Specs Who Kerry Fitzmaurice New gig CMO, kbs+ Old gig Director of new business and communications, Mother Age 44 Your stint at Mother was pretty quick? I was there 14 months. Why move so quickly? I had such an amazing experience at Mother. I have a lot of love for the founding partners— they’re really wonderful, smart, creative people.
You’ve probably heard a lot about California Chrome, the thoroughbred vying for the Triple Crown this weekend. But there’s a behind-the-scenes story involving the equine that makes for a marketing trifecta.
Space, the final frontier … for marketers? Illustration: Lincoln Agnew Mass media and space travel have always been entwined, the former promoting and propelling the latter since America’s epic push five decades ago to land on the moon before Communist cosmonauts planted the hammer and sickle on its cratered surface. In the late 1950s and ’60s, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s publicity machine piloted the first space age into every conceivable cranny of the nation’s collective consciousness.
Review-happy Nestlé is looking for an agency to launch a new corporate image effort, even as it seeks to shrink its digital agency roster. The corporate image assignment is for the U.S. and centers around four brands: Gerber baby food, Pure Life water, Outshine frozen fruit bars and Nesquik drinks, sources said. In short, Nestlé wants to be known less for its chocolates and more for its healthier foods and beverages. A request for proposals is circulating among a handful of shops, a company representative confirmed. Media spending on the assignment is estimated at $25 million.
It seems inevitable that ad agencies will someday run out of innovative ways to launch new smartphones. But today is not that day. Droga5 created a charmingly whimsical 60-second spot for this month's reveal of Motorola's Moto E, an entry-level smartphone that's light on cutting-edge features but attractively sticker priced at $130.
The makers of "Lord of Tears," a well-reviewed Scottish indie chiller, definitely ruffled some feathers with a pair of pranks that brought the film's evil "Owlman" into real life. In the first and less elaborate stunt, Owlman popped up on Chatroulette, where he set some teeth chattering with fear, though most users just seemed amused. (By Chatroulette standards, he's actually not so bad.) More recently, though, the beaked beastie nested in an an abandoned children's hospital that's reportedly a favorite haunt of sightseers and photographers.
At the moment, you may not know who or what Quirky is—but you will soon. Founded in 2009 by Ben Kaufman, Quirky is a company that helps bring people's inventions to life. To date, the company has grown to more than 200 employees—with offices in New York and Hong Kong—and pushed over 200 products to market that can be found in brick and mortar shops such as Best Buy, Home Depot and Williams and Sonoma, according to Bret Kovacs, Quirky's head of community. "We've grown organically the last few years," Kovacs said.
Shakira, whose last World Cup theme song practically conquered the planet, is back and hoping to dominate again as the games shift closer to home. The Colombian singer, responsible for 2010's astoundingly popular tournament track "Waka Waka," has now teamed up with yogurt brand Activia to deliver "La La La" in celebration of this year's World Cup in Brazil. The song is also a benefit for the UN's anti-hunger group, the World Food Programme.
From the horror of domestic violence to uplifting scenes of domestic bliss, this week's best ads show very different sides of life and the human condition. Adidas's most famous Argentinian brand endorser has a dream befitting his severe case of World Cup fever; Coca-Cola sweetens our day with a spot bubbling over with joy; and Apple shows us beautifully how its iPad can help foster the creative instinct.
We've been had. It turns out that one man's heroic billboard crusade to prevent celebrity divorce was actually a hoax by WEtv to advertise its new show Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars. We caught up with WEtv President Marc Juris to find out how he hit the zeitgeist and tricked media outlets across the nation: AdFreak: Is there a real J. Robert Butler? Mark Juris: You're speaking to him.
