Commentary

Why POG Really Failed

Fred & Farid, that deliciously witty agency in Paris, is out with a "case study" video about what really happened during the Publicis Omnicom merger and why it failed. It seems Fred & Farid misled Maurice Levy and John Wren a bit so that when the two first met up to discuss the deal, both Maurice and John thought they were top dog. Naturally, a testosterone-fueled fight ensued. But, there were funny pictures, and in the end, Sir Martin Sorrell came out smiling. And everyone loves a smiling Sir Martin Sorrell. Watch the video.

The Art Directors Club, which is doing its damnedest to get everyone to call it ADC, is out with Portfolio Cards, a partnership with Twitter that allows up-and-coming young creatives seeking the attention of creative directors worldwide to use Twitter Cards to highlight their portfolios. And to make sure everyone keeps talking about The Art...uh...ADC following the close of its Portfolio Night this week. They're calling it the TweetFolio. Cute. To make it work, budding creatives place four projects in a Portfolio Card using the Twitter Gallery Card, @PortfolioNight tweets the card, the tweet will be seen by those following @PortfolioNight and CDs can expand the tweet to check out the work. 

Former Havas Worldwide New York Chief Digital Officer Alex Bombeck has landed at Sparks Grove, the marketing and creative division of North Highland. Bombeck will lead the Atlanta-based division, which provides marketing, visioning and visualization (whatever that is), emerging interactions, and communication services. Of his move, and his family's, to Atlanta for the gig, Bombeck said: "After almost 20 years in the marketing services industry, I have gained an appreciation for both the art and the science of brand relationships, communications frameworks and platform integration. I appreciate the uniqueness of the Sparks Grove business model, as well as North Highland's world-class advisory, strategy and execution expertise. I look forward to working alongside the accomplished team at Sparks Grove." Bombeck joins Sparks Grove as the agency saw 50% growth in revenue over the past two years, has grown to 80 staffers and is adding 5,000 square feet to its Atlanta office space.

Changes are afoot over at Ogilvy & Mather UK. Annette King has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Paul O’Donnell, who has been promoted to CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Europe, Africa and the Middle East. King will continue to lead OgilvyOne in the EAME region and will still report to O’Donnell who retains his role as Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather UK. Both will be based in London and take up their roles immediately. Of her new gig, King said, “I am incredibly excited to have the opportunity to run Ogilvy & Mather UK. I can't wait to start working with the teams across the group to take the business forward, building on the enormous growth of the last five years." 

Lexington, Kentucky-based agency Meridian-Chiles has shut its doors and filed for bankruptcy. The agency owes $5.1 million in back payments to creditors. Half of that amount is owed to Central Bank. Larry Chiles and Jim Jordan founded the company, which was originally known as Jordan-Chiles, in 1988. Chiles bought Jordan out in 2006.

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