The 3-year-old Modernista office in Amsterdam will be closing, a move likely spurred by its loss of General Motors’ business doing creative for their Cadillac and Hummer brands.
The ad above was apparently created expressly to fool judging panels. Agencies creating potentially harmful ads about clients to get accolades from peers is a best counter-productive and at worst self-destructive.
Here’s what BBDO Chile, the responsible party, had to say about it:
This creative design did not involve and was never approved by Sony Computer Entertainment or Sony. This ‘mock campaign’ was developed by BBDO Chile staff and was submitted to various creative competitions/festivals without prior notification or approval from SCE/Sony, and it is not representative of the views or advertising policies of SCE/Sony. BBDO Chile apologizes for using this creative concept without authorization or prior approval, and for its misrepresentation of the PlayStation brand.
After more than a year of same-store sales decline Gap has decided to ditch Laird & Partners, their agency of record since 2002, and pass the baton to Crispin Porter & Bogusky. CP+B already handles Old Navy’s advertising. The agency will be charged with changing the direction of The Gap’s advertising, an especially difficult challenge for a brand with such iconic advertising campaigns.
Presented with the lose-lose choice of mass layoffs or a 2 week furlough BBDO Detroit is going with the lesser evil. Hopefully the payroll reduction can keep the office afloat long enough to fix the real problem, lack of work.
Crispin Porter + Bogusky is auctioning three months of their intern’s labor in an eBay auction. The highest bid at the time of this writing is $5,400 which is quite cheap, but bidders should know that the auction winner will receive a presentation on strategy and brand positioning and now production work.
According to Ad Age, 24,100 ad agency jobs have been lost to the recession so far. Total media jobs lost have climbed to over 65,100.
The word is out that Ogilvy’s annual year-end staff meeting has been canceled. Traditionally this meeting is held just prior to Christmas in some fancy off-site digs. Staffers are first debriefed on the past year, then briefed opportunities in the coming year and then finally given their call to arms by David.
NEW YORK Omnicom’s BBDO today said it has cut 189 staffers across its N.A. operations. At the same time, Omnicom confirmed cuts will be made across its broader operations worldwide. BBDO’s recent loss of domestic Pepsi business was a key driver in that shop’s layoffs.
(Via Adweek.com – Agency News.)
Sign of the apocalypse: Pepsi splits with BBDO.: “
Regardless of what you think about the new cans, its clear the world has gone truly haywire when BBDO is no longer Pepsis lead agency. BBDO had the account for 48 years. 48. Thats almost 50 years for those of you keeping score at home. In ad years thats akin to an epoch. Adweek is reporting that the account is shifting to TBWA\C\D.Yeah, its all within the Omnicom family but still. We make no judgment on the right or wrong of it. Its just that few (any?) advertising marriages have been so incredibly stable. The sun rises in the East and BBDO is Pepsis agency. Please note this in your ongoing study of advertising history. This change is a certain sign that the poles of the Earth shall reverse themselves at any minute.
UPDATE: A post script with one to-be-taken-with-a-grain-of-salt theory as to the why.
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(Via American Copywriter.)
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — The Detroit dilemma has hit Interpublic Group of Cos.-owned Campbell-Ewald, which is slashing up to 100 employees, executives familiar with the matter said. The move, which would reduce staff by less than 10%, is due to drastic budget cuts at key client Chevrolet and the departure of other accounts, they said.
(Via Advertising Age – News.)
Agency Layoffs