• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, June 5, 2014

Good God! How much longer are we going to hear about the ADDY Awards? Oh, excuse me, I mean the American Advertising Awards. I thought the Cannes Lions lead-up was overkill, but the AAF has been milking this one for months. I guess that can be blamed on its three-tiered local, regional and national approach to things. Anyway, Publicis Seattle announced today that it was awarded five national ADDY Awards at the AAF's American Advertising Awards Competition. The annual award show and gala took place on May 31 in Boca Raton, Fla. Publicis Seattle came out on top with four campaigns it created for T-Mobile with sister agency Riney, and one for its Seattle Symphony work.

Speaking of awards. And Cannes. DDB CCO Amir Kassaei says he's not against scam ads. No, he really said that yesterday at Australia's Mumbrella360. Expanding on that statement, Kassaei added: “It is our responsibility to look for ideas that might not be realistic at the moment. But the majority of the work should be solving real problems with genuine ideas." And seemingly, he's fine with the apparent fact that a fair amount of Cannes Lion work falls into this category. “At Cannes, there are winners with real work for real clients. But the majority of winners are not real,” he said. Hmm. He supports his opinion using an analogy. “If a car company is amazing only at producing prototypes, they will not be taken seriously. I’m not an enemy of prototyping, but you have to get the balance right.”

Calling all coffee lovers! Oh, wait. Calling all agencies who would love to have the Starbucks account! Yes, the brand, in an effort to boost its grocery business, is seeking an agency with shopper marketing experience. And one that has a track record of experience and success in digital. The brand has also issued a separate RFP for brand-related work. And beyond that, Starbucks is also looking to review its media business, currently handled by Omnicom's PHD. Reportedly, the review will not affect the brand's creative agency, BBDO. The brand isn't offering up much in the way of details saying, in a mealy-mouthed statement: "Starbucks works with a variety of agencies and we regularly assess our agency roster to plan for future creative resources for our growing business."

McCann has hired two new global executive creative directors. Isn't, like, one person supposed to hold that title? Joining the agency are James Dawson-Hollis and Bill Wright. The team will report to Global Creative Chairman Rob Reilly. Oh, we get it. In the title name game, that's the role that gets filled by one guy. At least at McCann. We've given up trying to figure out the logic behind the ever-expanding collection of titles agencies love to toss out. Anyway, Reilly appears psyched with the hires, saying, “We have global brands that are asking for breakthrough work. Talent and being fearless is the only way to get there [yawn...]. Bill, James and I share some of the same battle scars. So it goes without saying, their problem-solving ability across all types of brands and disciplines is something I value greatly.”  Prior to joining McCann, Wright and Dawson-Hills were Co-Chief Creative Officers of Ogilvy West in Los Angeles, working on Qualcomm, HTC, Nesquik, Arco gasoline, and AM/PM convenience stores, among other accounts .