Agency Spy

We got a rumour over the weekend about copywriter Eric Kallman and art director Craig Allen, a pair of TBWA/Chiat/Day, N.Y. creatives who were responsible for a lot of the Skittles work there under ECD Gerry Graf — well they were resigning and shuffling off to a new locale.

Since you kids all love the journalistic integrity SuperSpy & I try and put through here — I wrote Jeremy Miller — TBWA PR guy — this morning to try and confirm that it was the case.

Dick writes back (at 3:39 pm EDT):

“Already posted on Creativity online.”  (This is the contents of the entire e-mail)

Uh… thanks dickweed for your help & assistance.  Since we got scooped because of a wanker at TBWA — here is the link to the article.  They are off to W+K Portland and will be working on the Old Spice and Careerbuilder accounts under CD Mark Fitzloff, but also eventually hope to expand their repertoire on Nike and Coca-Cola.

Interesting bit of gossip we received via the tip box over the weekend — and on yet another very slow news day:

Why hasn’t the potential new ECD at TBWA signed the contract?

Well it seems they cannot find a good school for his kids. TBWA is trying to buy their way into some of NYC’s most prominent private schools — apparently unsuccessfully so far.

Nice to see that the ECD candidate is putting the welfare of his kids’ education at the forefront of their requirements — probably because all the hours they’ll be putting in at the job, they’ll never see them aside from vacations

Incoming Young & Rubicam executive creative directors Scott Vitrone and Ian Reichenthal will become the day-to-day leaders of the shop’s creative department in New York with the rapid exit of North American chief creative officer Gary Goldsmith last week.

Adweek again has all the intricate details you’ll ever want:

“Vitrone and Reichenthal also are expected to work on select network assignments, including some involving clients outside New York. They start this week.

Previously, the two were partners and group creative directors at TBWA\Chiat\Day here, where they produced irreverent and quirky work for Mars brands such as Skittles, Snickers and Starburst. They resigned from TBWA\C\D two months ago to join WPP Group’s Y&R.

At their new shop, Vitrone and Reichenthal will oversee a department of 112 creatives and work under worldwide cd Tony Granger, who also will be based in New York.

“Their first priority coming in should be to focus on Y&R New York and help us build the momentum we have been gaining there,” said worldwide CEO Hamish McLennan, in a statement. “Tony and I believe their enthusiasm and their absolute love of their craft will be infectious and uplifting.”

Granger, the former CCO at Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi here, is expected to join Y&R next month after negotiating a reduction in the one-year notice period in his Saatchi contract. He resigned from Saatchi in November.

Vitrone said he was “excited to dig in and help Y&R as it continues its transformation,” while Reichenthal described his new role as a “great challenge” and a “terrific new beginning.”

We (using the royal “we” of course) discussed a bit about this last week in the comments section — what kind of impact is Y&R realistically looking at with adding these two — both in the short & long-term?  Discuss amongst yourselves…or in the comments.

More piling into India seems to be in Omnicom’s future. The company’s TBWA division is getting ready to strengthen its presence in India by launching five new divisions or um, buying them. The major focus would be on areas such as lead generation, events, promotions, direct marketing, retail channel development and management, activation and audience development. The first shop to land their will most certainly be Agency.com.

“We are looking at possible acquisitions for retail activation and event management to start with,” Keith Smith, president (international), TBWA Group told Business Standard.

TBWA India has brought Shiv Sethuraman on board from Ogilvy Paris as the chief executive officer to oversee operations of both TBWA and Tequila brands in India. Shiv will be a guiding hand for Tequila what has a had a rough time in India thus far.

Meanwhile, Omnicom shop BBDO has selected two new CDs for the shop: Sandipan Bhattacharya and Manoj Deb as executive creative directors. Both men worked at Grey Delhi before joining the team. The move is expected to be followed a placement for a CEO.

TBWA\ Group China has prevailed in a pitch against three other agencies to secure the 60th anniversary campaign for Porsche in China.

Brand Republic Asia has the details:

“The nationwide campaign will be handled by different units of the group. TBWA will oversee advertising, with Tequila, Agency.com and Auditoire in charge of direct marketing, digital and events, respectively.

Porsche’s China business was previously handled by DDB China.

“Porsche is of course incredibly well known in the West and in Hong Kong, but it only entered the China market less than 10 years ago,” said Richard Cotton, group account director at TBWA.

The campaign will see an integrated approach across all media channels and contact points with creative ideas for Porsche’s global birthday on 8 June.”

Now I can see them doing something in advance of the Olympics — but I cannot see a huge market for Porsches throughout China at the moment given there is a very limited supply of buyers at the current time — or one would think.  But sounds like a fun challenge to tackle…

Well the replacement of former TBWA\Chiat\Day New York ECD Gerry Graf, who recently bailed out to become chief creative officer at Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi in New York — well it didn’t seem to take too long to get someone to dive on the grenade of a reported department of all of 7 people.

Could the contestant step to the microphone and tell us his name and current location?

