General Motors Co.’s Cadillac

… has cut the list of semi-finalists vying for the brand’s national creative account in half.

The shops moving to the next round are two Publicis Groupe shops: Bartle Bogle Hegarty, New York, and Publicis, New York; along with Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Martin Agency, Richmond, Va. Eliminated are Omnicom Group’s DDB, Chicago; Interpublic’s Gotham and independent McKinney, Durham, N.C. Cadillac confirmed that list.

The holidays will be a frenetic time for the finalists to put together their presentations, as the marketer has said it will hear pitches in January. A decision is expected soon afterward.

Prior experience
The three finalists have experience dealing with car brands.

Bartle Bogle was a finalist in Audi of America’s review in 2006. The agency’s London office handles Audi in the U.K., which created this TV spot for the Q5 early this year. In the Audi of America review, the agency pitched against incumbent McKinney, which had held the account from 1993 to 2006. The account is now with Venables, Bell & Partners.

Why Digital Agencies Are Indeed Ready to Lead

Over the past 18 months, a great debate has consumed our industry: Are digital agencies poised to sit at the head of the advertising table? Depending on whom you ask and what you read, the answer seems to flip flop

- with a majority of people still having reservations and making claims that digital agencies aren’t ready to lead.

So why does the debate continue? Does offline or online really matter to an oblivious consumer who’s only interested in “no-line” communications? Are we spending too much time focusing on who should lead and not enough asking: What’s next?

Starbucks to Give Free Coffee to Voters

Broke First TV Work From New Agency BBDO on ‘SNL’

By Emily Bryson York

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — Starbucks is giving away free coffee on Election Day to anyone who says they voted — and the chain that famously eschews TV advertising announced the promotion with a quickly assembled 60-second spot that aired during this past weekend’s episode of “Saturday Night Live” featuring GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

Starbucks: Care

The spot comes from Omnicom Group’s BBDO, New York, the marketer’s new agency, and was the brainchild of Chief Creative Officer David Lubars, who presented the idea at the Starbucks leadership conference in New Orleans last week. Agency and marketer worked fast to get the spot on air. The result is sparse: green lettering over a backdrop that appears to be burlap and a piano music soundtrack.

Starbucks spokeswoman Lisa Passe declined to provide an estimate for turnout, adding that consumers shouldn’t expect a hassle for their free java fix. “Voters simply need to cast their votes, and then tell the barista at their local Starbucks,” she said.

The 2004 election brought out an estimated 122 million voters, a number widely expected to be surpassed this year. Darren Tristano, exec VP atTechnomic, estimated that if 150 million people vote, a good turnout for Starbucks would be 1%, or about 1.5 million people. That breaks down to about 136 people per 11,000 Starbucks location in the U.S. Assuming a 30-cent cost on a tall cup of coffee, that’s about $60 per location.

FULL ARTICLE

Pepsi Upends Brands With $1.2 Billion Shake-Up

Arnell Leads Overhaul, Casting Doubt About 50-Year Partner BBDO

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Pepsi’s strategy for regaining share involves three years; $1.2 billion; a complete packaging, merchandising and marketing overhaul of its soft drinks — and a reduced reliance on BBDO, the shop that put it on the map nearly 50 years ago.

FULL ARTICLE

Looking to Hire? Try Wall Street Former Financial-Services Executives Test the Water in Ad-Agency Talent Pool

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — The tumult on Wall Street could send résumés fluttering to an unexpected place: Madison Ave.

FULL ARTICLE

DraftFCB, Two Years After the Merger

This Marriage Was Supposed to Create a Powerhouse Agency. So Where Are the Big Wins?

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — At DraftFCB, there have been layoffs, the loss of the Verizon account to McCann Erickson and internal cultural problems — and that’s just in the New York office. But the agency has also won 250 pieces of business and it continues to grow in revenue. So why doesn’t the industry have a lot of good things to say about the merger, a move to create a one-stop shop offering both direct accountability and solid creative?

