Accounts and People of Note in the Advertising Industry
American Express is teaming with Vanity Fair magazine and Condé Nast Entertainment for “The Decades Series,†a collection of video clips that will commemorate the 100th anniversary of Vanity Fair, which Condé Nast has published from 1913 to 1936 and again from 1983 onward. Each video will be devoted to a decade of the last 100 years and be created by filmmakers who include Judd Apatow (the 1990s), Don Cheadle (the 1980s), Bryce Dallas Howard (the 1960s) and Barbara Kopple (the 1930s). The video series will be available for viewing on a Vanity Fair Web site, the Vanity Fair YouTube channel and on a new American Express interactive brand channel, Amex Now.
The Big Ad Gig, a contest that awards 30-day paid internships to young would-be copywriters and art directors, is changing its format for its fifth annual competition, to be held on Sept. 25 during Advertising Week in New York. The changes involve simulating the time pressures of the advertising business by asking those who would like to be selected as contestants to submit entries in the form of videos within 60 minutes. There will be eight finalist contestants competing on Sept. 25 for six internships. More information can be found on a Web site.
Thomas Butta joined AppNexus, New York, in a new post, chief marketing officer. He had most recently been chief executive of a business-to-business consultancy that he founded, 21Weeks, and before that worked as chief marketing officer at companies that included Red Hat.
Colle & McVoy, Minneapolis, part of MDC Partners, hired four employees for its digital creative department. They are: Liz Holzemer, senior interactive producer; Michelle Moore, interactive producer; Marc Stephens, digital creative director; and Nate Warfield, senior creative developer.
Pierre Conte joined GroupM France, part of the GroupM unit of WPP, as chief executive. He assumes duties from Bruno Kemoun and Eryck Rebbouh, who are to become consultants to GroupM. Mr. Conte had most recently been chief executive at Figaro Media and Figaro Classifieds and director for Madame Figaro, responsible for advertising sales at Groupe Figaro, part of Groupe Dassault.
DFS Group, Hong Kong, the luxury travel retail chain that is part of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, named Profero, New York, as its global digital agency of record, a new assignment. Billings were not disclosed.
Doug Dome joined All Terrain, Chicago, in a new post, president. He had most recently been president of Dome Consulting and has also worked for agencies like Dome Communications, Dome HK, Carmichael Lynch Spong and Foote Cone & Belding.
Toto Ellis joined the new London office of Droga5 as head of strategy. He had most recently been head of strategy at TBWA London, part of the TBWA Worldwide division of the Omnicom Group.
Espalhe, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which specializes in digital and social media marketing, sold a majority stake to the Publicis Groupe, Paris. Financial terms were not disclosed. Espalhe will operate under its current management and be renamed the Espalhe MSLGroup, becoming part of the MSLGroup division of the Publicis Groupe.
Neil James joined Solve, Minneapolis, as a digital strategist. He had been a digital strategist at Russell Herder, Minneapolis.
Scott Kronick, president at Ogilvy Public Relations, North Asia, part of the Ogilvy Public Relations unit of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide, was named president and chief executive at Ogilvy Public Relations, Asia-Pacific. He succeeds Steve Dahllof, who will retire, the agency said, at the end of the year. Mr. Kronick, who will continue to be based in Beijing, is to assume Mr. Dahllof’s duties on Jan. 1, 2014.
Jack Link’s beef jerky, sold by Link Snacks, Minong, Wis., named Space150, Minneapolis, its digital agency of record, handling online, mobile, social media, content creation and e-mail marketing. Billings were not disclosed. The account had been handled by Atomic Playpen, Minneapolis.
Martin/Williams Advertising, Minneapolis, part of the Martin/Williams division of the Omnicom Group, hired five employees. They are: Kathleen Heist, engagement analyst; Carmen Nesenson, interaction planner; Michael Smith, media analyst; Bryce Wandling, motion design editor; and Laura Wiering, account manager.
McDonald’s Boston Region restaurants awarded their local marketing account to H&L Partners, San Francisco, formerly Hoffman Lewis, which will open an office in Boston to handle the assignment. Billings were not disclosed. The account â€" for almost 600 stores from Maine to Connecticut and also the Albany area -- had previously been handled by Arnold Worldwide, Boston, part of the Havas Creative division of Havas. H&L Partners also creates campaigns for McDonald’s restaurants in Northern California and St. Louis.
Courtney Mullen joined LevLane, Philadelphia, in a new post, digital media supervisor. She had been a search manager at the Philadelphia office of Razorfish, part of the Publicis Groupe.
