• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, November 20, 2013

Well. I suppose if the very American-based Major League Baseball can name their championship event the World Series, the very England-based LIA can call their awards program the London International Awards...and hold their ceremony in Las Vegas which, I guess, actually qualifies the event as international. Anyway, Ogilvy & Mather would love you to know they were recently awarded the 2013 Network of the Year and, as well, were awarded 126 awards including one Grand LIA, 28 Gold Statues, 40 Silver Statues and 57 Bronze Statues. Of the win, O&M Chief Creative Officer Tham Khai Meng said, "We are thrilled and honored to receive such recognition from the industry and our peers. We couldn't have done it without the formidable support of our clients. And right now, we are all happier than a dog with two tails!" Hmm. Witty metaphor. If you aren't familiar, the London International Awards were launched in 1986 and accept entries into thirteen unique media types including Billboard, Design, Digital, Integration, Non-Traditional, Package Design, Poster, Print, Radio and others.

In a long, meanderingdiatribe BizCommunity.com's Chris Moerdyk discusses the South African brand manager brain drain, the notion that agency managers don't have a pair of balls, the fact that Americans don't give a crap about eating healthy and want their fat-filled McDonald's offerings, the lack of truly creative television commercials and the suggestion that TV stations should require advertising agencies to affix their name to the commercials they produce. Why? Because he feels it would lead to "enduring consistent quality." No doubt. Along with endless finger pointing and ridicule. But hey, it might help agency execs grow a pair of balls and stand up to their clients.

¡Ay, caramba! In a border war of sorts, Dallas-based Richards/Lerma, which set up an office in Mexico City in 2011 to handle Chrysler's Ram Truck (which it also handles in the U.S), has landed Chrysler's $30 million Mexican ad account. Richards/Lerma, a division of The Richards Group, bested four Mexico City agencies to take the account north of the border. Chrysler Head of Marketing and Advertising Randy Ortiz said Richards/Lerma "blew it out of the water" when given the pitch assignment of introducing the new Jeep Cherokee. Currently, there are ten employees in Richard/Lerma's Mexico City office. The agency will up that number to 30 to handle Chrysler's Mexican business.

Wall Street and Madison Avenue jumping in the sack together? Why not? After all, Wall Street is dashing and debonair and Madison Avenue is hot and sexy. What's not to love about a hook up like that? Nothing according to independent marketing agency Crunch Brands which has formed a partnership with consumer private equity firm Raptor Consumer Partners. Of the hook up, Crunch Brands Founder and CCO said, “We hope to accelerate the growth of Raptor’s consumer brands and to change the way brands are brought to market.” And the more flirtatious-sounding Raptor Consumer Partners Managing Director John Burns said, “After witnessing what Crunch Brands was capable of creating for UNREAL Candy we knew their strategic and creative firepower was a complement to Raptor Consumer Partners." A match made in heaven if you ask me.

Writing a column in Esquire entitled, "Where Advertising Will Go Next," David Droga minces no words condemning the current state of things on Madison Avenue. Kicking off his piece and suggesting why advertising has to change, Droga writes, "Because it has to. Because it's harder than ever to hold anyone's attention for longer than a split second. Because mergers across our industry, like the one earlier this year between Publicis and Omnicom, are being done in the name of efficiency, not creativity. Because over the past fifteen years, many of those who get paid to practice what's considered the third-least-ethical profession in the country have gotten cynical in their thinking. In fact, no industry works harder at being lazy." Take that, you lazy ass losers!

Oh Brother! Mother is losing three more! After losing Piers North who left the agency to go to Spring Studious, Creative Director Rob Baird, Account Director Krystie Loyland and Co-head of Strategy Seth Gaffney are leaving to form an agency in Austin. The trio were wished well by Mother New York Partner Andrew Dietchman, who said, “Rob, Krystle, and Seth have made huge contributions over the years. That we’ve repaid their commitment to Mother by helping them arrive at a place where they have the confidence and skills to venture off on their own is a point of enormous pride for me and my partners. They will forever be part of our family and we’ll always support them in any way can.”

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