Marketplace Roundup
In N.Y., Holly Sanders reported MillerCoors has "tapped ad giant Interpublic to create a new unit, MC Media in Chicago, to handle the brewer's ad buying and planning duties." A "trio of Interpublic shops -- media-buyer Initiative, ad agency DraftFCB and outdoor firm Kinetic -- will pitch in to form the dedicated division, with an estimated $400[M] in annual billings" (N.Y. POST, 11/22). Meanwhile, HISPANIC MARKET WEEKLY reports MillerCoors has given San Antonio-based Bromley Communications "all of its Hispanic media planning and buying duties." Miller's Hispanic media buying and planning had been handled by Starcom MediaVest's Chicago-based Tapestry unit for "more than a decade" (HISPANICMARKETWEEKLY.com, 11/25).
CHANGING TAPS: In Chicago, Lewis Lazare reported employees at DDB, Chicago, who handle marketing duties for Anheuser-Busch's Bud Light and Budweiser brands, are "waiting to see how InBev's $52[B] acquisition of A-B plays out from a marketing perspective." Lazare noted A-B VP/Global Media & Sports Marketing Tony Ponturo, who last week announced he will retire at the end of the year, "may not be the last of A-B's top marketing executives to up and retire -- or more aptly move on -- in the wake of InBev taking control." Lazare: "The big question, of course, remains: What happens to DDB and its sizable A-B business, if all or most of the agency's key marketing contacts at the brewery wind up walking sooner rather than later" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 11/24).
BACK TO BASICS: BRANDWEEK's Todd Wasserman reported adidas is "giving its lifestyle brand, Originals, its first U.S. TV advertising ever." An ad via Sid Lee, Montreal, debuted this week featuring MLS Galaxy MF David Beckham and Celtics F Kevin Garnett, along with musicians Katy Perry and Method Man. There are "no spoken words in the ad, which runs as long as 120 seconds, though the TV versions run in 30- and 60-second versions." adidas Dir of U.S. Marketing Simon Atkins said that the brand is getting its first spots "because it's adidas' 60th anniversary and 'we're at a point where it was the right time to reintroduce it and raise the volume'" (BRANDWEEK.com, 11/24).
NAMES & FACES: In S.F., Matier & Ross reported former MLBer Barry Bonds has become a spokesperson for Christensen Arms, a "munitions company that specializes in high-powered hunting rifles." In a "seven-minute info-video" for the company, Bonds is shown "hunting down a whitetail deer in an alfalfa field" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 11/23)....Longines has named int'l tennis HOFer Steffi Graf as its "new 'ambassador of elegance,' a move that will have two major tennis stars -- Graf and husband, Andre Agassi -- promoting the Swiss watch brand" (NATIONALJEWELERNETWORK.com, 11/20).
|
