When this Nutchello ad popped up in my feed, it melted my brain into a delicious puddle of chocolate pouring onto a gold cougar statue. You know, in a good way.
The ad, from Fallon, throws one quirky headline after another at you while you stare at giant type superimposed over impressively weird CGI. You are assailed by alternately relaxing and terrifying images.
Lisa Hashbarger, who spent more than a decade with Fallon, joined executive search firm Pixie Dust as talent scout/recruiter, leading the company’s new search/recruit division for senior creatives. In the role, she will be tasked with performing searches for senior level creative roles and partner with Pixie Dust co-founders Laura Keller and Ashley Mehbod in vetting C-level candidates, as well as overall recruiting efforts.
“We’re very excited to bring Lisa’ on board,” said Mehbod. “She’s got a very sharp eye for creative portfolios, she’s a good judge of character, and she’s also a seasoned project manager who understands staffing needs and work flow. With her good energy and incredible network, she was an ideal choice to develop a Pixie Dust silo dedicated to finding Senior Creatives.”
Hashberger first joined Fallon as a project manager at the beginning of 2004. Nearly six years later she was promoted to project manager supervisor. She became a creative manager/recruiter in May of 2012 and was promoted to director of creative operations, her most recent role with the agency, in August of 2013, before leaving the agency last April. While with Fallon she worked with brands including Citibank, Cadillac, Holiday Inn, Travelers. Prior to joining the agency she spent time with Herdstrom/Blessing as an account executive and Legacy Design as a senior account executive.
“Pixie Dust is known for finding and placing top talent that can solve brand problems and build winning teams for agencies and corporate marketers and help advance careers for individual C-level candidates,” said Hashbarger. “I’m looking forward to growing the company’s Senior Creative search business. My experience, combined with a desire to only work with and represent the best talent out there, aligns with the Pixie Dust executive search mission.”
Two months after appointing W+K as lead creative agency for its Yoplait brand (which shortly followed the appointment of Ann Simonds as chief marketing officer), General Mills has added two more agencies to its roster, appointing 72andSunny as lead creative agency for Totino’s and Fallon for Old El Paso. AdAge reports that General Mills spent approximately $28 million on Totino’s and $18 million on Old El Paso in 2014.
Michael Fanuele, a former chief strategy officer at Fallon who joined General Mills last year as chief creative officer, told Adage, “America loves Old El Paso, and Fallon will help us stoke that passion. They know how to cultivate powerful relationships between people and brands.” He cited Totino’s as one of General Mills fastest growing brands and added that 72andSunny’s “experience building brands with pop-culture power is a perfect fit for Totino’s.”
Fanuele also told the publication that McCann Erickson and Saatchi & Saatchi remain General Mills’ main creative agencies, with no further changes to their assignments, or further roster additions for General Mills, on the horizon.
For Fallon, the news follows being named agency of record for the Big Ten Network last month, while 72andSunny has won work on AXE and Adidas Sport since the beginning of the year.
Fallon London appointed Gareth Collins as its new CEO, Campaign reports. He will begin the new position this summer, after leaving AMV BBDO, where he currently serves as a managing partner. Upon arrival, he will lead a management team including executive creative director Nick Bell and chief strategy officer David Hackworthy. The news coincides with the departure of managing director James Townsend, who is leaving to become CEO of 360i London.
Collins began his position at AMV BBDO in March of last year, following over five years in Australia with Clemenger BBDO, most recently as a managing partner. He first joined Clemenger BBDO as a group account director, becoming a client service director the following year and managing partner in April of 2012. Prior to that he spent five years as a board account director with AMV BBDO. He also spent three years with Ogilvy & Mather as an account manager and served a brief stint as service manager with Guy’s and St. Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
Magnus Djaba, chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi Fallon UK Group, told Campaign, “When Pat Fallon picked a management team to start Fallon London, he chose people who didn’t know the rules but just wanted to create new ones. Gareth has that same spirit and attitude.”
Digital agency 360i has appointed James Townsend as its new CEO, replacing Rob Connolly, 360i CEO since December of 2013, who The Drum reports will “move back to Northern Ireland after six years within the Dentsu Aegis Network to pursue a new venture.”
Townsend arrives from Fallon London, where he has served as managing director since the beginning of 2013 and as head of account management since arriving in April, 2010. Prior to joining Fallon, Townsend spent seven years as a client services director with exposure London.
“James’ experience and accomplishments in helping clients creatively build their brands, as well as his alignment with 360i’s ‘Powered by Curiosity’ ethos, make him the perfect fit to lead our London office,” Bryan Wiener, chairman of 360i, told The Drum.
In related news, Fallon appointed former AMV BBDO managing partner Gareth Collins as its new CEO.
