Ad Agency

A first of its kind report revealing the perceptions of the biggest spending U.S. advertisers indicates many more agency reviews ahead.

All sorts of news was vying for attention this past week.

Allied first launched its multicultural practice with Allied Hispanic, then expanded to African-American audiences with Allied Moxy, and now adds LGBTQ marketing to its service portfolio with Allied Pride.  

Anomaly announced the promotion of two of our executive into newly created positions across our fast expanding, and continually evolving, network.

The widespread and increasing use of data to help manage agency relationships is leading to more informed decision-making. This is delivering positive benefits to client/agency relationships as well as improving efficiencies at both clients and agencies. Furthermore, the increased use of data is improving transparency and accountability, both hot topics at the moment. Bottom line: Data is truly a “force for good” in client/agency relationships.  By Bill Duggan, Group EVP, ANA

In my simplistic vision, both sides must come to terms with the current state of the media industry, and must be willing to compromise. It’s undoubtedly true that advertisers have cut back on the fees they pay agencies for their services. There is a chicken-and-egg question here: Has this happened because agencies seem to be making large sums of money? Or are agencies being forced to find new sources of income, because advertisers have been cutting back?

In a declaration distributed over the Thanksgiving holiday — appropriately, on Black Friday — José Villa, President of Los Angeles-based digital cross-cultural agency Sensis put another dagger into the fragile heart of U.S. Hispanic marketing.

As brands and agencies continue to shift dollars to programmatic campaigns — two-thirds of display media is now purchased programmatically, according to eMarketer — marketers are starting to take notice that they may be doing so at the expense of creating emotional connections with consumers.

VS/Brooks Advertising Co-CEOs and Co-Founders Diana Brooks and Vivian Santos announced that Anais Rodriguez has been appointed to the position of Account Supervisor.

I fancy myself an organizational psychologist—that’s what my degree says, so it’s a fair claim. I talk to and observe people, analyze leadership, create systems, facilitate learning and generally help people work. I do that as part of the agency business—an industry that heeds the word of Cannes as gospel. And Cannes says, “Let there be simplicity,” so we collectively agree that the best is always simple, and simple is always best.  By Jacqueline Debien, Global Director of Organizational Development at Momentum Worldwide

Republica commemorated its 10th anniversary with a celebration themed “A Show of #Gratitude,” highlighting the agency’s 10-year journey, and paying tribute to its blue-chip clients and talented team members.

(add)ventures is expanding its Miami office with the addition of María Eugenia Ginés as director, strategy/branding.

Publicis.Sapient, part of Publicis Groupe announced the merger of SapientNitro and Razorfish to form SapientRazorfish which is designed to better fuse the significant experience and technology capability across the two businesses in response to client needs for digital expertise at scale.

Now that we have had a little more time to analyze the implications of a Donald Trump presidency on the advertising realm, it is becoming increasingly clear that fundamental tax issues impacting advertising will immediately be high on the agenda in 2017.

Dentsu Aegis Network announced the acquisition of Findr Group, owner of Gravity Media (“Gravity”), a full-service multicultural marketing agency headquartered in New York City.

For nearly 200 years, Johnnie Walker has inspired the world with stories of personal progress and today the brand announces the new Keep Walking America campaign, which is yet another powerful collection of stories celebrating the countless achievements, unwavering optimism, hardwork and tireless progression of the great people who call America home.

In a political bombshell still reverberating through Washington, Donald Trump, confounding the predictions of most of the pundits and pollsters, won a solid electoral victory. For the first time in eight years, the Republicans control the Presidency and the House and Senate. This means that it is likely that the political gridlock of the last three Congresses will be broken.

Where morale is low, the chances of having mediocre talent working on clients’ business is high, since there will be a real challenge to attract and retain top talent, with all the consequences you can imagine (or have experienced). It sounds as bad as it is.

Grupo Gallegos announced that it has been named creative and strategic agency of record (AOR) for NEXjet Corporation, the full-service jet charter and aircraft management company based in Long Beach, Calif.

Horizon Media announced that it is launching a dedicated multicultural social solution to help the agency’s clients maximize brand influence through organic engagements, influencer relationships and strategic paid media within the multicultural space.