• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, September 12, 2013

In a move to beef up its two-year-old content marketing offering, Content Labs, MDC Partners' Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners has hired  Ad Age's Matt Creamer who will take on the roles of executive editor and associate creative director. The hire coincides with the agency's launch of an in-house newsroom and video studio in order to, according to the agency, "develop content with the efficiency of a newsroom and at the speed of social media." Hmm. Only an agency could turn a phrase like that. Interestingly, Content Labs is headed by former Ad Age Editor Jonah Bloom who serves as Chief Strategy Officer. Creamer is the third Ad Ager to move to Adland to develop content—Bloom’s predecessor Scott Donaton runs Interpublic’s Ensemble unit. Creamer’s move comes as agencies and brands begin to make sense of content marketing and their increasing role as publishers. Listen up publishers: Disintermediation brought to you by an ad agency near you. 

As one agency moves in a new direction, another moves in a predictable one. San Diego-based Jacob Tyler Creative Group has announced the opening of a Washington, DC office with the acquisition of Chinn Creative. Yup, if you can't do it on your own, you might as well buy your way in. Which, of course, is how agency holding companies are born so the move can't be all bad. Oh wait. 

Chicago journalist Lewis Lazare is excited.Very excited. Why? Because one of his hometown Chicago agencies, Commonground, will be featured on Thursday's AMC reality show "The PItch." He says up until now most of the predominantly LA-based ad agencies which have been featured on the show "weren't very impressive." He's particularly intrigued by the backstory of Commonground co-founder Ahmad Islam who spends much of his time away from his family who are located in Houston because he has a son with autism and the area is said to have one of the best schools for autistic children. Here's hoping the episode isn't just another cheesy version of two groups of adults bickering with one another over who colors the best.

Cannes-winning creative director Scott Walker has been hired by production company th2ng in an effort to boost the firm’s roster of agency clients. It hopes to do so with Walker who, as a five-year-old strapped a video camera to his dog because, well, Walker is "obsessed with film." Walker's agency experience includes JWT, DDB and BBDO.

One young creative is going to have a great time beginning in December. Steve Taylor, 28, will be embarking upon The Great Agency Adventure. Taylor will work at 14 different agencies in 14 different cities for a month at a time. He'll share all the juicy details on his blog and, as well, he plans to turn the entire trip into a book. Of the trip, Taylor, who has worked at several New York agencies including TMP Worldwide, said, "I just wanted to do something big and not just be another person in the industry. I wanted to be known for something." In sharing his experiences about the agencies and the cities, Taylor hopes to provide insight to other creatives seeking jobs in Adland. His first stop is Cleveland's Recess Creative. So far, he has 7 gigs lined up.