Accounts and People of Note in the Advertising Industry
Advertising spending in the United States rose 3.5 percent in the second quarter compared with the same period a year ago, according to a report to be released Monday by the Kantar Media unit of WPP. For the first half, Kantar Media said, American ad spending rose 2 percent from the first half of 2012. The second quarter’s increase represented the sixth quarterly gain in a row, Kantar Media reported; results for the first quarter, which initially showed a decline of 0.1 percent, were subsequently revised to show a gain of 0.3 percent. Media with growth in ad revenue in the second quarter, according to the report, included outdoor, up 7.4 percent; television, up 6.4 percent; and magazines, up 1.6 percent. Media that lost ad revenue in the second quarter included newspapers, down 3.6 percent, and radio, down 2.2 percent.
Wendy Aldrich joined Initiative, part of the IPG Mediabrands unit of the Interpublic Group of Companies, in a new post, as executive vice president and global managing partner, based in the Los Angeles office and responsible for the Amazon account globally. She had most recently been global account director on the Visa account at the Los Angeles office of OMD, part of the Omnicom Media Group unit of the Omnicom Group.
Association of National Advertisers, New York, released a survey showing that more advertisers were using internal agencies for marketing tasks, primarily as a way to reduce costs. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they had internal agencies, compared with 42 percent that said so in a survey in 2008. The percentage of respondents that said they did not have, or never had, internal agencies declined to 32 percent from 50 percent in the survey five years ago.
Blistex Inc., Oak Brook, Ill., selected AFG&, New York â€" an agency formerly known as Avrett Free Ginsberg that is part of the Interpublic Group of Companies â€" as the agency for its lip care and health care brands, which include the Blistex product line, Kanka, Odor-Eaters and Stridex. Spending was estimated at $10 million. The account had previously been handled by ML Rogers, New York.
Jonathan Carson joined Vevo, New York, in a new post, chief revenue officer. He had most recently been chief executive for digital at Nielsen, New York.
Celebrity Cruises, part of Royal Caribbean Cruises, Miami, selected Grand Central Marketing, New York, for a new assignment, to handle its experiential and public relations campaigns. Billings were not disclosed.
Donald Ciaramella, executive vice president for corporate communications at the Lippin Group, was promoted to a new post, president for corporate communications. He will continue to manage the agency’s New York office.
Alan Cohen, United States chief executive at OMD, New York, part of the Omnicom Media Group division of the Omnicom Group, is leaving to start an agency named Giant Spoon, with offices in New York and Los Angeles; the Omnicom Group will be a minority investor. Mr. Cohen is being joined at Giant Spoon by three colleagues: Trevor Guthrie, East Coast director at the Ignition Factory unit of OMD; Jonathan Haber, chief innovation officer at OMD; and Marc Simons, West Coast director at the Ignition Factory. Succeeding Mr. Cohen at OMD will be Monica Karo, who had been United States chief executive at another Omnicom Media Group agency, PHD. Robert Habeck, executive director for global accounts at the Omnicom Media Group, succeeds Ms. Karo at OMD.
Carrie L. Cullen, advertising director at HGTV Magazine, New York, part of the Hearst Magazines division of the Hearst Corporation, was promoted to a new post, associate publisher for advertising.
Joost Dop joined the London office of Project WorldWide in a new post, chief executive for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He had most recently been chief operating officer at Team HSBC, London, the consortium of WPP agencies that work for HSBC.
Pete Favat joined Deutsch L.A. as partner and chief creative officer. He assumes duties from Mark Hunter, chief creative officer, who left in March. Deutsch L.A. is located in the Marina del Rey section of Los Angeles and is part of the Deutsch unit of the Interpublic Group of Companies. Mr. Favat had been chief creative officer for the Boston operations of Arnold Worldwide, part of the Havas Creative division of Havas. At Arnold, Mr. Favat’s duties for Boston are being assumed by Wade Devers and Pete Johnson as creative lead partners. Mr. Devers, executive creative director, is adding the title of creative lead. Mr. Johnson is being promoted to executive creative director and creative lead from senior vice president and group creative director.
