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Kia Finals Stall for Third Time; Sportage Ads Also Held UpLOS ANGELES Final presentations for Kia Motors America's $270 million creative review were delayed for a third time and are now set for the week of Dec. 6 to accommodate visiting Korean participants, sources said. MDC's Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners in New York, Omnicom's GSD&M in Austin, Texas, and independents Cramer-Krasselt in Chicago, and incumbent davidandgoliath in Los Angeles are competing. Also being delayed, pending factory output, is a major relaunch of the Sportage, a Kia rep confirmed. An Internet teaser running now will be followed in January by a two-minute theatrical spot playing in over 2,000 theaters. The TV version—in which Sportage fans trade off driving privileges—has been put off until the Sportage is available.Mitsubishi Loses Beavis, Opens Search for Replacement LOS ANGELES Ian Beavis, Mitsubishi Motors North America's senior vice president of marketing and public relations, has resigned from the company citing personal reasons, the company confirmed. Beavis was not immediately available for comment. Beavis joined the Cypress, Calif.-based automaker in late November 2003. A Mitsubishi representative said the search for Beavis' replacement is under way.Revlon Set to Meet With Contenders in $125 Mil. PitchNEW YORK Revlon executives will begin chemistry meetings with agencies next week, though they had not finalized their list of contenders by press time, a client executive said. Sources have said that Revlon is looking for a hometown shop. The New York company put its estimated $125 million account into review two weeks ago and has asked the incumbent, IPG's Deutsch, to defend. Deutsch, which also handles Revlon's media, declined to comment on whether it will participate. Sources said incumbent Deutsch pitched Revlon's $10 million Mitchum deodorant account this month, as did independent Wieden + Kennedy in New York. A decision on that business could come this week. Jan Boyle of Matchworks is working with Morgan Anderson Consulting, both in New York, sources said.Radio Shack Sends Agencies Mixed Signals on Ad PlansDallas Several agencies that Radio Shack contacted in September about taking on a share of the retailer's advertising work said they are in the dark about just how much work is up for grabs and what steps the client will take next. "It's all very murky," said a source at one agency. "We're still trying to figure it out." Sources said the client initially told them they could be hired for projects that could lead to more business, but has not scheduled any more meetings with agencies. Radio Shack's Circle R in-house shop handles most ad work.Bloore to Lead U-M's $570 Mil. Sony Pictures AccountLOS ANGELES Karen Bloore has been named managing director of IPG's Universal McCann Entertainment Group in Los Angeles, where she will run the $570 million Sony Pictures Entertainment motion picture planning and buying business, the agency confirmed. Bloore, 36, joined last week from Grey Entertainment in Burbank, Calif., where she worked on the Warner Bros. account as the evp of marketing. Robin Kent, global chairman and CEO of Universal McCann, called Bloore "a world-class strategic thinker, as well as creative and tough." Bloore replaces Alfa Tate-O'Neill, who has become evp of entertainment research at IAG Research in Century City, Calif.Nissan Aims to Cement Its Place Among Truck MakersNEW YORK Nissan rolls out a TV push this week highlighting the breadth of its SUVs and pickup product lines. Two TV spots highlight two new pickups: the 2005 Frontier and the 2004 Titan. The first ad uses Nissan's "Shift_" tagline, with a montage of SUVs in action and a voiceover: "A shift has been made, and better stories will be told; a shift has been made, and hard core just got harder ... core." Omnicom's TBWA\Chiat\Day in Los Angeles handles the account. The spots will run consecutively with other Nissan ads, the client said. Campaign spending was undisclosed. Nissan spent $380 million on truck ads in 2003 and $370 million through September of this year, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.Saatchi & Saatchi Aims to Breathe New Life Into ScopeNEW YORK Procter & Gamble's Scope brand, without ad support since 2001, is getting a relaunch by Publicis' Saatchi & Saatchi in New York with an estimated $30-40 million marketing budget, sources said. Saatchi will create TV and print ads, sources said. Bromley Communications in San Antonio, Texas, will create a Spanish-language effort. Both will launch after the products arrive on store shelves during the first quarter of 2005. In addition to supporting Scope's original flavor, P&G will introduce cinnamon and orange citrus Scope.TM Wishes Subaru Well, Expects No More Staff ExitsDALLAS TM Advertising offers a ceremonial sayonara to client Subaru with an ad in Automotive News today, but agency president David Lyons says he will not be saying goodbye to any more employees who worked on the $165 million account. With eight months to prepare for the departure, the IPG agency has been able to eliminate staff through attrition, Lyons said. Some of the 7 to 10 Subaru staffers have left for other agencies, including DDB, and some have left advertising altogether, executives said. Accounts that have absorbed the other Subaru staffers include American Airlines, Nationwide Insurance and Texas Instruments, currently in review. Today's ad thanks Subaru for "One helluva ride" and wishes them luck with DDB.Aflac Ad Touts Mascot's Upcoming Movie DebutNEW YORK A TV spot touting the Aflac duck's cameo in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events breaks today on Hispanic TV stations and nationally tomorrow, the client said. Publicis' The Kaplan Thaler Group in New York created the 30-second ad, which shows a scene from the movie where the duck is tossed about on a ship during a storm. The client and agency both negotiated the cameo with Paramount Pictures, said an Aflac rep, confirming that the company will put $5 million toward marketing the tie-in. The spot will run through Dec. 17, when the film opens.

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