It was a spirited week for all of us. First, we wrapped up all of our Super Bowl coverage, which was filled with some good (Bud Light X Game of Thrones and the NFL’s ad), bad (weird sparkling seltzer) and ugly (a beer brand brawl has emerged over corn syrup).
Next, came our Brandweek: Challenger Brands event in New York. It’s fascinating to hear how the up-and-comers are battling the incumbents, and we have scads of coverage that you’ll find intriguing, inspiring and educational.
A particular highlight was hearing from Brad Haley, CMO of IHOP. We thought we were all tired of hearing about the Droga5 and Initiative-led brand stunt from earlier this year, but Haley’s presentation was outstanding, had plenty of “aha” moments and the best summation of the reasoning behind the successful campaign.
Then, at the end of the week, we got news about a couple of meaty wins, both in the fitness space.
Deutsch landed Reebok as global creative AOR beating out Joan, TBWA\Chiat\Day and Translation. Venables Bell & Partners ran the account for four years but wasn’t part of the pitch this time around. And the timing is good since Deutsch’s six-year relationship with Target just ended. According to R3, Reebok’s annual budget is about $80 million.
Kansas City indie Barkley then shared the news that they snapped up Planet Fitness as the brand’s lead agency across creative and media taking over from Hill Holiday (who ran the account from August 2016) and, previously, Red Tettemer O’Connell and Partners. In 2017, according to Kantar, Planet Fitness spent close to $69 million on media and $58 million in the first part of 2018.
While we’re still seeing contraction with AOR and more significant opportunities for agencies, these developments are a good sign that all is not entirely lost and brands having one lead agency they can trust may be the right thing to do.
Speaking of agencies, MediaLink’s new managing director, Christopher Vollmer, has his views on why they will do just fine, thank you.
Intel's in-house unit Agency Inside didn't fare so well—and now the Silicon Valley giant's global Teresa Herd has departed to enter the consulting world after the company laid off a reported two-thirds of the team.
Worth a read: How to spark a diversity-centered change in your agency.
Worth a watch: Our always-entertaining new editor Jameson Fleming took to the streets of NYC to ask people about celebrity cameos in Super Bowl ads.
Harley-Davidson takes a spin with Droga5 as its new creative partner.
The Martin Agency and Geico reflect on 25 years together.
Uh-oh. While there were some sunny spots this week, Publicis had a bit of bad news.
We now know what Wunderman Thompson looks like, with its new brand reveal.
Ever wondered what the deal was with that Instagram egg? Hint: there were ad agencies involved.
Advertising’s most quoted analyst has moved … to GroupM.
By way of reminder, we invite you to visit our sister site, AgencySpy, for more news and tidbits from the agency world. If you read us already, we offer you hearty thanks and appreciate the support.
As always, feel free to share your agency news with us—I can be reached at doug dot zanger at adweek dot com.
Have a wonderful weekend, and we’ll see you back here next week.
Warm Regards,
Doug Zanger
Senior Editor, Creativity + Agencies
