The debate over Santa Monica, Calif., agency DW+H's decision to use fellow agency Victors & Spoils' crowdsourcing platform to rebrand itself has unfolded predictably over the past two weeks. Detractors bemoan the de facto creative buck-passing and transparent self-promotional element ("Ad Agency Biz Finally Loses It" was Adscam's headline), while proponents applaud the shop for trying something different ("Collaboration is the new competitive advantage," V&S chief John Windsor wrote on his blog.) The prize in the competition, which is open to all and ends this week, is $4,000. As we recently learned from a certain clothing-boutique entrepreneur, company owners aren't always so great at the name game—and the whole partners'-initials thing (in this case, Donat Wald & Haque) has been done to death. That said, the renaming effort has generated lots of press for the present moniker, making DW+H one of the better-known—or at least, most readily Web-searchable—agency brands in business. With so much fresh recognition, I'd recommend management just stick with that. (I'll take my four grand in a money order or cashier's check. And please, spell my name right!) Read a Q&A with DW+H execs about the project over at PSFK.
