Commentary

Does 360i Need David Berkowitz's Help To Retain The Capital One Account?

We love 360i. After all, our hero MRY CMO David Berkowitz used to work there. The agency has handled the digital portion of the Capital One account for three or so years. Well, it seems the brand has issued an RFP for the digital business. Apparently, the RFP is simply the result of federal guidelines -- and it would appear it's just a bunch of hoops everyone must jump through before returning to business as usual. Well, at least for 360i's sake, we hope things return to business as usual. Maybe Berkowitz should make a brief return to kick some RFP ass?

Well -- when it comes to ad agency expansion, it's usually East moving to West, but for San Francisco-based H&L Partners, its West moves East. The agency has selected Boston as headquarters for its East Coast home. In August, the agency won the New England McDonald's account from incumbent Arnold Worldwide. That win led to the opening of a 3,500-square-foot office on Canal Street. The agency, which employs 85 people nationally in LA and St, Louis, will staff its Boston office with ten people.

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So a couple of days ago we told you about Brazilian Miami Ad School graduate Daniel Ogawa who launched a Web site, Save American Creatives, to land himself a job back home in Brazil. Well, maybe this news will help. Acquisitions always stir things up employment-wise. TBWA Worldwide has acquired a majority stake in Brazilian ad shop Mood. Of the acquisition, Mood Founder Augusto Cruz Neto said, "I was courted by many international groups, but I chose a partnership with Omnicom and TBWA because it is a group which respects entrepreneurship and creativity, and also because of my relationship with Luiz Lara, who has always respected our total independence to work." Augusto, go check out Ogawa's site and give the guy a chance.

It's quite interesting to see ad agencies shift, jibe, duck and morph to stay afloat as things in the ad business change so drastically. Some agencies have become product companies. Others have turned to the crowd for creative inspiration. R/GA, in line with the trend of agencies aligning themselves with startups, has launched a fund to invest in startups. In this investment role, the agency will become investment adviser to startups that have little to do with advertising, according to COO Stephen Plumlee. Will we see the day when the next Apple/Twitter/Facebook/Uber is backed by an ad agency?

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