Who Will Snag Wyndham?

Wyndham Hotel Group is deciding between three shops for their Super 8, Howard Johnson and Travelodge brands. Berlin Cameron is one according to AdWeak. Berlin needs a win considering the recently lost two big accounts Boost Mobile and Heineken. The business is supposedly worth $25M to $30M. The incumbent on Travelodge and Howard Johnson is Eastwest Marketing Group, who was nixed early on in the process.

Anyone know who else is pitching on the account?

Terry Richardson + RZA + Berlin Cameron + Belvedere Vodka

As a follow-up to Berlin Cameron’s broadcast spot with Vincent Gallo for Belvedere Vodka, WE HEAR THAT… Next up on to get the Terry Richardson treatment is awesome rapper Rza. They’re currently shooting in Los Angeles, as we type. We liked the concept, the commercial and the prints ads that went with the vodka maker’s new modus operandi.

Full disclosure: We love RZA.

The de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan is a genius MC and also created/produced the original music for Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill series. He’s managed to be a leader in the often retarded rap game. We didn’t see him making any cookie-cutter TV shows that were bound to be canceled for their ridiculously lame plot lines. Look, dude was even in the train wreck film that was Miami Vice and managed to hold it down.

We salute The Boys Club on this one – way to incorporate all angles of your target demographic. Let’s just hope that the corresponding commercial is just as stellar as their choice of celebrity. Fingers crossed… Eyes closed…

Just A Note On That Wendy’s Campaign

The comments on our recent Wendy’s post ["Is It "Waaaay Better Than Fast Food?"] are getting prolific. Sweet. Here’s a little more info on those soon to arrive spot. The creative lead was Izzy Debellis, former partner and creative director of… okay, wait for it… wait for it… BERLIN CAMERON! Our favorite shop in the whole wide world. Meet Izzy at the Kirshenbaum Bond site, here. Or, oddly, you can also check him out at the Berlin site, here.

Oh please, please… someone send us the video to these spots. No need to post on YouTube and possibly get yourself in a bit of poo. Send direct to agencyspy at mediasbistro dot com. We are dying to see what Izzy has come up with. Please? Please?

We’d also like to add this addendum – in her speech, Wendy’s CEO Kerrii Andersen said that ““This effort has been driven by a clear understanding of our brand strategy and hallmarks of quality, freshness and honesty.” Honesty? What about that little trans fat scandal they got into? And the overall implication that Wendy’s is not fast food. Whatever. Whatever.

The Boys Club Says Bye-Bye To Boost

From AdAge: “Pre-paid wireless provider Boost Mobile has eliminated Berlin Cameron United as its agency of record as it narrows the review for the creative portion of its advertising account.”

Remember when BC’s president Bill Grogan said he was aware Boost was looking for an agency for a singular creative project? Singular, apparently, means entire creative chores. There are two shops left in the review. Anyone know who? (IM: agencyspy or email: agencyspy at mediasbistro dot com).

In a statement, (don’t you love these statements) Boost noted their five-year long, positive relationship with the agency, during which time the customer base grew by 4 million customers. That’s a large figure, which has something to do with the broadcasts spots for sure. However, don’t forget about the rise in popularity of pre-paid service over the last three years or so, and Boost’s competitive pricing, as well as real-world marketing efforts. But, hell, we actually liked the recent Boost ads featuring Mickey Avalon and Young Jeezy.

“While disappointed with the decision after a five-year run, we wish them well,” said Grogan. “We recognize that an evolved business model, with an emphasis on retail execution, will lead them to new partnerships.”

So, Bill… What you’re saying is that Boost has a new, more nuanced plan that the Boys Club can’t handle? Isn’t that why  Heineken bailed on the Boys for W+K? We’ve always said the Boys do their best work when the message is simple – sex, drugs and a basic execution of the idea of cool.