Well it is Young & Rubicam Chicago chief creative officer Mark Figliulo , who is currently in contract negotiations with the powers-that be at Omnicom about taking the top creative job in the TBWA\C\D New York office.

Adweek fills in the rest of the gritty details:

“Figliulo has worked at WPP Group’s Y&R since late 1999 on accounts such as Sears and Miller Brewing Co., for which the agency handles Miller Genuine Draft. A Y&R representative had no immediate comment.

TBWA\C\D New York’s top clients include Mars (Snickers, Skittles, Starburst, Combos), Biersdorf (Nivea) and Absolut.

At Saatchi, Graf succeeded Tony Granger, who in November resigned to become worldwide cd at Y&R, though he remains at Saatchi, given the one-year notice period in his contract. Sources, however, now expect Granger to join Y&R here in early May.”

Now not being a creative, but knowing plenty about Y&R — what exactly has Y&R Chicago accomplished during Mark’s tenure but stunning client losses?  They are down to one main client, Sears, (which was moved from Y&R New York to the Chicago office during Mark’s reign) and a lot of crickets chirping in the empty office space abandoned when the rest of the client list bailed.

Creative musical chairs are fun — especially when no one really gets kicked off from the contest…and people wonder about the constant state of BDAs

Apparently, the creative staff at TBWA/Chiat Day NY has dwindled to about 7 people. SEVEN. A pittance, considering how much work still must be done there. The remaining creatives must be reduced to zombies at this point.

Kinda can’t blame Ian Reichenthal and Scott Vitrone for bailing. Apparently, they got a sweet offer over at Y&R. Word is, they’re going to be the go-to dudes for the network.

They need a crazy campaign in London? Send Ian & Scott! Problem in Sydney? Ian & Scott to the rescue.

That’s the plan for them anyway. And who wouldn’t want a gig like that?

- Agent C

agencyspy.agentc at gmail dot com

Hi gang.

Do you work at Media Lab/TBWA or know someone who does? Yeah, yeah, we’re out soliciting again. Before we run a piece about the shop, we wanted to have one or two questions answered about you know, management, the office and stuff. Just stuff.

AIM - agencyspy or EMAIL - agencyspy at gmail dot com

Thanks so much!

Ian Reichenthal and Scott Vitrone have left TBWA/Chiat/Day/NY for Y&R. The pair is known for their Skittles and Starburst work, which we personally love. You know, Y&R better produce some groundbreaking working this coming year after stealing all these creative types including Tony Granger from Saatchi.

Vitrone told Creativity Online, who broke the story, that:

“We met [Y&R Global CEO] Hamish McLennan in Cannes last year and we just got to talking to him, and he just followed up. We had quite a few meetings with him. It was clear when he hired Tony, and from our conversations, he is 100 percent committed to great creative work.”

And the poaching isn’t over yet. Hamish told the magazine that:

“I think you’ll see more hires across the globe. We’ve taken a view about where we want to take the business and we want to be known for doing brilliant work for all the mediums. This is just the beginning.”

This is just the beginning of Y&R attempting to rebuild their agency. Lots of folks have taken a person from here, another from there to great success. Looking for a new gig? Call Hamish. We hear they’re paying top dollar.

Meanwhile, why don’t they just close TBWA\C\D New York? Isaac Silverglate and Jeff Anderson bailed last week for Droga5. Tony’s gone. Now, these two and let’s not forget that just last month, TBWA\Chiat\Day New York executive creative director Gerry Graf became chief creative officer of Saatchi & Saatchi’s [source]. Note to TBWA: dudes… take his name off your website, yeah? Meanwhile, somewhere Kevin Roberts is just seething that he didn’t snag Reichental and Vitrone, too.

Corey Mitchell, President of the New York office of T\C\D must have concocted an ulcer by now. Are there any creatives left in the TBWA\C\D NY office? The agency still has some bigwigs though. They recently hired Shane Ankeney from Doner to assume the new role of executive director of audience planning. He’s probably wondering if he made the right decision. Executive Director Strategy, Suzanne Powers, who is in charge of new business, should be you know… doing her job or alternatively, looking for an exit strategy. She might be thinking to herself right now - “I never should of left California.” Jamie Gallo, managing director, who was saddled with the Sprint account in 2006, is probably taking it all in stride. He’s seen worse and done a good job for Absolut lately.

Sigh. Seriously… can you imagine the email Mitchell is going to send to staffers tomorrow? Classic.

More: Is W+K Is Flirting With Apple Beneath Chiat’s Nose?

TBWA\C\D client Embassy Suites has gone up for review. The shop has been the AOR for the hotel chain since 1998. Yeah. Move on Embassy.
TBWA\C\D and the Tequila are expected to defend says AdWeak.

Embassy Suites is a Hilton brand. Hilton is handled by Young & Rubicam and DraftFCB holds Doubletree, Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites. Why DraftFCB is holding onto three accounts each valued around or above $20M is beyond us. Maybe Blackstone, who bought the whole Hilton chain last year, will shift their business around, too. Seriously… have you ever even heard of a Homewood suite?