News From the Advertising Industry

Accounts

â–  Pizza Hut, Plano, Tex., part of Yum Brands, named the Chicago office of McGarryBowen, New York, part of the Dentsu Network division of Dentsu, as its creative agency. Spending was estimated at $240 million. The assignment had been handled since 2009 by the Martin Agency, Richmond, Va., part of the Interpublic Group of Companies.

â–  Chobani, New Berlin, N.Y., hired Droga5, New York, as its lead creative agency and Weber Shandwick, part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, to handle tasks like public relations. Billings were not disclosed. Boathouse, Boston, had most recently created campaigns for Chobani, which is known for frequently changing creative agencies. FleishmanHillard, part of the Omnicom Group, had been the public relations agency for Chobani yogurt. Chobani is grappling with product problems centered on consumer complaints about mold and containers bloating and swelling; the company voluntarily recalled some yogurt made at its plant in Twin Falls, Idaho.

■ Lowe Campbell Ewald, Warren, Mich., part of the Interpublic Group of Companies, was awarded two creative accounts, from Atkins Nutritionals, Denver, owned by the Roark Capital Group, and the Detroit Lions football team. Atkins had previously worked with Goodness Mfg., Los Angeles, part of Trailer Park; the company has spent about $20 million a year on advertising but could increase its budget. Spending was not disclosed for the assignment from the Lions, which hired the agency for the 2013-14 season. The team has not previously worked with an agency for the tasks that Lowe Campbell Ewald will handle, which include brand strategy and enhancing the experience that fans have at the team’s stadium, Ford Field.

■ Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, known as BNY Mellon, chose TBWA Worldwide, part of the Omnicom Group, to handle its worldwide creative account. Spending was estimated at $30 million. The assignment had previously been handled by another Omnicom agency, Doremus, New York. The account will be run from the TBWA New York office and also use resources from the agency’s London office.

People

â–  Katie Butler joined Eric Mower & Associates as director for EMA Insight, which specializes in search, strategy, planning and analytics. Ms. Butler, who is based in the Mower office in Charlotte, N.C., succeeds Eric Bulger, who left, the agency said, to start a marketing company. Ms. Butler had most recently been executive vice president for creative strategy and planning at JWT/OgilvyAction North America.

Miscellany

■ KSL Media, New York, a media services agency founded in 1981 that had been one of the largest independents in its field, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sept. 11 with the United States bankruptcy court for the central district in California; the agency also has an office in Los Angeles. The petition listed the agency’s liabilities as more than $50 million and its assets as between $10 million and $50 million. Creditors listed in the petition with the most money owed them included the cable channels Comedy Central, ESPN and FX. KSL, which also operated subsidiaries that included TV10’s, specializing in 10-second commercials, worked for marketers like PetSmart; its largest client, Bacardi, which spent more than $130 million a year, left KSL in May for Mindshare, part of the GroupM unit of WPP.

AgencySpy, part of MediaBistro, reported that KSL’s chief executive, Hank Cohen, and president, David Sklaver, had unexpectedly left the agency last month. A reporter who called KSL in New York on Friday reached a recording that said the number “has been disconnected or is no longer in service”; pressing the prompt on the voice mail at the Los Angeles office to reach an operator generated repetitions of the general recording for the office.

■ Carton Donofrio Partners, Baltimore, which was founded in 1964 as Richardson, Myers & Donofrio, said it was making plans to close, affecting 24 employees. In a statement, Ellen R. Moore, chief executive, said that the majority owners of the agency, the Donofrio family, cited changes in the advertising industry as a reason for the decision, along with family health matters; Ms. Moore became chief executive in 2010 when Chuck Donofrio stepped down after given a diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s disease.

â–  Chinn Creative, Laurel, Md., was acquired and absorbed by the Jacob Tyler Creative Group, San Diego. Financial terms were not disclosed. Chinn Creative becomes a Tyler office and Michael Chinn of Chinn Creative becomes managing director. Tyler said it planned to move the office to Washington in 2014.