16762: Omnicom Puts The Con In Consolidation.

 

Campaign reported Omnicom—like other White holding companies—consolidated creative White advertising agencies under a single banner: in this case, Omnicom Advertising Group. Gee, there’s a name that screams creativity.

 

The maneuver is not surprising, as Omnicom has coordinated the consolidation and commoditization of creative services for decades. The White holding company mastered Corporate Cultural Collusion, serving a buffet of White advertising agencies to clients, often avoiding a competitive pitch. Why, Goodby Silverstein & Partners was once presented as interchangeable with Fathom Communications. The fact that Zimmerman Advertising is part of the mashup says it all.

 

In recent years, Omnicom even proceeded to consolidate office spaces.

 

Finally, Pioneer of Diversity John Wren tapped former TBWA Worldwide CEO Troy Ruhanen to serve as OAG CEO, completing the Caucasian cronyism consolidation.

 

Omnicom consolidates creative agencies globally under Omnicom Advertising Group

 

EXCLUSIVE: Led by former TBWA Worldwide CEO Troy Ruhanen, OAG aims to scale innovation and knowledge sharing across the holding company’s creative networks.

 

Omnicom on Tuesday (27 August) unveiled the Omnicom Advertising Group (OAG), a new structure that aligns its creative agencies globally under one leadership team.

 

Troy Ruhanen, formerly CEO of TBWA Worldwide, will lead OAG as CEO. Deepthi Prakash, international president and chief product officer of TBWA Worldwide, is promoted to COO of OAG, and Denis Streiff, CFO of TBWA Worldwide, is promoted to global CFO OAG.

 

OAG will oversee Omnicom creative networks including BBDO, TBWA, DDB and The Collective, which includes Goodby Silverstein & Partners, GSD&M, Merkley & Partners and Zimmerman.

 

In addition to TBWA US CEO Erin Riley, who is promoted to fill Ruhanen’s post as TBWA Worldwide CEO, Omnicom global creative agency leaders will report to OAG leadership.

 

This includes BBDO’s recently-promoted global CEO Nancy Reyes, DDB global CEO Alex Lubar and The Collective CEO James Fenton.

 

The new structure will take effect on January 1.

 

According to Ruhanen, OAG aims to bolster Omnicom’s agency brands while scaling access to tools, technology and talent that sits around the network globally.

 

“We know that certain talent are attracted to certain agency cultures, and our clients prefer to have lots of choices rather than just the one solution on offer. So, it’s really important that the agency brands are strong,” he said. “But we have the ability to use scale to our advantage.”

 

With the new structure, OAG leadership will be able to more easily identify and scale existing solutions, platforms or investments across its creative agencies and clients globally. For instance, if a team in Finland or South Africa has developed a cutting-edge platform or way of working, OAG can bring that to clients and teams around the world.

 

“There are a lot of innovations that bubble up in markets that you wouldn’t expect,” Ruhanen said. “It’s a matter of being able to identify those innovations and say, ‘OK, we really think that this is something that’s quite cutting-edge. Let’s move that around the world. Let’s start to educate people about this way of working.’”

 

OAG is a response to AI and digital transformation that has reshaped the creative industry and competitive landscape. Particularly for creative agencies, scaled access to investments in generative AI, data and other technologies is becoming a competitive advantage.

 

“It’s probably more relevant than ever to be able to benefit from our scale,” Ruhanen said.

 

Additionally, as clients seek more integrated and tailored solutions from agencies, OAG will help facilitate access to talent and teams across the network, while simultaneously providing talent with mobility across different agencies and client teams.

 

“In the past, a lot of us tended to hold on to the [talent] that we have because we were fighting for our personal brand success,” Ruhanen said. “How do we really look at getting the best talent for our clients, the best solution and collaborating together?” He pointed to his nearly nine years at BBDO and Reyes’ recent move from TBWA to BBDO as examples of Omnicom’s track record with talent mobility.

