Commentary

POKE New York Escapes Publicis

by Richard Whitman , Columnist, September 19, 2013

POKE New York founders Tom Ajello and Michael Kantrow have just completed a management buyout of their agency from parent company POKE London in advance of the Publicis acquisition of POKE London in September. The new company will be known as Makeable. Mother Holdings, which had been a shareholder in POKE New York, will remain a minority investor in the newly formed Makeable, along with new strategic investors, including Rob Dickson, formerly of MDC partners. All of POKE New York’s clients including NBC Universal’s The Weather Channel, American Express, Avon, Coach Dell, Dyson, MoMA, Penquin Books, Sephora and others as well as POKE New York’s partners (Gardenia Willoughby and Ryan Fleming) have transitioned to the new company.

While everyone is buzzing about the possibility of Dentsu acquiring Interpublic, does anyone really think Martin Sorrell is going to let this happen? Will Sorrell, whose WPP is to become but but a tiny speck of dirt under the Publicis Omnicom Group footprint, allow Dentsu to squash him further into the ground? No way. He's going to go full steam ahead and pursue Interpublic for what is thought to be a sum of $9 billion.

Well, here's a heartwarming story. In 1997, ad man Tom Peterson had a powerful experience during a men's group church meeting which compelled him to found Catholics Come Home, an effort that has helped bring many people back to the Catholic church. He also founded Virtue Media, a pro-life that, well, sings the pro-life gospel through advertising. Of his new endeavors, Peterson said: “God gave us our talents and interests to serve him and others. It’s not by coincidence that he gifted us in those areas. he has such an incredible adventure planned for our lives if we trust in him, but we have to say yes.” And there you have it.

Anvil + Gear, an agency formed a year ago by Brian Lio and James Genero who left DDB to start the UX and experience design-focused agency, has hired Emily Verkruyse -- who for the last year or so, was engagement director at IPG Media Lab. Verkruyse also spent some time working at one of our favorite shops, Night Agency, inventor of Assvertising. No, seriously, it's true.

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