It’s no secret that bourbon and the Kentucky Derby go hand-in-hand.
During this year’s Derby broadcast on May 2, spirits brand Brown-Forman/Woodford Reserve brought its specially crafted Derby bottles to life at Churchill Downs in an ad from Fallon.
The spot, aptly dubbed “Bottle Run,” features animated Woodford Reserve bottles having their own battle on the racetrack. In turn, the ad honors not only Woodford’s status as the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby but its longtime affiliation with other racing events like the Preakness and Belmont.
Now all we need is a dapper hat a mint julep and we’re good to go.
There’s also a little making-of clip that features equine artist Carole Andreen-Harris (maker of the 2015 Kentucky Derby Woodford Reserve bottles) here.
Agency: Fallon Worldwide
Chief Creative Officer: Jeff Kling
Creative Director: Jason Bottenus
Art Director: Joe Johnson
Copy Writer: Charlie Kuhn
Director of Production: Andrew Koningen
Managing Director: David Sigel
Account Supervisor: Jordan Rossman
Planning Director: Chad Koehnen
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Nicolai Fuglsig
President: David Zander
Executive Producer: Emma Wilcockson
Line Producer: Betsy Oliver
Cinematographer: Alwin Kuchler
Art Director: Dan Griffin
Editorial / VFX / Color / Finishing: The Mill NY
Editor: Ryan McKenna
2D Lead: Kyle Cody
2D assist: Yoon-sun Bae
3D lead: Andres Eguiguren
3D Modeler: Tim Kim
3D Lighting: Raymond Leung
Colorist: Fergus McCall
Executive Producer: Melanie Wickham
Producer: Dan Love
Music: tonefarmer
Ray Loewy, Composer
Liz Higgins, Executive Producer
Sound: Sound Lounge
Record: Tom Jucarone
Mix: Peter Holcomb
Producer: Kimberly Reid
We have a series of three executive agency hires to report on this Thursday. First, JWT New York hired Matt Baker as its new head of planning, replacing Adrian Barrow, who left that position to become global planning director in September. Fallon, meanwhile, named Anette Lillegard to the role of chief strategy officer. And Pereira & O’Dell hired Chris Wilcox as vice president, partnerships.
Baker (pictured above) joins JWT from Anomaly, where he has served as director of strategy and innovation for about a year, working on accounts such as Google and Procter & Gamble. Prior to that, Baker held the roles of director of digital strategists and group planning director at Arnold New York.
Lillegard joins Fallon from healthcare data analytics company IMF Health, where she served as director of marketing. Fallon CEO Mike Buchner remarked that the agency made a conscious decision to consider “nontraditional candidates” for the position. “With a desire to expand our current strategic offering into areas such as analytics and consulting, I’m very pleased that we have found someone with a wealth of business strategy experience and an impressive track record of success like Anette,” he added.
Wilcox joins Pereira & O’Dell from USA Today, where he served as vice president, integrated advertising sales and oversaw West Coast sales operations. Over the course of his career, Wilcox has worked with clients including Google, Toyota and Wells Fargo.
Minneapolis-based agency Fallon has officially been named agency of record for the Big Ten Network, thus expanding a relationship with the oldest Division I conference that kicked off last August and culminated in a national campaign that includes the spot “Perfect” above.
Regarding the initial launch and the AOR appointment, Erin Harvego, VP of marketing for BT (which is co-owned by Fox and the conference), says in a statement:
“The fall college sports campaign was a huge success for the Big Ten Network. We look forward to continuing the momentum with dynamic, original creative that showcases what the Big Ten and college sports are all about. What we enjoy most about working with Fallon is the agency’s ability to present original ideas, and I think they’ve found fun and exciting ways to share our vision with our viewers.”
With phase one complete, Fallon is “continuing the momentum” and cementing its AOR relationship with BTN by developing a new campaign called “First Robin of Spring,” which will promote spring football (yes, it’s a big thing) via a handful of TV spots set to air on BTN throughout this month and beyond.
Fallon’s latest AOR win follows a fairly notable 2015 in which the agency created a Super Bowl spot for Loctite Adhesives and received props from Arby’s in billboard form for its “We Have the Meats” campaign.
The April 15 tax deadline looms once again, so as a friendly reminder, Minneapolis-based Fallon launched a new campaign for H&R Block that aims to light a tiny fire under the stragglers out there.
How better to remind late filers than to employ the services of Captain Sulu/Howard Stern vet/social media maven George Takei, whose trademark baritone lends an air of refinement and wit to something as dull as the tax code?
Takei stars in a total of five spots, which not only live on YouTube but also on his own social channels including Facebook (nearly 700,000 views and counting).
