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DDB WINS IVILLAGE ACCOUNT NEW YORK-DDB Needham here won the $6-8 million full-service ad account of Internet publisher iVillage. Paul Ahern, general manager of DDB's Communications Branding Group, said the national campaign will break in the fourth quarter. BATES NORTH AMERICA TAPS NEW MEDIA DIRECTOR NEW YORK-Bates North America here has hired Perianne Grignon as executive vice president, director of media and new technologies, effective Oct. 20. She replaces Jay Schoenfeld, who resigned in June to start his own media consultancy. Grignon was previously the media director, marketing communications at AT&T in Basking Ridge, N.J. AMMIRATI MAKES CANADIAN ACQUISITION NEW YORK-Ammirati Puris Lintas here has acquired Toronto-based Durnan Communications and appointed the agency's founder, Bill Durnan, president and chief executive of APL's Toronto office. Durnan succeeds Dennis Stief, who left APL earlier this year. Doug Robinson, APL Toronto's creative director, will also assume the role of chairman. The majority of the operations of Durnan, with billings of approximately $11 million, will be merged into APL Toronto. FORD UPS MERCURY AD BUDGET DETROIT-Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln-Mercury division breaks its '98 model year campaign for the Mercury nameplate today. Spending is projected to be 25 percent greater than the $175 million spent on the '97 models. "Imagine yourself in a Mercury" continues as the tagline. Actress Kate Jackson has been dropped as spokesperson for dealer spots. Young & Rubicam here is agency for the Lincoln-Mercury division. SEARS PULLS OUT OF ABC DRAMA CHICAGO-Sears, Roebuck & Co. said it no longer will advertise on ABC's new Nothing Sacred after buying time during the first two episodes. The Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based retailer said it did not consider the drama about a priest an appropriate venue for its ads. Ogilvy & Mather's Chicago and New York offices handle network TV buying for Sears. NEEDHAM CREATIVES FORM AGENCY CHICAGO-Two creative directors at DDB Needham Chicago-senior vice president Dave Merhar and vice president Mike Oberman-have left to form their own agency, Fusion, here. Merhar created the "I love you, man" campaign for Anheuser-Busch's Bud Light. 7 SHOPS ON DSI TOYS CONTENDERS LIST DALLAS-Seven shops have emerged as contenders for the $10 million account of Houston-based DSI Toys. Those pitching for the toy maker's creative and media business are: incumbent Sive/Young & Rubicam, Cincinnati; McCann-Erickson, Houston; Bozell Worldwide and D'Arcy Masius Benton & Bowles, both New York; and W.B. Doner, Cleveland. DSI executives have also asked Carat MBS, New York, to pitch the media portion only, sources said. Another undisclosed shop is believed to be pitching only the creative portion. Agency executives and Charlotte Warren, principal of the Warren Agency in Austin, Texas, who is assisting with the review, declined comment. Y&R CLEARED IN BIAS LAWSUIT DETROIT-A Wayne County, Mich., circuit court jury found in favor of Young & Rubicam in a lawsuit filed by Mary Semak, 57, a former Y&R vice president and creative director of the diversified products group. She alleged both age and gender discrimination in relation to her discharge from the agency in November 1995. DONER BREAKS FIRST FTD ADS DETROIT-The first work for Florists' Transworld Delivery from W.B. Doner & Co., Southfield, Mich., breaks today on cable networks. Longtime spokesman Merlin Olsen continues in spots that introduce a new tagline: "Some of life's best moments come FTD." Doner presented that line in winning the $16 million account in June. AMMIRATI UNVEILS AMERITECH WORK CHICAGO-The first effort for Ameritech from Ammirati Puris Lintas in New York breaks this week. APL won the Midwest telecom company's $100 million consolidated consumer, business and branding account in July following a review. Sources said "At your service" may be the tagline replacing Ameritech's long-running "Your link to better communications." NEWSWIRE ROUNDUP The Metroplitan Transportation Authority in New York has set formal "advertising standards" designed to prohibit the display of ads on buses, trains and subways that it deems "harmful" Pitney Bowes in Stamford, Conn., has contacted agencies about a $3-4 million corporate branding effort, sources said. A client representative confirmed contacting agencies for the project but said the budget was undetermined Penny Hawkey has been named executive vice president and executive creative director of Medicus New York, a division of Medicus Group International, the worldwide healthcare communications unit of The MacManus Group. Hawkey was formerly vice president and executive creative director of Publicis/Bloom Omnicom Group has acquired Meridian Technology Marketing, a Cambridge, Mass.-based marketing consulting firm. The company will operate as an independent subsidiary of Brodeur Porter Novelli under Omnicom's Diversified Agency Services umbrella. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed David Egan was named president of Ketchum Advertising in Pittsburgh, succeeding James Ficco, who stepped down following a relapse of leukemia. Egan had been executive vice president and director of account management.

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