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FT.com Cuts Contenders List to 2 N.Y. Shops NEW YORK--FT.com, the Web site for the London-based Financial Times newspaper, has narrowed its search to BBDO and FCB Worldwide, both New York, sources said. The client plans to spend as much as $40 million annually to compete with the Wall Street Journal site WSJ.com, and boost the number of U.S. users, according to questionnaires that went out in September [Adweek, Sept. 13]. AAR/Bob Wolf Partners in New York is handling the search. McCann Health Scores SxSportsMed.com NEW YORK--McCann-Erickson Consumer Health has won brand-building duties for SxSportsMed.com a sports medicine content and retail site, which is an e-commerce venture of Sx Sports Med, a Westport, Conn., store. MECH will manage the estimated $20 million account in conjunction with other marketing communications units of McCann-Erickson WorldGroup. MECH will help launch the site this year and promote it with a print and broadcast strategy. Kaplan Thaler Wins $40 Mil. AFLAC Account NEW YORK--The Kaplan Thaler Group, an independent unit of The MacManus Group, has won creative duties for American Family Life Assurance Company's estimated $40 million account. The incumbent is Fitzgerald & Co., Atlanta, a division of McCann-Erickson Worldwide. Fitzgerald will continue to handle media duties. AFLAC insures 40 million people worldwide and is the leading underwriter in the U.S. of supplemental worksite insurance. JWT Hires O'Donnell For Merrill Lynch NEW YORK--Bob Jeffrey, president of J. Walter Thompson here, has tapped Dan O'Donnell--former global account managing director on Citibank at Young & Rubicam--to serve as executive vice president, global business director on Merrill Lynch. O'Donnell assumes the duties of Tom Cotton, who previously split time between Merrill and Qwest Communications and now will work exclusively on Qwest. O'Donnell, 42, spent two years at Y&R and before that, worked on MCI at Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer/Euro RSCG. "His mission is to really lead the Merrill business into the next millenium. It's that simple," Jeffrey said. O'Donnell said he was attracted by the "great brand name" of JWT and the "vision" of Jeffrey. "I'd love to make it happen here," he said. Account Activity Fila Holding S.p.A. heard final pitches Friday for its estimated $60-70 million global account. Presenting at Fila's Biella, Italy, offices were BBDO Worldwide, J. Walter Thompson and a Omnicom Group team consisting of Merkley Newman Harty in New York and several TBWA offices in Europe Merkley Newman Harty, New York, has landed media and creative duties for CareerMosaic.com, an online recruitment site, without a review. Billings were not disclosed.

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