The usual bow tie-sporting H&R Block pitchman plays the foil to Takei’s shenanigans, whether he’s tanning while dropping science (above) or determining when someone actually turns 70.5 years old (below).
At this point, we’d rather just have Takei do our taxes for us — and despite the deadpan goings-on, the campaign probably won’t make anyone dread Tax Day any less.
Fallon
Chief Creative Officer: Jeff Kling
Creative Director: Patrick Figueroa
Art Director: Phil Jones
Copywriter: Charlie Kuhn
Chief Production Officer: Charles Wolford
Senior Producer: Erin Simle
Assistant Producer: Alexis Jones
Business Manager: Mona Morris
Group Account Director: Marc Mason
Account Director: Anna Kelly
Account Supervisor: Liz O’Reilly
Production: Supply & Demand
Head of Production: Jeff Scruton
Director: Matt Lenski
Producer: Ely Siler
DP: Rob Witt
Editorial: Fallon
Editor: Ryan Philippi
Producer: Matt Nelson
Post-Production: Pixel Farm
Designer: Jeff Stevens
Colorist: Dave Sweet
Lead VFX Artist: Kurt Angel
Audio Designer & Mixer: Ken Chastain
Executive Producer: Tammy Kimbler
Hartford-based Travelers insurance has named TBWA/Chiat/Day as its lead creative agency following a competitive review against undisclosed agencies, Adweek reports. The agency will succeed Fallon, which was Travelers lead creative agency for almost a decade, and is expected to run the account out of its New York offices. Media was not part of the review and will remain with agency MediaVest.
According to Kantar Media, Travelers spent over $28 million on measured media in 2013. For TBWA, the account win will soften the blow after being eliminated from Kraft’s roster in November. Prior to losing its share of the Kraft business, TBWA had a big month of September, picking up Airbnb, Buffalo Wild Wings and Miller Lite.
In a statement, Lisa Caputo, chief marketing and communications officer at Travelers, pointed to the agency’s “keen understanding of our brand,” claiming that TBWA’s “deep experience working with iconic global brands makes them an ideal partner for us.”
TBWA/Chiat/Day’s first work for Travelers is expected in June, in anticipation of the Travelers Championship PGA Tour event in Cromwell, Connecticut.
With tax season approaching, Fallon has a new broadcast campaign for H&R Block, a client the agency has handled since winning the account from DDB in 2010.
With a host of rivals, Fallon attempts to use humor to differentiate H&R Block from other brands. In “Nein Nein Nein,” for example, a man teaching German repeatedly drills his pupil on the pronunciation of the word “nein.” The connection — that H&R Block charges only $9.99 to file taxes online — isn’t revealed until the spot’s conclusion. In “Nine Nine Tee Nine,” by contrast, the deal is revealed upfront, while the play on words comes across as a bit…inexplicable. (That ad also features an appearance from what appears to be Todd Bosley of Little Giants fame.) Still, both spots succeed at making H&R Block’s selling point memorable for viewers, whether or not they actually find the ads funny. (more…)
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Arby’s wants you—and Pepsi—to know it’s really sorry that it forgot to feature the soft drink in two of its own ads this year.
The roast beef chain’s deal with the soda brand requires Arby’s to promote the drink in its own advertising. But by the time Pepsi (politely) reminded the fast food restaurant’s executives earlier this fall, Arby’s had already finished all of the year’s creative, reports The Wall Street Journal.
So, Arby’s and agency Fallon made this awesomely simple, self-referential spot, owning up to the mistake with a close-up of a sweaty pint of Pepsi and a voiceover from actor Ving Rhames feigning humbled indignation. The ad reportedly will only air in Minneapolis, New York and Los Angeles.
“We love you, Pepsi,” notes the clip’s YouTube summary. “You’re like a meat to us.”
It’s another gem from a growing vein of meta ads that poke fun at the marketing process, peeling back the curtain and inviting savvy consumers to take part in the joke. Newcastle Brown Ale has proven itself expert at this, and Norwegian bank Nordnet’s new ads make for a strong addition to the genre, as well.
Refreshing as the straight-talk may seem, though, it was all done with Pepsi’s blessing. Plus, odds are good that any Pepsi you order at Arby’s is going to come in a paper cup.
When Arby’s received a friendly reminder in October that they had yet to release the second of their promised ads featuring Pepsi they realized they had a problem. The brand and its agency, Fallon, had already wrapped on their creative for the rest of the year.
Rob Lynch, chief marketing officer and brand president of Arby’s, explained to The Wall Street Journal that with the brand focusing on its revamped marketing, centered around the “We have the meats” tagline, the obligations to Pepsi simply got forgotten. Lynch did not look forward to breaking the news to Fallon. “Their ads are kind of like their babies. To go in after we shot them and shoehorn something in is like the worst client move you could ever make,” he told The Wall Street Journal.
