In July McCann's bid for a renewal of its U.S. Army contract was eliminated from contention. But the shop filed a formal protest, and on Monday, the Army extended the agency's current contract for roughly another year as its protest winds its way through the bureaucratic process.

Havas Group agency Arnold won this year's Boston Brandathon, a 72-hour branding competition organized by the Ad Club of Boston that pairs startups with creative agencies in the Boston area.

It's not the just the big guns in the agency business (WPP, Havas et al.) that are worried about their business outlook for the rest of the year (and possibly beyond).

Bell served as the founding president of what is considered the modern AAF, from 1967 until 1991. He is also credited with developing the practice of advertising self-regulation, widely recognized in the industry today, for his central role in the creation of the Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (then called the National Advertising Review Council).

With the major Adland holding companies now all reporting first-half results, Pivotal Research senior analyst Brian Wieser has calculated that combined, the firms' second-quarter performance was even worse than the first quarter from an organic revenue standpoint in the U.S. / North America region.

Yeah, he's been dead for 130 years, but made a special effort to get to Copenhagen to make the presentation. He was as surprised as anyone to be invited, but doesn't like to disappoint.

Canada Dry is out with its new "Busy is a 4 Letter Word" campaign. Interestingly, Huffington Post had a story last year with the same title that addressed similar themes. Coincidence? Oh, I don't know, I'm too busy -- you figure it out.

The firm is perhaps best known for the "What Happens Here, Stays Here" tourism campaign for Las Vegas.

The agency has some big shoes to fill. Wieden + Kennedy and ESPN had a 25-year relationship that ended late last year.

Healthcare specialist Meers Advertising is becoming part of Barkley to help activate the new practice. Sam Meers will lead the new effort as EVP, Barkley Health & Finance.