Not often considered a leading American sport, soccer now trumps Nascar in terms of popularity among Americans—with 22 times the number of people watching online, according to advertising intelligence and research firm Exponential.
You can always count on McDonald's for more modest World Cup advertising—simple stories about family and friends, not flashy spots with overpaid stars. Some of it can be hokey, though sometimes it captures little truths that are quietly sweet and evocative. This spot from multicultural agency Alma zeroes in on a great cultural insight in the Mexican-American community: what happens when a father and his friends still unequivocally support Mexico, while the son, as secretly as he can, roots for the U.S.
Jacki Kelley is heading back to the sell side of media. Kelley, the former North American CEO of IPG Mediabrands, a group that includes media buying agencies like UM and Initiative, has become chief operating officer for media at Bloomberg Media. In her new job, she'll sell media across all platforms and report to Bloomberg Media CEO Justin Smith. She starts Sept. 1. Kelley was also president of global clients at IPG Mediabrands.
From surfing the Pacific to hugging lions in South Africa, GoPro has built its brand around being a lens into parts of the world many of us will never see. But for this newest ad, the camera's crew got to experience their subject in a way even more personal than before. "Brasil - For The Love" is a refreshing break from the seemingly endless parade of big-budget, star-studded, competitively fueled World Cup ads we've seen in recent weeks.
Cigna has found a new lead creative agency. Succeeding Hill Holliday on the assignment is Interpublic Group's McCann Erickson in New York, according to sources. Cigna's U.S. media spending hovers around $35 million a year. McCann beat two other contenders, which sources previously identified as the New York offices of DDB and Grey. Grey, however, was cut last month.
Miami stumbled in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, but a Native American tribe turned up the heat. The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation of California ran a 60-second spot protesting the Washington Redskins nickname during Tuesday's game—a cutdown of the two-minute version below, which broke online just before the Super Bowl. In the spot, "Proud to Be," a narrator lists many of the ways Native Americans describe themselves. These include "proud," "forgotten," "Indian," "indomitable," "survivor" and "patriot." In the end, we're told, "Native Americans call themselves many things.
Horizon Media has reached inside Mindshare to find a leader for its multicultural efforts. Karina Dobarro, who was managing director of multicultural marketing at Mindshare, has assumed a similar role at Horizon: md of director of multicultural brand strategy. Dobarro will work across the agency's brand teams and report to Stan Fields, a managing partner at Horizon. The position is new. "Historically, we have embedded our Hispanic and multicultural practice within the brand teams on each of the accounts that we handle," Fields said.
Fans of Pretty Little Liars should be stoked right about now: Hours ago, the ABC Family show got renewed for a sixth and seventh season, and the Season 5 premiere is tonight.
How far are people willing to go, physically and emotionally, to get a free sample? Australian agency Clemenger BBDO continues its quest to find out by making consumers work hard (and sometimes look a bit foolish) for free Fantastic Delites rice snacks. Shoppers were asked to queue up for ridiculously long periods of time, even when there was no one standing ahead of them, to get a bag of Fantastic Delites Curls.
Seattle agency Creature found its new president in City Hall. James Keblas previously was director of Seattle's Office of Film + Music, which worked with Creature on the office's "Commercialize Seattle" campaign last year. Keblas spent nine years at the office before losing his job in February, thereby opening the door to joining Creature. This is his first agency job.
