Agency News

NEW YORK As Bates USA and Zenith Media, both New York, await a decision on the media account for the four-year, $780 million anti-drug effort by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, raised concerns over the shop's relationship with client Brown & Williamson. "There is no federal legislation or mechanism that would exclude a vendor from competing for a contract," said Alan Levitt, director of the ONDCP ad effort. Bozell Worldwide in New York broke a new $20 million global corporate campaign for Unisys earlier this month, using the tagline, "We eat, sleep and drink this stuff." In one of two 30-second spots for the Blue Bell, Pa.-based marketer of mainframe computers and services, a Unisys employee is shown dancing at a party with a computer monitor superimposed over her head. This is meant to show that her commitment to solving clients' problems extends after hours. Grey Advertising, New York, is breaking the first new campaign for Panasonic's Technics audio line in several years with the tagline, "Technics. Pure Sound." Four print ads and one TV spot for the Secaucus, N.J.-based client compare the Technics listening experience to live music. Previous advertising had taken a more product-specific approach. Annual budgets are estimated at $3-5 million. Hampel/Stefanides in New York won the ad account for Inktomi, a San Mateo, Calif.-based developer of Internet software, after a review involving five contenders. Budgets were undisclosed, but the company spent less than $1 million on ads last year, per Competitive Media Reporting. Publicis & Hal Riney in San Francisco was the incumbent. N.W. Ayer & Partners, New York, has launched "Just Ask a Woman," a focus group that emulates a television talk show in order to put women at ease. Attendees at last week's Advertising Women of New York "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" awards watched Ayer chief executive Mary Lou Quinlan and marketing director Ruth Ayres demonstrate how they, as hosts of the "show," draw comments on the winners and losers from participants. Serge Karamanoukian, a former account supervisor at J. Walter Thompson in New York and later an associate vice president at Citibank, was among the passengers killed on Swissair Flight 111 from New York to Geneva, Switzerland. A five-year veteran of JWT, the 35-year-old Karamanoukian was in new product development and marketing at Citibank. TBWA/Chiat/Day in Venice, Calif., took home best of show honors for its Apple Computer work in the New York-based Outdoor Advertising Association of America's 56th annual Obie awards, held at Manhattan's South Street Seaport. The agency won five trophies in all. Other multiple winners included: The Martin Agency, Leo Burnett, CMG Communications and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, each with two. Levi, Strauss & Co. won the 1998 Hall of Fame Obie. Dresser Rand, Corning, a manufacturer of centrifugal and reciprocating compressors, steam and gas turbines, electric motors, control systems and generators, has selected Eric Mower and Associates, Syracuse, as its worldwide ad agency. Ketchum Advertising is offering a paid sabbatical to employees in its New York office who have completed seven years of service with the agency. KSL Direct, New York, has added four new direct-response clients: Southwestern Bell, Countrywide Home Loans, Optyx 20/20 and Unicare Health Plan. Donaudy Munch Marketing Communications in Hauppauge has won the advertising business of J. D'Addario & Co., a producer of musical instrument strings. The agency will produce the first-ever radio campaign for the Farmingdale-based client. RocketScience Creative¸, based in New York, has picked up two new clients: HomeDelivery.com, an online shopping service, and Sandellas, a chain of restaurants serving pita wraps, soups and salads. RocketScience will also launch a new campaign for Joker cigarette rolling papers. New York-based public relations agency BSMG Worldwide had acquired Brussels shop Adamson Associates, a $3 million agency specializing in public affairs. It will be renamed Adamson BSMG. Spectacolor Communications has built a new, automated version of the Planters sign in New York's Times Square. The 1,132-foot neon display features a 35-foot-tall version of the company's mascot, "Mr. Peanut," standing next to a one-ton can of Planters Deluxe Mixed Nuts. The "can" tips over, showing a variety of mixed nuts, each 18 inches long. Domestic and international entries to the 1999 Andy Awards will be accepted through Friday, Nov. 6. Student entries are due on Dec. 11. For more information, call (212) 553-1570. NEW JERSEY Little Me, New York, and Lea & Perrins, Fair Lawn, have tapped TMP Worldwide Direct in Mt. Olive to develop, implement and manage their direct response and customer care programs. Gilbert Whitney & Johns, Parsippany, has won the President's Award from Minwax, in recognition of the agency's 25 years of service to the client. PENNSYLVANIA McDonald's operator co-ops in Detroit