 

Omnicom does not plan to merge or sunset any agencies as part of the new structure, and will pitch solutions as OAG or as individual agencies, depending on the client’s needs. “We have far greater flexibility to be able to meet the needs of the client,” Ruhanen said.

 

The model follows a structure Omnicom has implemented in other disciplines, including Omnicom Media Group, Omnicom PR Group and Omnicom Health Group.

 

“The [creative] agency world really is—I wouldn’t say it’s the last area—but it’s close to being that,” Ruhanen said, adding that Omnicom’s creative agencies have already started to work this way behind the scenes.

 

While OAG will add leaders in specialist areas in the months to come, the intention is not to build a “holding company within a holding company,” Ruhanen said.

 

He added that he will judge his own and the group’s success by each of the individual agencies' success, and that as competitors merge agency brands and allow them to fade to the background, maintaining strong brands and cultures is a competitive advantage.

 

“This doesn’t come at the sacrifice of the agency brands,” he said. “It’s there to help them.”

14824: Thank God It’s Fitness Friday With Jordan Zimmerman. Not.

The ever-narcissistic Jordan Zimmerman inflates his over-pumped ego with Fitness Friday—coming off like a bizarro cross between Richard Simmons and Hans & Franz. Clearly, Zimmerman hasn’t found a camera angle he doesn’t love. Gotta wonder what the staff at his White advertising agency looks like. There must be a ton of body shaming directed at anyone not meeting Zimmerman’s standard of flexcellence.

14345: Pity Shitty Quitty.

Adweek reported CP+B announced it will quit submitting work for award shows.

Whoop-dee-damn-doo.

While the reasons behind the move are slightly different than those given by Publicis Groupe when it executed a one-year awards ban, the net sentiment is basically the same. Indeed, it’s a sentiment shared by WPP as it strong-armed the downsizing of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. In short, award shows aren’t worth the price of submission. Especially when holding companies are squeezing agencies, demanding greater fiscal responsibility and accountability—which is how the bean counters describe the imperative to be cheaper.

Although CP+B denies the action is tied to MDC Partners’ financial woes, Chief Creative Engineer Alex Bogusky has stressed the need for leanness and agility. Plus, he shuttered a redundant office and dumped ping-pong tables. No word if there are plans to melt down the trophies and baubles collected over the years and sell the remains to a scrap metal yard.

Besides, as the Publicis Groupe maneuver showed, banning entries doesn’t necessarily eliminate victories. At this point, the clients have grown addicted to awards too, and they’re willing to foot the bill—especially in scenarios that involve traveling to plush resorts and partying in fancy clubs.

The other reality to consider is that CP+B is no longer an award-winning shop. So giving up awards is not exactly a hardship or amazing feat. It’s interesting that Zimmerman Advertising was quick to declare that they have rejected award shows forever. Of course, Zimmerman has never produced award-caliber campaigns. Founder Jordan Zimmerman seems content to display his ripped abs and multi-million-dollar yacht.

But it all demonstrates how holding companies have orchestrated a commoditization of creativity. That is, just as Goodby Silverstein + Partners is equal to Fathom Communications, there’s not much contrast between places like CP+B and Zimmerman Advertising. In fact, Zimmerman has better abs than Bogusky. No contest.

Additionally, CP+B criticized “employing focus groups of middle-aged creative directors” to define what’s good and bad. Nice to know the agency hasn’t lost its cultural cluelessness in this time when ageism has emerged as a sore subject. And kudos to Bogusky for fabricating a PR stunt that allows him to avoid discussing sexual harassment while his agency is embroiled in a scandalous lawsuit.

If the entire industry completely eradicated awards, we might actually realize benefits. For starters, White women could stop protesting over being excluded from juries. Employment decisions wouldn’t be tied to a candidate’s trophy case, ultimately improving hiring practices. And egos would diminish, perhaps making Chief Creative Officers less offensive. Zimmerman, however, would still be an obnoxious narcissist.

14251: Papa John’s AOR WTF.

