• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, January 7, 2014

OK so...when someone shifts careers from a global marketing position to a single country marketing position, isn't that a demotion? But who are we to question the judgment of GM which just shifted GM Executive Director of Global Marketing Paul Edwards to VP of U.S. marketing for Chevy. Not GM. Just Chevy. Like we said, what do we know but Chevy Global Marketing Chief Tim Mahoney, to whom Edwards will report, said, "Paul's broad experience in virtually all aspects of automotive marketing, across multiple brands, makes him a great fit for Chevrolet as we continue to build on our strong product momentum here in the U.S." Hmm. Because knowing a little about a lot is just as good as knowing a lot about a little?

It was certainly cold out yesterday and the wind was blowing but we've heard another kind of weather event happened yesterday in the Chicago offices of Leo Burnett. A shitstorm. Literally. Apparently pipes burst and all manner of, well, shit covered one of the floors at the agency. Check out the Instagram video.

What the? What's going on over at Burger King? There once was a time when all was fat and happy with CP+B handling the account for a while but the brand, which just split with Mother, will now have had three agencies inside of three years. Mother had the account for 11 months. Prior to that it was Mcgarrybowen and before that it was CP+B. Maybe we should just all admit fast food is bad for you and stop trying to sell it. Oh wait.

Like the second coming of Christ, GroupM North America CEO Kelly Clark heralded the launch of a new media unit, Modi, by saying, “We are preparing for a world of media consumption and advertising message delivery that is radically different from what we see today. Data and technology are driving enormous change in the structure and the economics of the television business, and it’s critical that we are ready to help clients navigate the new landscape. Modi Media will develop powerful advanced TV solutions for advertisers.” Really? Really? Haven't we progressed to a point where an advertising executive can actually offer up a quote with meat rather than meaningless fluff like this? The new entity will service other WPP agencies as well as go after brands working with other agencies.

What's a former creative strategist do with all his new-found spare time? If you're former Poke New York Director of Creative Strategy Danny Nathan, you launch a dating site. More specifically, a dating site designed for couples who need to spice up their relationship. Nathan has launched Date Night Is..., a site designed to give established couples something new to do on date night. Or any night for that matter. The site offers Groupon-like deals for couples to do things a little differently and to get out of the repetitive rut in which many couples find themselves.

In the world of independent ad agencies, the outlook, according to a recent survey of Worldwide Partners -- a network of independent agencies -- finds revenue will be up but profits will be flat in 2014. Worldwide Partners consists of 87 agencies in 54 countries with collective capitalized billings of $3.2 billion. In the survey, 63% of agencies report agency revenues will improve in 2014 compared to 2013 while 54% of agencies report profits will remain as they were in 2013 or fall. 

David Adelman, Nader Ashway and Mark Kolier have been working on a new agency model for two years. What did they come up with? Says Adelman, "moddern marketing is not simply an advertising agency. But rather, an integrated marketing services company that aims to provide its clients with strategic customer-focused thinking at every level. We really wanted to smash the old model of the ad agency, where media and creative and even strategic decisions were all made by different people on different floors of the building. There are no silos here…so our clients are getting strong thinking from smart people from every angle." Really? Never heard of that approach before.

advertisement

advertisement