and Philadelphia are offering discounted 15-minute prepaid phone cards from Sprint as promotional inducements to buy Extra Value Meals. The promotion was developed by Arnold Advertising in Wayne, Pa., agency for the two co-ops; Alliance Marketing in Philadelphia brokered the deal with Sprint. The cards carry the national ad theme, "Did somebody say McDonald's?" but the promotion is a local initiative, Arnold said. Lee St. James, executive creative director of Ketchum Advertising, Pittsburgh, won the $100,000 grand prize for the Newspaper Association of America's Athena award. St. James' winning entry, created by copywriter Krystal Falkner and photographer Robert Rostick, was placed by Atlanta's Black Professionals as a criticism of Ebonics. Its headline was, "I has a dream." The group handed out 40 awards last Thursday. Hanson Associates in Philadelphia has created a new logo for Chase Manhattan Bank's Chase Funds family of mutual funds. DMW Worldwide, a new direct-response agency based in Wayne, has been formed following the merger of Wilcox & Associates, The McClure Group and Dimac Direct. The new shop will have offices in Philadelphia, New York, Boston and St. Louis and claim $80 million in revenues from clients such as Microsoft and NationsBank. CONNECTICUT ESPN in Bristol has pulled a TV spot for MET-Rx Engineered Nutrition's muscle-building supplement, androstenedione, in response to complaints from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which bans its athletes from using the supplement. The 30-second spot, created by the Irvine, Calif.-based company's in-house ad department, debuted Sept. 22 on ESPN. The network, however, pulled the spot the next day after receiving the complaint. The spot features former professional bodybuilder Frank Sepe. MET-Rx officials said they were disappointed with the network's decision. A.C. Nielsen in Stamford has boosted its stake in Amer Nielsen Research to 51 percent to 100 percent. Amer Nielsen covers Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian subcontinent. The agency also acquired a 49 percent stake in Amer World Resarch, allowing Nielsen to expand into the Middle East and North Africa. Nielsen also has an option to acquire the remaining 51 percent of Amer World in 2003. Both companies will operate under the A.C. Nielsen name. Newly formed creative boutique Happy Dog in Norwalk has landed its first client, New Haven production company One Black Shoe. Principal and creative director David Grigg said his shop will create print ads and collateral targeting advertising executives. Billings were not disclosed. Visual Concepts Media in Bloomfield has signed contracts to produce the following projects: two commercials for the O'Connor for Congress campaign in Hartford; an introductory audio and video presentation for a new product from Spalding Sports Worldwide, Chicopee, Mass.; pre- and post-production of two award programs for United Technologies Corp., Hartford; Turkish, Hebrew and Arabic translation of a helicopter marketing video for Kaman Aerospace, Bloomfield; production of a volunteer training tape for The Big E, West Springfield, Mass.; and production of a trade show video for AMS Services, Windsor. Earle Palmer Brown-Connecticut, Greenwich, has added several new business- to-business clients: Drake Beam Morin, a Boston-based career consulting firm; Champion International, a paper and wood products manufacturer in Stamford; Tarket Marketing Systems, a software marketer and retail consulting service in Wisconsin; and Beepware Paging Products, a joint venture between Timex and Motorola which markets combination pager watches. CALIFORNIA Goodby Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, launches a branding campaign for Wired Digital's Internet search engine HotBot this weekend. The estimated $10 million campaign includes TV and radio executions and features the tagline, "Search smarter." The work will appear initially in New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Austin, Texas. New Century Financial Corp. has tapped Select Resources International to conduct a search for its first advertising agency, sources said. Sources estimated billings at $3-5 million. The Los Angeles consultancy sent requests for proposals to Los Angeles and San Diego-area shops earlier this month, sources said. The Irvine-based specialty finance company is said to be looking for a shop with brand-building capability. Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners West in San Francisco launches a new $2-3 million national print campaign for Murad, El Segundo, that touts the client's scientific approach to prescribing skin care products. The tagline is, "Developed by a doctor, not a cosmetics company." The ads, KB&P West's first effort for the client, will appear in several women's magazines accompanied by a skin care evaluation form. Bulldog Drummond in Los Angeles captures the style and glamour of 1940s and '50s fashion models in its first campaign for Revlon's Creative Nail Design division. The estimated $2 million consumer effort consists of three full-page print ads. Each features a different model made up in a bright retro look, with long eyelashes, black eyeliner and full lips. The ads all feature the tagline, "Remem- ber you?" and are running in October issues of Vogue, Glamour and other fashion magazines. Lawrence & Mayo, Newport Beach, explores what happens to businesses with untrained employees in its new under $1 million campaign for Santa Ana-based New Horizons Computer Learning Centers. One print ad, which broke earlier this momth in computer and business magazines, shows a piece of paper in a trash can. "If your staff isn't getting the proper training, you might as well throw your software and hardware investments here," the copy reads. The Wedding Channel, Pasadena, has held informal talks with California shops about handling its estimated $1 million account, sources said. The online retailer is looking to launch a national print campaign by the end of this year. Citron Haligman Bedecarrƒ in San Francisco won the estimated $1-2 million account for Revo sunglasses, Sunnyvale, after a review of undisclosed shops. The client is a division of Bausch & Lomb. Hyundai Motor America, Fountain Valley, has started a search to fill two vacant posts: vice president of marketing and vice president of sales, according to Hyundai director of communications Chris Hosford. Vice president of parts Frank Ferrera is currently serving as acting vice president of marketing, and East regional general manager Mike Tocci is acting vice president of sales. ILLINOIS True North Communications in Chicago announced the formation of the New America Strategies Group, an integrated marketing network born from the holding company's multi-ethnic agencies, including Stedman Graham & Partners, Siboney USA, Admerasia, and Skunkworks Marketing Lab. The unit will be led by Alfred Schreiber, managing partner. Ameritech in mid-October launches a TV campaign promoting a new Privacy Manager device that blocks calls from telemarketers. Ammirati Puris Lintas handles creative on Ameritech's $100 million account; Carat/ICG, Chicago, handles media responsibilities. Cash Station, which operates automated teller machines in Chicago, is talking to 12 agencies about an account it values at more than $1 million. Cramer-Krasselt in Chicago was the last agency to handle the account, which has been inactive for several years. Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, Ohio, has hired Burrell Communications in Chicago to handle creative development, media planning and public relations for the company's urban marketing programs. Billings were not disclosed. Temerlin McClain, Dallas, remains Nationwide's primary agency. MINNESOTA Celestial Seasonings this week breaks its first TV spots for the line of herbal supplements it launched earlier this year. The 15-second spots from Campbell Mithun Esty in Minneapolis continue the creative approach used in the Boulder, Colo.-based company's April print ads, coupling New Age proverbs with soothing nature scenes. The estimated $25 million campaign is tagged, "What you do for you." Polaris Industries will hear from six Minneapolis agencies this week about the company's estimated $5 million snowmobile and watercraft advertising account, sources said. The agencies believed to be participating are incumbent Carmichael Lynch; Clarity Coverdale Fury; Colle & McVoy; Kerker Marketing Communications; Martin/Williams; and Peterson Milla Hooks. They will meet officials from with the Plymouth, Minn.-based company later this week before another cut is made, sources said. Company officials declined to comment on participants. MASSACHUSETTS Wickersham Hunt Schwantner, Boston, has crafted a national TV, radio and print campaign for MediaOne, Englewood, Colo., to promote the client's NexTV package of cable programming. Western International Media, New York, is handling placement.Ads use the tagline, "This is broadband. This is the way," from lead agency Margeotes/Fertitta + Partners, New York. Philip Johnson Associates, Cambridge, was hired for creative duties on the estimated $2-3 million ad account of Hyannis, Mass.-based Infinium Software. The shop bested Toth Design & Advertising, Concord, and Gearon Hoffman, Boston, in a review. A print campaign for Swiss Army Brands, by Mullen, Wenham, won best of show honors at the Ad Club of Greater Boston's 38th annual Hatch Awards. Arnold Communications, also in Boston, took home the most prizes with 26, but its much-praised work Volkswagen of America's New Beetle failed to take home the top prize. C and D Communications in Boston has been hired to create a radio, print, billboard and direct marketing push for the Sunrise Hotel and Casino, a 350-room Las Vegas facility set to open in December. The tagline: "It's Vegas. Pure and simple." Billings were estimated at slightly less than $1 million; ads will run mainly in Nevada. Media is handled in-house.

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