FULL ARTICLE

In Shift, Wal-Mart Puts Focus Back on Private-Label Growth Retail Giant Seeks Exec to Oversee Product Development, Downplays Sustainability

BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) — After de-emphasizing private label for more than a year, Wal-Mart Stores is looking to ramp up its program by adding package-goods marketing talent, and the move could present a substantial new challenge to marketers who rely on the world’s biggest retailer as the economy worsens.

FULL ARTICLE

How Dripping Candles Inspired Product Innovation

And Other Reasons to Say ‘Happy Jewish New Year’

The Big Tent

Product development should be mining cultural insights, be they Latino, Asian-American, African American or other. Not only do food products benefit from the incorporation of tastes and ingredients with a culturally specific root, but there are a number of other categories of opportunity including fashion, gift items, educational items, toys and games, and the list goes on.

FULL ARTICLE

Value-Minded Clients Can Be Good for Your Agency Let Them Sweat Small Stuff and Pay You for Big Ideas

Small Agency Diary

It’s budget time. And chances are you’re sitting in the same meetings I am with a client asking you to do more with less. Over the last 60 days, I’ve probably sat in half a dozen of these meetings. You might think that would get moderately depressing, but actually it has been inspiring.

FULL ARTICLE

Credit Crunch Takes Bite Out of McDonald’s

Planned Coffee Rollout Hit by Banking Crisis That Is Restricting Loan Capital

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — The banking crisis is threatening to take a rather surprising hostage: McDonald’s big-budget coffee rollout.

FULL ARTICLE

The Real Reason Why Wieden Quit Starbucks Agency Kept Bumping Up Against a Marketer That Wasn’t Receptive to Its Ideas, Executives Say

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — Last week, reacting to what it saw as Starbucks’ micromanagement, waffling and shift to a jump-ball approach for future ad assignments, Wieden & Kennedy took the unusual step of quitting the business. Executives with knowledge of the situation said Starbucks was simply a very frustrating client for the agency.

FULL ARTICLE

Wrigley Sells Advergaming Site Candystand

New Owner Funtank Will Open up Property to Other Brands

Madison & Vine

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. is selling its successful advergaming website Candystand.com to Funtank, the newly opened branded gaming and entertainment publisher said today.

FULL ARTICLE

Hotel a Little Too Comfortable and Really Not All That Daring Extended Stay and Agency Toy Think They’re Cooking With Gas, but Standing Out in a Crowd Isn’t Always a Good Thing

Garfield’s Ad Review

The headline on the press release says, “Extended Stay Hotels Pushes the Boundaries With Witty New Television Campaign.” Yeah, not really.

FULL ARTICLE

‘Mad Men’ Still the Reality for Agency World

Society Has Changed. Entertainment Has Changed. Clients Have Changed. What About Us?

The Big Tent

When I was on the board of the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors in the late ’80s, the entertainment industry would assert that prepared Latino talent either didn’t exist or simply could not be found. The entertainment industry has made progress. Sadly, the advertising industry has not followed suit.

FULL ARTICLE

Can We Write in Dan Wieden? Is the Candidate That’s Good for Us Good for Our Business?

Small Agency Diary

I’ve been somewhat ambiguous about media consolidation, especially in radio. That said, I am a big proponent of improving the quality and diversity of what happens in the industry both on the air and on the ground.

FULL ARTICLE

What Agency Creatives Don’t Know About Mobile Advertising

A 3 Minute Ad Age Video Report

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Do the creatives at your ad agency really understand mobile-phone advertising? While all emerging digital media have their complexities, mobile-phone communications can be unusually complicated because of the tangle of incompatible device sizes, proprietary standards and lengthy procedural requirements of all the different carriers. At the same time, the internal logistics of some agencies may effectively prevent creatives from acquiring the most basic materials and information needed to produce effective mobile ad campaigns.

FULL ARTICLE

It’s Time for Brands to Embrace Text Messaging It Can Provide a Direct Route to the Urban Market

The Big Tent

I want this post to inspire you about the power of text messaging as a way to reach your urban audience.

FULL ARTICLE