• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, October 30, 2014

In super important local advertising agency news, South Florida-based Woo Creative has been named the 2014 New Business of the Year by...wait for it...the Greater Delray Beach Chamber of Commerce at a recent gala at the Delray Beach Marriott. Yes, it's true. Woo Creative began as a bootstrapped one-man consulting startup headquartered in a local library. In 30 months, Woo grew to a seven-person creative team ranging from young tech talent to award-winning veteran designers. Woo now has offices headquartered on Atlantic Avenue in downtown Delray Beach and anticipates significant growth in the months and years ahead. Of the win, Woo President Ryan Boylston said: “This award represents not only the incredible effort that team Woo puts in every day, but also the trust our clients place in us to communicate their brand.” 

The FTC isn't taking any crap this week. Rather, they’re sick of the crap they've had to deal with for so long. Earlier this week, the consumer protection agency came down on AT&T for promising unlimited data and not delivering on that promise. You know, the whole throttling thing on grandfathered mobile phone plans. Now, the FTC is coming down on Gerber for falsely (allegedly) advertising that its line of Good Start Gentle Formula can reduce the risk of babies developing their parents' allergies. Of the charge, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Jessica Rich said: “Parents trusted Gerber to tell the truth about the health benefits of its formula, and the company’s ads failed to live up to that trust. Gerber didn’t have evidence to back up its claim that Good Start Gentle formula reduces the risk of babies developing their parents’ allergies.”

Here's yet another thorn thrust into the collective side of ad agencies. Well, sort of. Filmmaker Ridley Scott's production company, RSA Films, and movie agency, Wild Card, has launched 3 AM, a firm that will specialize in content marketing. The firm will be headed by Jules Daly and Alison Temple. Of the launch, Daly, a 25-year veteran of creative production management, said, “Film studios have an entirely new and unique set of challenges when it comes to marketing movies. RSA and Wild Card realize that Hollywood marketing today is a beast of its own consistently challenged with capturing consumer interest. As a joint entity of such esteemed creative companies, 3AM can help alleviate those challenges and work with the studios to think outside the box and deliver groundbreaking creative.”

Congratulations are due Erwin Penland this week. The agency just landed the L.L. Bean account and will handle the brand's marketing strategy, creative, digital and retail marketing. Austin-based GSD&M Idea City has handled the brand since 2008. Erwin Penland is located South Carolina. Maybe Austin-based GSD&M got too fancy pants for the brand. Just Austin itself, has become too fancy pants compared to its roots.

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