Adweek reported Papa John’s hired a fresh AOR—Endeavor Global Marketing —which has never served as an AOR. Oddly enough, the new shop is still probably an improvement over Laundry Service and Zimmerman Advertising. According to Adweek, the AOR selection—which did not involve former Chairman John Schnatter—came after a less-than-one-month-long pitch between three agencies. It’s likely that the average Papa John’s employee spends more time cooking a pizza than the competing firms spent cooking up presentation concepts. Oddly enough, the new campaign is still probably going to be an improvement over Schnatter shilling.

Embattled Papa John’s Hires Endeavor Global Marketing as Its New Agency of Record

New group CMO Bozoma Saint John led the effort

By Patrick Coffee

Pizza chain Papa John’s has turned to another ad agency to help the company move through its ongoing identity crisis.

The brand chose Endeavor Global Marketing, the creative division of the Endeavor “holding group” formed by Ari Emanuel’s media conglomerate WME | IMG late last year. That group also includes both WME and IMG along with such disparate entities as UFC, The Miss Universe Organization and Droga5 (in which it holds a minority stake).

Bozoma Saint John, who joined the umbrella organization as CMO earlier this summer after a year at Uber and officially started work this week, led the final pitch along with EGM president Ed Horne, evp Seth Matlins and executive creative director Ryan Wagman. The review launched less than one month ago, with EGM beating out two other unnamed agencies.

WME co-president and former ESPN executive Mark Shapiro has been a member of Papa John’s board of directors since 2011.

The company’s search for an AOR started after Adweek reported on a round of layoffs at Laundry Service, which won the account late last year. The following day, Forbes reported that company founder and chairman John Schnatter had used the N-word on a May media training call that also included unnamed agency employees. Schnatter later acknowledged using the word, but claimed it was taken out of context.

Forbes then published a longer story regarding the company’s “toxic culture” as Schnatter accused Laundry Service of “pressuring” him to use the word and later attempting to “extort” Papa John’s for $6 million. An internal memo from Laundry Service described those claims as “completely false.“

Now, Saint John said the brand must act quickly to redefine itself.

“This is a really pivotal moment not just for Papa John’s, but for all corporate businesses and all brands that service a larger group of people,” Saint John told Adweek. “Our culture has become even more sensitive to anything we feel is outside of our moral compass, and as a brand we acknowledge that.”

While EGM currently handles a variety of projects for clients such as Visa and T-Mobile, this news marks the first time it has been named creative AOR on a major brand. Saint John described the relationship as “more all-encompassing,” stating that the resulting work will “run the gamut” from traditional advertising to social media, public relations and “cultural help.”

Endeavor will begin working across all of Papa John’s channels immediately, with a full campaign set to debut in the fall.

“This isn’t an apology ad campaign,” she said. “It has to be cultural and deeply moving … the 120,000 employees of Papa John’s are not defined by one individual. How can we as EGM not just create a new narrative based on a value proposition, but convey what is truly inside Papa John’s?”

CEO Steve Ritchie acknowledged in a statement that the brand looks to reintroduce itself to the public.

“We met with the Endeavor Global Marketing team, led by Bozoma Saint John, Ed Horne and Seth Matlins, and they blew us away with their perspective, experience and creativity,” Ritchie said. “The brand is at a pivotal moment. We need to earn back the trust of the consumer and we need to demonstrate our commitment to being inclusive. We believe Endeavor Global Marketing is the right team to help us do that.”

A Papa John’s representative declined to elaborate beyond Ritchie’s quote, and neither the client nor its new agency named the other two shops involved in the review.

According to two parties with direct knowledge of the matter, executives at former AOR Grey recently reached out to Papa John’s regarding the possibility of resuming work on the brand. At least one member of the company’s board then reportedly attended a meeting in the agency’s New York headquarters last week.

A Grey spokesperson declined to comment.

Schnatter, who was not involved in the review process, has launched a legal campaign against the company he founded in 1984. Last week he filed a complaint alleging the board had not provided documents related to his resignation, which he previously called “a mistake.”

