• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, October 28, 2014

If the rumors are true, and they almost always are, despite the success Kit Kat has seen with JWT London, the rumor mongers are rattling the cage saying that the candy brand is on the hunt for a new agency. While the brand isn't commenting, they do not seem to be saying no, there is no review about to happen. So, JWT London, is it time for all your staffers to start Instagraming their love for Kit Kat the way Leo Burnett employees did when they were defending the Miller Lite account?

Moving even more into the world of programmatic buying, Publicis Groupe has acquired mobile-focused data management and programmatic buying platform RUN. It's part of the holding company's plan to earn 50% of its revenue from digital by 2018. The acquisition will sit with Publicis Groupe's Starcom MediaVest Group and be available to all media groups including ZenithOptimedia, DigitasLBi and Razorfish. Of the acquisition, Starcom MediaVest Group Global CEO Laura Desmond said: “This acquisition will accelerate Publicis Groupe’s digital capabilities in the mobile space. The role of the agency has changed. We are no longer negotiating on traditional currencies. We’re negotiating on data and technologies. RUN provides the opportunity to break down walled gardens of data across all screens and devices to become a real, meaningful differentiator in how we service current clients and beyond.”

Wanna see yet another list of the greatest ads of all time? Well, okay -- just the greatest car ads of all time. The Gunn Report is out with its "50 Years of Best Car Ads" report selected by a committee of one, Havas consultant and former VP and CCO for the agency Jacques Seguela. Making the list are Doyle Dane Bernbach's 'Funeral' for Volkswagen (1969); 'Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie' for Chevrolet by Campbell-Ewald (1974); 'Snow Covered' for Jeep by Bozell North (1994); 'The Hire' for BMW by Fallon (2002); 'Sculptor' for Peugeot by Euro RSCG (2003) now Havas Worldwide; 'Cog' for Honda by Wieden+Kennedy (2004); and 'Humanity' for Toyota by Hakuhodo (2006). You can view all the ads super-inconveniently from the home page of The Gunn Report. Look for it in the sidebar of the site. There's no direct link. Come on, Gunn Report, get with it!

Hoping to bolster the state of agency training, at least in Amsterdam, a consortium of Dutch agencies -- Achtung!, Dawn, Natwer and Sue -- have launched Uncommon, a 2-year rotational training program for candidates looking to get into advertising. Starting in January 2015, the program is comprised of four three-month rotations through each agency. Successful candidates will have the opportunity to gain experience in digital marketing, service design and product development for Dutch as well as international clients with the goal of equipping them with the necessary skills to take on the crazy creative challenges with which those of us who have worked in ad agencies are all too familiar.

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