Wow, that was quick. This blog thing is fantastic – it keeps agencies and, most importantly, clients honest about what they are doing in the otherwise shady world of advertising by way of concerned commenters and e-mail tipsters. Just a few hours after posting about Cliff Freeman trolling for new brand business, the word on what Cliff Freeman is on about is officially published:
Senor Freeman and agency are on the hunt for Dr Pepper (and probably Sunkist, 7UP and maybe even A&W) as additions to the agency roster.
The initial challenge is Dr Pepper, with Cliff Freeman in a four-way scramble for the business against incumbent Y&R, Droga5 and – how do they belong – Deutsch LA. That is going to be a doozy…and not only because Y&R is unlikely to retain the business considering that WPP cousin Mediaedge was just shown the door and WPP-owned interactive agency VML is on thin ice…oh, and that Y&R’s work was only so-so. Good times at Cadbury Schweppes. Better times at Y&R.
I guess that is what a re-org (and a bunch of client-side douchebags) will do to agency relationships.
That, and a senior management team spearheaded by people who think that it’s okay to pitch agencies against each other anonymously (a tipster tells us the Y&R only found out about the four-way fight for Dr Pepper after this Ad week article. Ouch.)
The unverified word is that Dr Pepper has a new insight that it has briefed the agencies on, and the agency that comes up with the best way to activate it “holistically” will win the business. No telling so far what that super-awesome and totally compelling insight is but, considering that Dr Pepper is a mere soda brand, this blog’s bet is that the insight is not quite as powerful as the Brand Manager bucking for promotion might think that it is.
Not that it matters – the Brand Manager will be moved to a new brand in two months anyway, so what do they care? They have made their short-term mark and notched a reason for promotion into their belt. Woohoo!
Damn it feels good to work at an agency.
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schweppervescent ad refreshes « the daily (ad) biz // March 5, 2008 at 9:20 am |
[...] burst commercial, schweppes schweppervescent ad, y&r With the news that the Dr Pepper account is up for grabs, it seemed like a good time to focus on [...]