to us,” said Joaquín Mollá. “Not only are they a perfect fit culturally, but they are also joining at a time when we have a lot of exciting projects in the pipeline.”

Doner Gets Tough with Ving Rhames for ADT

Doner was lead creative agency on the latest campaign for ADT, which also saw the brand work with SapientNitro and Mediacom.

The campaign is built around two 60-second broadcast spots starring Ving Rhames which launch today, entitled “Home Automation Makes Your Smart Home a Safe Home” and “ADT Home Security is Always There.” In the former, Rhames acts as the personification of the brand (sort of Allstate’s “Mayhem” in reverse), acting as “both the big brain at the center of your peace of mind and the big muscle to keep the peace.” The spot focuses on features such as smart controls and remote access for lights, thermostat and locks — or, as Rhames puts it, “You know, Space Age stuff.” In “ADT Home Security is Always There” Rhames demonstrates the omnipresence of ADT security by acting as a 24/7 bouncer for a residence, which, it turns out, comes in handy.

“Ving is the ideal personification of ADT, representing a sense of strength and confidence that can only come with the experience of 140 years in business,” said David DeMuth, co-CEO and president of Doner, in a statement. “What’s more is that Ving also represents the other side of ADT – the side with leading, connected technology. He has brains and brawn, and when it comes to protecting your home, family and business, consumers want both.”

Publicis/Sapient Deal Postponed…Again

The acquisition of the Sapient organization by Publicis Groupe, which first made headlines back in November, has hit yet another rough patch.

According to this morning’s press release from Paris, the $3.7 billion offer will now expire at noon, EST on February 5th “unless it is further extended.” Hardly definitive.

Publicis has given no particular reason for this latest delay; the previous stall was attributed to complications stemming from Sapient’s relationships with United States government entities and the added scrutiny that comes with such deals.

Publicis’ own shareholders may well be part of the holdup as the Groupe agreed to pay 150 percent of Sapient’s current market value per share despite the fact that analysts at the time said the deal would add “little” to the overall value of the organization.

Sources within Sapient weren’t so fond of the idea, either: a reader told us in November that many employees were “taken aback” by a deal that seemed to directly contradict Sapient’s desire to be “the anti-holding company.”

Two major staffing changes are now on hold as well: Sapient CEO/Co-Chairman Alan J. Herrick would be CEO of the new Sapient.Publicis organization and Chairman/Co-Founder Jerry A. Greenberg would ascend to a spot on the Groupe’s advisory board.

No word on the odds of this deal going the way of Publicis/Omnicom. We’ll find out next month.

ECD Carstens Leaves SapientNitro Chicago

john carstensToday we confirmed, via agency contacts and Twitter, that ECD John Carstens, formerly of SapientNitro Chicago, is now a full-time freelancer.

In March 2011 we reported that Carstens had joined Sapient’s Los Angeles office after leaving Leo Burnett’s Windy City office at the beginning of the year.

Carsten’s LinkedIn page notes that he moved back to Chicago after serving as co-ECD in L.A. and that, during his time there, he tripled the size of the agency’s creative department (the office itself also underwent a significant renovation/expansion less than two years after he arrived).

Prior to joining Leo Burnett in 2008, Carstens spent time as a GCD/CD at DDB and Cramer Krasselt in Chicago; his agency history also includes stints writing copy at TBWAChiatDay L.A. and New York’s Merkley + Partners.

We currently have little information about campaigns produced during Carstens’ tenure, but here’s a link to his portfolio.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Hawthorne Direct Names New CEO

L.A.-based “full service Brand Response ad agency” Hawthorne Direct has named Jessica Hawthorne-Castro its new chief executive officer.

Hawthorne-Castro was promoted from VP of operations and client services to COO in June 2013; this move marks her second executive jump in less than a year.

The press release names the agency’s new chief officer as a member of the “‘next generation’ of brand marketing experts”; earlier this month she moderated a “Women in Advertising” panel sponsored by Digital Hollywood that included execs from Adobe, WongDoody, SapientNitro and others.

Hawthorne-Castro is the daughter of agency founder Tim Hawthorne, who was inducted into the Direct Response Hall of Fame in March.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

SapientNitro Names New Chief Creative Officer for India

KV “Pops” Sridhar, a veteran of the global ad scene, will be SapientNitro‘s new CCO in India.

From his base in Mumbai, Sridhar will work with Sapient’s global executive team to expand its business in the Asia-Pacific region.

Sridhar has quite a history in the ad business, most recently serving as CCO at Leo Burnett – India & Subcontinent for 17 years. He also regularly sits on various awards juries, and he won 12 Cannes Lions in the last 3 years alone. As if that weren’t enough, his origin story as a film billboard painter-turned executive only adds to his prestige.

Sridhar is apparently not one to favor the status quo, either. In the release, he writes:
“[We must] move from just creating ads to creating worlds, or as SapientNitro refers to it, Storyscaping.”
Thought you might like that one.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Social vs Social, uma festa experimental, em fotos

SMW

A SapientNitro de Chicago teve uma das melhores idéias para atrair público para o seu evento do Social Media Week. Ao invés de prometer uma palestra importante com alguém gabaritado a falar sobre Mídias Sociais, eles desenvolveram uma festa para discutir se as Mídias Sociais e a tecnologia nos tornaram menos sociáveis.

Para tanto, prometiam uma festa dupla: em um dos andares da empresa, uma festa “superconectada”, uma “utopia eletrônica high tech” (não estou exagerando, está na descrição do evento), no outro, uma festa à moda antiga, com banda de hot jazz e um local para as pessoas curtirem e conversarem de verdade. A jogada da “pesquisa” era: qual festa as pessoas vão preferir?

Como eu disse, a idéia era bacana. Já a execução… Bom. Comecemos pela “utopia high tech”, que nada mais era do que umas telas mostrando os últimos tweets com a hashtag da festa de maneiras diversas.

Num dos ambientes, as pessoas podiam deixar anotações diversas. Igual eu fazia com a minha caneca.

Havia, claro, outras maneiras de deixar seu tweet visível:

E eu realmente ignorei a possibilidade de tirar fotos com dois bonecos que lembram o Daft Punk.

Ok, vamos à outra sala. Festa desconectada, gente andando com o celular para lá e para cá, confraternizando. Pelo menos a boa pedida foi a banda de hot jazz.

Mas e o que isso tudo provou, Yassuda? Na minha mais sincera e humilde opinião, nada. Ambas as salas tinham o mesmo tipo de gente fazendo a mesma coisa: aproveitando a bebida grátis.

Apesar da execução não cumprir a promessa, creio que poderia se tornar uma coisa interessantíssima. Aparelhos que liberariam cerveja de acordo com alguma ação online, como a geladeira do Cris Dias, já seriam um começo interessante. Fica como uma sugestão para a Bia Granja e as agências brasileiras apoiadoras para os próximos anos de SMW no Brasil.

Brainstorm9Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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Foot Locker Campaign

Une nouvelle étape pour les boutiques de sneakers Foot Locker, avec cette campagne “Get it early” autour du thème de la naissance. Une idée intéressante imaginée par l’agence SapientNitro en Australie. Le tout sur des clichés du photographe Jesse Stevens, à découvrir dans la suite.



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Previously on Fubiz