• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, July 31, 2014

In a clear sign we have reached the point where industry creative awards have finally become a parody of themselves, R/GA Founder Bob Greenberg says Cannes Lions judges should accept scam ads if they are innovative. No, seriously, he really said that. In, perhaps, the most mealy-mouthed support for scam ads, Greenberg, in a Google+ Hangout, said, “Sometimes we even view, oddly enough, that something may not be real, it still might be very innovative and so we sort of give it a break sometimes based on that, not knowing whether or not it's completely real and certainly the facts they are stating are questionable, but there’s a lot of innovation. If it’s really innovative, and it might have a bit of scam connected to it, we sort of let it pass. It’s still showing the way forward.” So let me get this straight. According to Bob, as long as work is innovative and awesome, it should be considered for an award. Even if it's fake and was never used to officially sell a brand? Really, Bob?

And speaking of awards, Havas Melbourne President James Wright blames the industry's award fixation on the egos of CMOs saying, “CMOs’ egos are massive. They want it on their CV, they are probably thinking about where their next move is and they want to have a Cannes Lion to be able to go to the next business they want to go to.” Which, to me, is just another indicator the pervasive selfishness in this industry. Do CMOs not realize that they are not the ones creating the work that wins awards? Oh sure, they're involved and offer guidance but it's more like that of an executive producer credit given as a favor rather than a producer credit given for actual work done on a film. CMOs can take credit for hiring the agency that did the award winning work. They can take credit for guiding the creative team behind the work. But they can not take credit for winning the award.

In an effort to create what's being called a "middle-market" holding company Chicago-based private equity firm Lake Capital aims to acquire London-based Engine Group, parent to Deep Focus, Noise and several others. Of the move, Lake Capital Co-Founder Terry Graunke said, "Our thesis is that pre- and post- the Omnicom-Publicis merger and lack of completion, there's a real opportunity to create a middle-market player in the space." The planned acquisition is the first of several planed over the next 18 months.

Deutsch LA has a new EVP, executive creative technology director. Joshua Hirsch, who was previously chief technology officer at Publicis Kaplan Thaler, is joining the agency and will oversee the agency's 55 person development team working on Taco Bell, Esurance, Pop Secret and others. One of Hirsch's most notable creative achievements to date is his contribution to the HBO Voyeur Project while at Big Spaceship. His team created a New York panorama that brought voyeuristic tales to life, illustrating HBO as a leader in both TV and storytelling .