• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, October 9, 2014

Writing in Marketingland, Motivity Marketing CEO Kevin Ryan has some harsh words for you shysters out there who can't help yourselves from poaching clients away from your competitors with cheesy emails. Breaking down one such email that was forwarded to him complete with the much overused "sorry for the intrusion" and "let me steal a few minutes of your time," Ryan writes  "Leaving aside the assumption (again) that the target is a bit of a dolt when it comes to search and doesn’t quite understand how directive intent works, there’s another apology, another theft reference and for heaven’s sake, an emoticon. If it’s so urgent, why do you have to keep stealing time and why is it going to take weeks? The worst part of this little journey is the company’s reference to itself (a little like giving yourself a nickname, it just doesn’t work that way, kids) as a “disruptor.”  It seems like for every 10,000 digital companies referring to themselves as disruptors, we might have one or two that qualify. Disruption is not to be confused with opportunism." Lesson learned? Don't apologize. Don't steal anything. And if you are a disruptor, don't call yourself one.

In the seemingly random though definitely overly-important world of top 10/50/100 lists, MediaCom is in the midst of a group high five as the company's CMO, Stephanie Fierman, was just named one of the top 50 CMOs by social influence according to data-based company Infegy which compiled the list using its data analytics platform Infegy Atlas. MediaCom is high fiving itself because Fierman is the only CMO from a media agency company on the list. Of her placement, Fierman said, "The world of marketing has changed. MediaCom itself has transformed into the 'Content and Connections Agency,' reflecting our holistic commitment to helping brands not only make the right channel choices, but also create content and messaging that is distributed effectively across their entire communications system. There is no way to do that today without having intimate, personal experience with social media – just as our clients and their customers do."

Publicis Groupe is continuing its expansion into South Africa with three new acquisitions. The acquisitions include branding agency BrandRocks, digital marketing agency Liquorice and integrated agency Machine. These acquisitions follow those of Prima Integrated Marketing, OwenKessel, and Lighthouse Digital, plus the stake in AG Partners, earlier in 2014. Of the BrandRocks acquisition and the acquisitions in general, Saatchi & Saatchi EMEA COO Justin Billingsley said, "South Africa is ranked as the eighth fastest growing advertising market in the world between 2013 and 2016 and the growth opportunities across the African continent are well documented. The new integrated group will capitalize on this growth. The all-new Saatchi South Africa will include best of breed skills in experiential, traditional communications and digital; all under really strong leadership." 

Weight Watchers, the struggling weight loss brand, has hired a new marketing director. Former VP of Marketing for Mentos and Airheads Maurice Herrera has been selected to fill the role left vacant by Cheryl Callan who left after Lesya Lysyj was hired as President last year. Wieden + Kennedy is the brand's current agency. That decision was made by Lysyj. Depending upon the amount of sway Lysyj continues to apply to the marketing front, Wieden could be fine, or as is more often the case, Herrera will make his mark by booting Wieden and selecting a new agency. Our money's on the latter .