But Fallon proved up to the challenge. The Minneapolis-based agency created a new, 30-second ad poking fun at the whole debacle. A tall glass of Pepsi stays on camera for the entire ad as the sonorous Ving Rhames explains the situation: “Arby’s has an agreement to feature their good friend Pepsi in two commercials a year…Well Arby’s messed up and forgot about the second commercial!” In a clever touch, the ad ends by replacing the usual “We have the meats” tagline with “We have Pepsi.” So what did Pepsi think of the approach?
“We applaud Arby’s unconventional approach to marketing and when they came to us with this idea, we thought it would be a fun, creative way to highlight our partnership,” Roberto Rios, chief marketing officer for PepsiCo’s food service division, told The Wall Street Journal in an emailed statement.
So it seems like everyone is happy with the situation. The spot will run from December 7th-13th in the Minneapolis, New York, and Los Angeles markets, fulfilling Arby’s end of their agreement with Pepsi to feature the beverage in two advertisements this year. Presumably the creative Fallon had to put on hold for the ad will run in the near future.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Last month, Fallon launched a new campaign for Henkel’s Loctite Adhesives, promoting Loctite Super Glue with a thoroughly ridiculous 30-second television spot featuring fanny pack dancing. Now the agency has continued their campaign with two more television spots, which, unsurprisingly, continue the goofiness trend for the brand.
One of the new 30-second spots, “Breakage” (featured above), sees a man so enamored with Loctite’s adhesive power that he fantasizes about breaking things, just so he and his buddy can glue them back together. The similarly toned “Shoe” sees the same man apprehensive about a shoe emergency. He glues the shoe together and then decides to try to put some weight on it, ensuing in a fairly predictable scenario. Both spots, which were directed by Emmy-winning director David Shane and will debut this week, conclude with a clip from the original campaign spot “Win at Glue.” Stick around for credits and “Shoe” after the jump. (more…)
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Last year was a good year for Purina’s Beneful dog food, which spent more than $52 million in measured media advertising. Fallon was at the helm of those buys, as they were with Purina One for more than 25 years.
Today, Fallon has neither brand.
Interpublic Group’s Avrett Free Ginsberg
scored Purina One, and now Publicis & Hal Riney have won the creative for Beneful. While no one of note at Publicis & Riney could be reached for comment, Fallon was happy to say this about its quarter-century shaggy-dog story:
Agency CEO Mike Buchner said of the brand’s departure: “It has been an honor for Fallon to have represented Purina’s core dog food brands for over a quarter of a century. We are proud of the brands we’ve built together and the work we’ve created that has helped drive their business forward for decades.”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Fallon Minneapolis launched a new campaign today for Henkel’s Loctite Adhesives, promoting Loctite Super Glue.
At the center of the campaign is a 30-second TV spot called “Win At Glue” which Fallon created along with production company O Positive.”Win At Glue” will air on national TV, “including major sports events, season finales, late night and syndication.” The campaign will also feature unique online content on Twitter (where users are encouraged to share their own glue victories with the hashtag #winatglue) and YouTube, which will roll out over the next several weeks. This will mark Fallon’s first campaign for Loctite after winning AOR duties back in December.
The”Win At Glue” spot (above) features a bunch of people dancing around, rather ridiculously, with Loctite fanny packs filled with Loctite Super Glue. Aiming for humor, Fallon arrives at…something else. Something kind of hard to watch for 30 seconds. Make of it what you will. Credits after the jump. continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Joel Clement’s search for a stateside agency is over. Today McGarrah Jessee announced that Clement, who most recently served as executive creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi Thailand, will join the Austin firm to “focus primarily on writing.”
This summer Clement announced his plans to leave the agency after eight years, eight months of which he spent as ECD and regional creative director for Saatchi & Saatchi’s Asia operations.
In the release, he clarifies that he “had a pretty specific ideal in mind” when planning his repatriation and that he “found it all at McGarrah Jessee.”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Cadbury and Fallon London, the pair that brought us the Internet's legendary drumming gorilla, are back with a charming spot called "Yes Sir, I WILL Boogie in the Office."
As many of us have likely done while stuck on a call, logistics manager Keith decides to just roll with it and jam out to the hold music, "Yes Sir, I Can Boogie" by '70s disco duo Baccara.
That's pretty much the whole thing, at least in the :60 cut for TV. In the extended version created for cinema, which you can watch below, Keith goes on a roll and takes his moves across the office.
It's not the most elaborate spot ever, but with 730,000 views of the 60-second version already, it's clearly winning over its share of chocolate lovers and boogie bosses.
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