The Forbes story claimed that he hired a separate agency to make new ads starring himself after former CMO Brandon Rhoten was reportedly pushed out of the company when he suggested it move away from marketing campaigns featuring Schnatter.

A spokesperson for Publicis Groupe’s Fallon, which resigned the business after approximately one month along with Initiative and Olson Engage, said that the agency’s work was product-based and did not include any ads starring the founder. Those ads, if they do exist, have yet to run.

The board of directors also brought on Powell Tate, a public affairs division of IPG PR firm Weber Shandwick, earlier this summer.

“Powell Tate is working closely with a team of advisers, including Akin Gump, who are assisting Papa John’s as it takes the necessary steps to address the issues raised by recent events and move the company in a positive direction,” said the firm’s svp of business development Ellen DeMunter. “We are providing counsel and support to Papa John’s senior management to help them deliver on their commitment to take deliberate and meaningful action to improve its corporate culture.”

“With these types of things, you need to react quickly because the audience and the consumer needs to know where you stand,” said Saint John. “You can’t let this linger.”

Kantar Media’s latest numbers have Papa John’s spending more than $136 million on paid media in the U.S. in 2017 and $32.5 million during the first quarter of 2018.

14250: Apocalypse Wow.

Adweek published a lengthy report on Papa John’s, revealing former Chairman John Schnatter tapped Zimmerman Advertising and its Founder and Chairman Jordan Zimmerman earlier this year for direction on: 1) how to handle charges of racism on social media and; 2) how to convince Papa John’s executives to let Schnatter keep serving as the brand mascot. These revelations indicate Schnatter might be insane, at least by the standard often attributed to Albert Einstein that reads, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”

First, as previously stated here, receiving advice on culturally competent communication from an advertising-media agency is like seeking unconscious bias training from the Ku Klux Klan. Schnatter has reportedly sought such guidance from Zimmerman and Laundry Service, and the latter helped ignite the N-word scandal that’s now plaguing the pizza company. Insanity and ignorance make for a toxic cocktail.

Second, Schnatter’s desire to remain the pizza face of Papa John’s displays the narcissistic and egomaniacal tendencies common in owners of local used car dealerships who insist on casting themselves and their spouses in campaigns. Insanity, ignorance, narcissism and egomania make for a potent poison.

Third, partnering with Zimmerman shows Schnatter is a mediocre moron. Plus, Adweek reported Schnatter and Zimmerman are old pals—which is not surprising—further indicating Schnatter resorts to cronyism. Insanity, ignorance, narcissism, egomania, mediocrity and cronyism make for a fatal concoction.

It’s only a matter of time before the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse make an appearance.

13766: Mickey D’s Magnificent Seven.

Advertising Age reported Mickey D’s has reduced its roster of local advertising agencies from about 60 to a mere seven. Four of the finalists are White advertising agencies that have already been servicing the fast feeder, and at least one shop in the quartet boasts multicultural capabilities. The three newcomers offer a host of questionable skills, with Doner featuring a multicultural division, Lopez Negrete being a Latino agency and the ever-awful Zimmerman being a sister agency of We Are Unlimited—as well as a resident in the Omnicom stable of jackasses. Mickey D’s Founder Ray Kroc insisted, “We have an obligation to give something back to the community that gives so much to us.” Okay, but the Magnificent Seven hardly reflect the communities that the burger joint serves.

Seven Agency Groups Make the Cut for McDonald’s Local Advertising

By Jessica Wohl

McDonald’s and its franchisees have picked seven agency groups to handle local advertising for the chain across the United States, Ad Age has learned.

Previously, about 60 agencies handled local advertising for nearly 200 cooperative groups across the country. Now it appears that just seven agencies will handle the load going forward. They’ll be working with a smaller number of co-ops, perhaps fewer than 100, as McDonald’s adjusts the composition of its regional groups nationwide.