Young Jeezy, Mickey Avalon And The Boys Club

The new spot from The Boys Club for Boost Mobile is just what it should be. It offers up three MCs, two of which (the comic driven Mickey Avalon and hit maker Young Jeezy) are actually hugely popular. Nice work on picking Avalon, BC. Sorry, but have you seen the young, rich, white kids rocking out to his tracks at Bar Mart? Oh. And Jermaine Dupri is also in there. We’ll say that’s a bit of mistake, but whatever. Overall, BC did what it did best. The spot features young men, playing like their hard with big 3D graphics selling a youth driven phone service. Really… If you have a brand looking to get the attention of young guys who are into the luxury, flash and fads of pop culture, than head over to The Boys Club. They’ll fix you right up.

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Terry Richardson’s New Vodka Campaign

We reported that Terry Richardson is working on a new campaign for Belvedere Vodka and here’s a first look at what they’ve got in store to capture (as we all suspected) a hipper, younger demographic.

The Boys Club is the agency here. Berlin is good at getting the young guys attention and so for once, we’re going to say that yes… Da Boyz are a suitable match for the brand’s needs. If you can’t tell what’s going on in the print ad above, the woman is applying her lipstick by looking in a man’s belt buckle. We like it, but do you think that NOW (considering their latest high level campaign) would have something to say about this?

Vincent Gallo is also featured in a 30-second commercial where he crashes a Upper East Side dinner party. That part we don’t really understand. Many, many men wandering around the LES and Nolita can’t stand Gallo, but maybe, just maybe, Da Boyz have considered the ladies for once. We know lots of chicks dig the director of The Brown Bunny (um… if you saw the film, we bet you know why).

WWD is reporting that “the ad is the most expensive in Belvedere history — $20 million, more than triple the cost of the 2006 campaign.”

Read More: Dove Should Hire Jennifer Love Hewitt 

Berlin Cameron Picks Up Comcast

You know… we missed this last week due to the fact that our eyes tend to blur when we see B-E-R-L-I-N  C-A-M… by the “M,” we’re so over it. Anyway, the shop has landed creative duties for Comcast’s $10 million to $20 million business-services account.

The Boys Club snagged the business from The Richards Group, which did not defend. Goodby will continue to handle creative duties for the consumer portion of Comcast’s account.

Heineken Goes Classy But Can The Boys Club Go With Them?

This is rich. Looks like Heineken USA is going to lose it’s frat boy tagline of “It’s all about the beer” and take on, “Heineken. The definitive world class beer.” Andy Glaser, brand director-Heineken, told wholesalers that Heineken must maintain its “specialness.” The new positioning is an attempt to differentiate the brand from its competitors like Miller. The brand is going to continue to use The Boys Club as their agency of record. Wonder how they’ll fare considering that “class” isn’t quite the shop’s specialty.

Can’t wait to see what BC comes up with.

Read More: Hulu Is Shaking Its Way Into Beta

Source

Berlin Cameron’s Diversity Recruitment Ad

Independent of us, MultiCultClassics happened to create an ad for the Boys Club (aka Berlin Cameron United) that perfectly sums up our assessment of the agency and its relationship to women. The copy reads:

The advertising industry has a reputation for being an Old Boys Club. Nothing could be further from the truth at Berlin Cameron United. For starters, we don’t think we’re old. And, we’re always interested in female employees. If you have what it takes, send your resume – along with a headshot, measurements and shoe size. Exotic minorities are welcome, too.

It’s that last line that had us spitting up our rum and coke. Genius! The blog is currently running a series of “faux” or altered print ads for highlighting different shop’s diversity recruitment efforts. They’re all pretty darn good, though naturally, this Boys Club ad is our favorite.

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Headhunters And The Boys Club

Seems like we aren’t the only ones who understand that the Boys Club aka Berlin Cameron really is full of a bunch of F.A.Gs (Fucking Ad Guys). Last year, we hear… that a headhunter set up a female creative with an interview for an open spot at the club house. Her warning to the interviewee? That BC is a total fey frat house and that the women she knew who worked their often felt like they were “on display” in a “meat market.” We believe it. Remember this guy (whom we will never tire of trotting out)? We’re not saying that all the boys running around BC have the “Girls-didn’t-like-me-in-highschool-so-now-I’m-a-douche attitude.” Just some of ‘em.

Also, on an actual news front, the agency has recently seen one of their big accounts, Boost Mobile, go into play.

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