INCUMBENT TBWA CHIAT/DAY DECLINES

TBWA Chiat/Day here will not defend the estimated $12-15 million U.S. account of KPMG Peat Marwick. The agency was hired by the New York-based company in 1993, although the account has been inactive since April 1996, according to the agency. The client is currently conducting a review that includes three New York shops: Bozell Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising and Lowe & Partners/SMS [Adweek, Sept. 8]. George Ledwith, director of corporate communications at KPMG, said the review will proceed with the three shops. JWT KEEPS EXPANDED SPRINT ACCOUNT NEW YORK-J. Walter Thompson here has retained the college marketing program for Sprint, based in Kansas City, Mo. JWT Direct had previously handled both creative duties as well as media planning and buying chores. The client has expanded the mandate from a promotional direct assignment to an integrated branding approach, according to the agency. The expanded account is estimated to bill in excess of $20 million. Other shops competing for the assignment were: Deutsch, Hill, Holliday/Altschiller, Wells BDDP, Lowe & Partners/SMS and Mad Dogs & Englishmen, all in New York. BRANDO TO SPEAK FOR UNITED AIRLINES NEW YORK-Actor Marlon Brando will supply the voiceover for Young & Rubicam's first international spot for United Airlines, slated to break overseas on Oct. 1, sources said. This is the first time Brando, star of such films as On the Waterfront and The Godfather, has ever done a commercial. Neither the Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based client nor the New York-based agency would comment. Joe Pytka is directing the spot, sources said. MESSNER GIVES UP CLUB MED NEW YORK-Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer/Euro RSCG last week resigned its Club Med account. The client spent about $8 million on advertising in 1996 but has only doled out $3 million from January to June of this year. The company said it had not yet determined the future of the account. FORD DELAYS NEW CORPORATE ADS NEW YORK-Ford Motor Co. has delayed the launch of its new corporate ad campaign from October to December or January, said sources. While the proposed theme, "Driven by you," and the print portion of the campaign by Ogilvy & Mather in New York have been approved, Ford has asked the agency to redo some of the proposed TV spots, sources said. David Ropes, Ford's director of corporate advertising and integrated marketing, confirmed the delay but added that "things are going well." Said Ropes: "We've actually expanded the print part of it. We've convinced ourselves and convinced management that we really have such a strong positioning that we really need to make sure that we have all guns blazing, if you will, when we do go to launch." Ogilvy executives declined comment. MERCEDES AVOIDS DIANA COVERAGE WITH AD LAUNCH NEW YORK-Mercedes-Benz of North America has shifted the introduction of its new advertising campaign for its M-Class sports utility vehicle. The effort was slated to debut on Sunday prior to the CBS Emmy Awards. The humorous ads are being rescheduled to run on Tuesday, because Sunday's broadcast of 60 Minutes, which is when the ads were set to break, contains segments that relate to Princess Diana and the Royal Family. Lowe & Partners/SMS here created the campaign. AMMIRATI GETS MORE J&J BUSINESS NEW YORK-Ammirati Puris Lintas here won the creative and media assignment for Johnson & Johnson's o.b. tampons product. Billings are estimated at $10-15 million. The account had been divided between Ammirati, which handled media planning, and Cadwell Davis Partners in New York, which handled creative chores. SWEITZER LEAVES HAL RINEY SAN FRANCISCO-Hal Riney & Partners here is searching for a creative director to replace one of its key talents, Steve Sweitzer, who resigned from the agency last week. Sweitzer plans to relocate to Los Angeles in October "to move back to where I consider home and pursue several freelance opportunities." RONALD ROSENFELD, 65, AGENCY CO-FOUNDER, DIES NEW YORK-A memorial service later this week will pay tribute to Ronald Rosenfeld, who died on Friday as a result of complications from a stroke he suffered six years ago. He was 65. Rosenfeld, co-founder of Rosenfeld, Sirowitz, Humphrey & Strauss, was inducted into the Advertising Copywriters' Hall of Fame at the age of 39. Services will be held at Frank E. Campbell on 81st Street and Madison Avenue in Manhattan at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to either the American Diabetes Foundation or the National Aphasia Association. NEWSWIRE ROUNDUP Levi Strauss & Co.'s estimated $1 million interactive account is in review, following the resignation of the business by Northern Lights Interactive. Agency executives were "fed up" with subsidiaries of parent company True North Communications in Chicago trying to "move in" on the Levi's business, sources said Larry Tolpin, president and chief executive of BBDO South, Atlanta, has been appointed worldwide creative director and chief executive officer of J. Walter Thompson West in San Francisco Joe Grimaldi has been promoted to president of Mullen in Wenham, Mass. He retains the title of chief operating officer. Jim Mullen remains chief executive officer Starbucks Coffee Co. in Seattle has moved its estimated $7-10 million ad account to BBDO West, Los Angeles, after working with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, for two years Nabisco awarded its Grey Poupon account to New York agency Foote, Cone & Belding and its A.1 steak sauces account to McCann-Erickson in New York.

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INCUMBENT TBWA CHIAT/DAY DECLINES

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