Agency Spy

Richard Kirshenbaum invites you to lunch to chat about “creativity, and personal style, and art, and weird inspiring things” during his new TV show, ‘Creative Lunch.’ Check out the video above of Richard on Deutsch’s Big Idea if you’ve never seen the man in action. Hey… Holy shit! Is Richard going to be the new Tim Gunn, but with feathered hair! Wait… the press release goes on to read:

“-its about those stories that usually aren’t told but should be - like mistakes that are blessings in disguise, or inspired moments that change the course of a project, or life. its candid, witty, insightful, and entertaining.”

Shiiit. He’s the new Oprah! Well, actually no, since the show airs on Plum, the television station for rich, white folks in places like Aspen and Nantucket. Why is Richie qualified to speak on such a wide array of topics to other rich white folks like Matt Lauer and heiress Dylan Lauren? According to the press release:

“Richard’s diverse interests include penning plays, and writing, and his latest book “Closing the Deal” a relationship help book for women has been published in nine languages.”

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Oh, sorry. You know when you feel like you’re going to barf in your mouth, like it creeps up the back of your throat and burns a little? That’s what happened. Right then. I’m sure many of the (very cool) KBP employees can relate.

Amy Eagle has flown the coop (oh I am a master of puns this morning) — flying away from KB+P to land in a new nest at DDB. She’ll be running Uniliver’s ice cream accounts — which clock in at an estimated “cool” $100 million worth of business.

From Adweak:

“In her two years at MDC Partners’ Kirshenbaum here, Eagle worked on accounts such as Starz Entertainment, Coca-Cola’s Tab and Diageo’s Don Julio and Ciroc. Before that, she was director of communications planning on Procter & Gamble at Aegis Group’s Carat in New York. Earlier in her career, Eagle was director of account planning at DDB’s San Francisco office.

“Amy is a terrific talent with strong, integrated platform experience that will benefit our new client and the agency at large,” said Hempel in a statement.”

Meanwhile back at KB+P, they filled its client services position with Steve McCall, a partner and the agency’s director of client business development. McCall will retain his business development duties and will be pulling double duty.

Good luck to Amy — I’m sure she’ll be soaring in no time!

(ed note: Ok…feel free to abuse me for multiple pun use…but it is on the verge of a long weekend..I’m a bit batty at the moment.)

Disney is “is looking for BIG ideas that break the traditional movie-marketing concepts,” according to a document issued to agencies that Brandweek got its hands upon. This brief goes on to say that Disney “will pay $50,000 for your time and own all your ideas and concepts.” Agencies preparing for presentations in this project based review include Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners; Droga5, StrawberryFrog and Wieden + Kennedy, Cutwater in San Francisco; and DraftFCB in Chicago.

Rewind. Excuse us? For $50K, you get totally powned. They want to own your ideas, forever and ever and ever. Make millions of them, while you struggle to pay the staff who created those awesome concepts. Other brands have gone this route including Hilton, and Kraft. We’re not against brands attempting to own your ideas. That’s business. This is the jungle baby. In many cases, maybe some of these folks just want to add Disney to their roster, boost their agency profile and so, lie down for the lion. Two unnamed agencies pushed back. We’re going to guess one was Droga. We applaud whoever they were. However, this is a no-no. Don’t do it! If you guys go in for this, then Disney knows it really does hold the industry by the balls. Other brands will follow suit and, and, and… this is the way it has always gone. It’s cyclical and totally depressing.

Seriously? You guys are gonna go for this? Yes, it’s great to have Disney on the client list and yes, maybe you have some groundbreaking idea for movie marketing you want out in the world, but you guys are willing to set the course of I.P. ownership for the rest of the advertising business?

Main entry: Sell Out

Pronunciation: \ˈsel-ˌaut\

Function: noun

Date: 1859

1: the act or an instance of selling out 2: something sold out; especially : something (as a concert or contest) for which all tickets are sold 3: one who betrays a cause for personal advancement.

We very rarely use the word sell out. It no longer applies in many instances considering the time we live in, but in this case? SELL OUTS!

Something else totally depressing? Julie Roehm is involved. Back from the media cyclone, Julie was contacted to help pick the initial list of agencies. She was on the phone calls for the agency briefings, but supposedly, is no longer involved in the process. This just gets ickier and ickier.

KP+B’s Izzy DeBellis is the lead CD on Broadway theme spots for client Mohegan Sun. This is a new direction for the brand. Izzy is seems to be to go to man when it comes to new directions for the agency. He was the CD on the new Wendy’s spots, as well. Anyway, Kirshenbaum was responsible for the brands previous efforts, which were more focused on non-gambling activities like massages.

“How do we communicate, for an casino, an optimistic, joyous point of view? It’s similar to when I was a kid and I was at recess. I felt safe. It’s not sexy or edgy, but it’s fun, just not in a ‘I’m going to get into trouble tomorrow’ way like Vegas is,” said Isidoro Debellis told AdWeak. “Yes, gambling is a part of it, but it’s not the whole story. What is more joyous and optimistic than a musical?”

Kirshenbaum Bond recently won the Mega brands account. Da Frog had resigned the account. Just like you, we always wonder why agencies resign accounts. Was it a frustrating CMO? Was lack of cash? Normally, you never find out, but today, Scott Goodson has posted his agnecy’s reasons for kicking Mega to the curb.

Read it all here.