According to multiple sources familiar with the pitch process, McDonald’s appears to have selected seven groups to be certified as agencies that can work with the co-ops. Bernstein-Rein and Fahlgren, which each worked with McDonald’s co-ops in the past, are collaborating as a team. So are two other incumbents, Moroch and Stern. Davis Elen and H&L are two other incumbents that have been selected, sources said. And it appears three newcomers are set to join the roster: Doner, Lopez Negrete and Zimmerman.

McDonald’s declined to comment. The agencies involved either declined to comment or could not be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, dozens of agencies that have had relationships with McDonald’s co-ops are going to soon lose that business. The media side of those local accounts, which was often handled by the local agencies, has already been moved to Omnicom’s OMD. Omnicom is also home to McDonald’s national creative agency, We Are Unlimited, which was formed after a separate pitch process last year.

The pitch process is still ongoing for the certified agency groups, which must now present to co-ops to try to win their business.

11955: Whites Storming The Castle.

Advertising Age reported White Castle is placing its account in review, and incumbent Zimmerman from Omnicom will compete to hold the business. Should be a fierce showdown between Zimmerman and Fathom Communications—like watching Curly and Shemp battle for the role of the third stooge.

White Castle Begins Agency Review

Omnicom’s Zimmerman Has Handled Account Since 2009

By Malika Toure

Burger chain White Castle is conducting an agency review, the company confirmed Friday.

The incumbent, Omnicom’s Zimmerman, has led the fast-food brand’s creative and media efforts since 2009. Prior to that, JWT spent 15 years as White Castle’s agency of record.

“We always look at all of our partners on a regular basis, every five to seven years,” said Kim Bartley, White Castle VP-marketing and menu development. The marketer issued a request for proposals to agencies in June and has seven shops in the running, she said. It plans to make a decision by October.

“Zimmerman is one of the agencies being considered,” she added. “It’s a very good partner.”

Zimmerman called the review normal procedure for White Castle. “We’re very proud of the work our companies have done together,” a Zimmerman spokesman said in a statement, “and we’re happy to go in and present additional work, confident that our successful partnership will continue.”

White Castle spent more than $9 million in measured media in 2013, according to Kantar Media. The company has no plans to increase its ad spend in the short term, according to Ms. Bartley. “But we’re long-range planners,” she said. “This year, we are 93 years old.”

The review comes five months after Zimmerman lost the much larger Papa John’s business to Grey.

Part of the criteria will be plans to broaden White Castle’s appeal and contemporize the brand, Ms. Barley said. “It’s about showing business acumen, combining traditional and digital,” she said.

Rojek Consulting Group is assisting the effort, the third White Castle review for Rojek President Lorraine Lockhart. “What used to be a more operationally-driven company is now more marketing and brand driven,” Ms. Lockhart said.

10999: Jordan Zimmerman Unplugged.

Carl Warner’s contention that the advertising industry is suffering from a dearth of political conservatives takes another hit, thanks to Jordan Zimmerman, who makes the stereotypical FOX News pundit look like a liberal. The potential explanation for Zimmerman’s behavior? Um, steroids…?

10707: C’MON WHITE MAN! Episode 27.

(MultiCultClassics credits ESPN’s C’MON MAN! for sparking this semi-regular blog series.)

Jordan Zimmerman, Founder and Chairman of Zimmerman Advertising, recorded a post-election video calling on fellow Americans to back President Barack Obama. “Support his vision, his mission, his drive,” Zimmerman said before segueing into financial advice for anyone nervous about today’s economy. The tips included putting money into a Swiss bank account, converting dollars into real estate and parking funds into commodities. Holy shit, this guy must be trying to rival Mitt Romney’s 47 percent commentary. What do Zimmerman employees think of their boss making such statements—with a photo of his private jet in the background? Adbusters launched the Occupy Movement to protest admen-assholes like Zimmerman. The fool doesn’t even see the contradiction of insisting citizens should rally behind Obama while suggesting the shipment of savings to Switzerland.

C’MON WHITE MAN!