This (Short) Week Is Sponsored by the Letter ‘M’

Aloha from Portland.

Some of you clocked in this week. The rest of you? You’re probably not reading this newsletter and are on a beach or a mountain if “Advertising Instagram” is any indication, and R/GA doesn’t want to hear about it.

That said, as the title above notes, there was a lot of “M” this week.

First off, some moves—and BOTH with Australia ties.

McCann is bringing in former JWT/J. Walther Thompson/Wunderman Thompson creative chief (and all-around good egg) Matt Eastwood to lead its global healthcare network.

More moves? Vice-owned Virtue named Cameron Farrelly as its creative lead. His last stop was with Universal Music Group’s Bring down in Australia.

MDC Partners, ahead of its planned sale, announced a new executive leadership committee.

How about some M&A? Data shows that mar tech and data dominated the space in 2018 as traditional agency action slowed on down.

More “M?” You got it. Here are three major ways agency culture will change in 2019 according to Patric Palm, CEO of Favro.

Worth a watch: Boy, McDonald’s (another “M”!) and DDB New Zealand understand the morning after New Year’s Eve celebrations. The truth hurts … but it is funny.

Worth a read: Seven Cannes Lions jury presidents share what they’re looking for in award-winning work this June. Hint: simplicity is a theme.

Worth keeping an eye on: Adweek’s Super Bowl tracker, of course. Keep up to date on who is going to be in the Big Game. TurboTax and Audi announced that they’re in today. (For more Super Bowl news, we now have a newsletter for that. Sign up here)

Speaking of the Super Bowl, our pick is Chiefs/Seahawks with Kansas City sneaking in a 38-25 win. But don’t waste any money betting that, we don’t have a great track record picking this one.

On behalf of the entire Adweek agencies crew, we wish you a wonderful weekend, and we’ll see you back here next week.

Warm Regards,
Doug Zanger
Senior Editor, Creativity + Agencies