Red Lion Hotels named MeringCarson as its agency of record, following a review. The agency will work on a variety of work supporting its Local.Wise. brand initiative. New work will launch this spring. "We were very impressed with MeringCarson's body of work as well as their expertise in the destination marketing field," said Harry Sladich, executive vice president of sales & marketing for Red Lion Hotels Corporation. The west coast based hotels spent $1.6 million on measured media between January and September of 2013, according to Kantar Media. Additional MeringCarson clients include Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, Visit California, Pebble Beach Resorts, Sacramento Kings and San Diego Tourism Authority, among others.

Memorial Sloan Kettering named the New York office of Pereira & O'Dell as its creative agency of record and Media Storm as its media agency of record following separate reviews. Joanne Davis Consulting oversaw both reviews. DiMassimo Goldstein previously handled the work. Pereira & O'Dell New York will lead the development of a new strategic and creative communications platform for Memorial Sloan Kettering. Work will launch later this year. This is the agency's first big healthcare client. "This is an opportunity to not only communicate all of the extraordinary things happening at MSK, but to create work that changes the way people understand and talk about cancer," said Cory Berger, Managing Director at Pereira & O'Dell New York. "For 130 years, Memorial Sloan Kettering has focused relentlessly on a singular mission: discovering better treatments for cancer and improving the lives of those who are touched by cancer," said Avice Meehan, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of MSK. "Pereira & O'Dell and Media Storm showed outstanding insight into our mission during the review process." MSK spent $3.7 million on measured media between January and September of 2013, according to Kantar Media.

Olson was named the first agency of record for wet n wild Beauty, following a national search. Work includes broadcast, digital, social media and data analytics. The campaign will be supported with a multimillion-dollar campaign. The brand experienced three consecutive years of retail sales growth, notably following the addition of Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas as spokeswoman in 2012. “Our brand is in a great position to reach out to a broader audience,” said Bill George, Markwins Beauty Products President and COO. “Of all the agencies we talked to, Olson’s team best understood our circumstances and laid out the most compelling vision for our future.” The account win is Olson’s seventh agency of record assignment since Sept. 1, joining Sharp Electronics, Supercuts, Commerce Bank, Aurora Health Care, Guaranteed Rate and McDonalds’ Twin Cities Co-Op.

Following a 3-month review, Deschutes Brewery named TDA_Boulder as its advertising agency of record. The agency will handle advertising, brand identity, including new packaging. First work, for Deschutes' flagship Black Butte Porter, will launch later this year. "TDA came in and challenged the conventions of beer marketing, and more specifically, how craft brands are being marketed," said Jeff Billingsley, marketing director at Deschutes Brewery. "Their pragmatic approach, combined with great creative talent, is precisely what we need for the next phase of our evolution." Deschutes Brewery is the nation's twelfth largest brewer, and fifth largest craft brewer, producing 285,000 barrels annually.

Della Femina Advertising was awarded advertising, digital, mobile marketing, social media, creative and PR/community relations support for Barbacoa Mexican Grill. New work for Barbacoa's first franchise restaurant in Los Angeles's Westwood neighborhood will be launching out of the agency’s new office in LA. Barbacoa has ten locations in Utah with additional locations opening nationwide and in Asia.