Kirshenbaum this. Kirshenbaum that. Why is it that every time we turn around this week we hear Kirshenbaum. Kirshenbaum nails Avon! Kirshenbaum unload its new Wendy’s spots! Mega Brands, maker of Mega Bloks and Rose Art, has shifted its estimated $20 million creative and media planning account to Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners after StrawberryFrog resigned the account.

You may have seen Da Frog’s last effort for the toy maker. If not, check out the quirky spot above titled, “Creativity to the Rescue.” We don’t get if these were for the adults or the kids or what the companion site was like. It’s cute and all, but we kinda feel like we’re missing something here that helps one make sense of the video. Anyway, AdWeak is reporting that Kirshenbaum’s first work for the brand will hit the airwaves in time for the back-to-school shopping season.

MDC’s Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners has been banging out Wendy’s spots, but will now have to make room for Avon’s fragrance business. The shop won the estimated $60M account [via Adweak]. SoHo Square, a WPP shop, will continue to be the lead on skincare, wellness and recruitment efforts.

AdWeak is also reporting that Kirshenbaum is hungry to bring on 50 bodies across all departments, including creative and account management. Get those resumes dusted off, kids.

We’re interested in learning more about Open Mind, a division of KBP. The website describes it as a strategy team specializing in “customized insight services, including innovative qualitative and quantitative research, team facilitation, brand repositioning, and strategic consulting. open mind has become known for innovative, “hybrid” research, using multiple research approaches to uncover deep, “ownable” insights, and for actionable strategic thinking that takes into account constantly changing consumer behavior and the hyper-change happening in the media landscape.”

Seriously… hybrid research. What does that mean? Ownable insights. Uh-hunh. Hyper change. Why is it that agencies are always striving to sound like William Gibson?

Open Mind cites the USA Network, COMEDY CENTRAL, Univision, HBO and numerous other stations as clients. Plus some travel destinations and oddly, Applegate Farms.

We’d love to see some of Open Mind’s work and learn a little more about all that junk in their opening statement. Let’s see the goods. Anyone?

If you recall, Wendy’s changed it’s advertising to reflect a shift in the fast food chain’s strategy. CEO Kerrie Anderson said that,

“This evolution of our advertising approach is based on extensive consumer research over the last eight months, working in close collaboration with our agency partners and our franchise advertising committee.”

Maybe she spoke to fast? Wendy’s posted fourth-quarter earnings more than quadrupled from a year ago. Yet, the chain fell just short of Wall Street’s per-share expectations. Still, Wendy’s should very pleased indeed. Hope that the new tagline “It’s Waaaay better Than Fast Food” and positioning can keep those numbers up. We doubt it, but good wishes nonetheless.

[source]

We are recusing ourselves, as it’s clear we can’t be unbiased in this one. We’ve said our piece on the slogan. Now, we’ll let you, the experts be judge and jury. Just hit the play button and get to commenting. One more to come. Drum roll, please…

UPDATE: You can view the new spots here.

We just got forwarded the release for Kirschbaum’s new campaign for Wendy’s. Apparently, Wendy’s is “waaaay” not just a little way, but “waaaay” better than fast food. That’s the new positioning. So, confused. Did we just re-enter the era of Clueless?
At Wendy’s National Convention in Orlando this week, the campaign was unveiled along with “mouth-watering photography” of Wendy’s premium quality food. So…. a burger? You mean, fast food?

They are kicking the current campaign, “That’s Right™” – with consumers donning red wigs as a symbol of enlightenment – to the curb because while it drove brand awareness (meaning within advertising circles), it has failed to drive dollars.

Chief Executive Officer and President Kerrii Anderson said, “To reinvigorate sales growth, we are executing our strategic plan, focusing on strengthening operations, launching new products and taking decisive action.”

“This evolution of our advertising approach is based on extensive consumer research over the last eight months, working in close collaboration with our agency partners and our franchise advertising committee,” Anderson said. “This effort has been driven by a clear understanding of our brand strategy and hallmarks of quality, freshness and honesty.”

Wow. Anderson sounds like she really means it. But, um… if Wendy’s food isn’t fast food, then what is it? It would make more sense if the new tagline was “Wendy’s - Fresh Food,” but even that is kinda bad. Regardless of our confusion (hell, maybe it’ll all shake out in the wash), the new campaign is coming out of Kirshenbaum bond + partners, and will apparently, leverage the “red-hair iconography, but does so in a way that is more genuine and true to the Wendy’s brand.”

Here’s how: Each television spot opens and closes with an animated version of the company’s familiar logo – the image of a red-headed, little girl. “Unlike most logos, Wendy does not remain static in the new advertising. She opens each ad in a simple, surprising way that highlights the menu item being promoted in the commercial,” said Bob Holtcamp, Wendy’s vice president of brand marketing.

So, kind of like the Burger King, King or that other red haired icon, McDonald.

“For example, she holds up a fishing rod to introduce our new hand-cut, North Pacific cod, fish sandwiches. In other ads, she’ll take a small bite out of a hamburger; clutch a small piggy bank to promote our Super Value Menu®; and do other things that open our ads with a wink and a smile,” said Bob.

Each ad ends with a voice saying, “It’s waaaay better than fast food. It’s Wendy’s.”

Do you think this has more to do with the Wendy family HATING the recent spots? Or, you know what… we’re going to open this one up to the floor. What do you guys think of the new tagline?