LB and Arc Hit Ad:Tech London

If you're in London this week and you want to see a show starring Kav (from the Happy Mondays) and/or Jersey Budd, stop on by Ad:Tech. That's where we're hosting a panel discussion focused on how technology is affecting the music industry and how brands work with bands. (After the panel, Kav and Jersey Budd will hit the stage atAd:Tech party, hosted at the Collection in Kensington.) Oh, this all goes down on September 26th.

Two other LB-related panels will be taking place during Ad:Tech. Ben Hourahine, Futures Editor at Leo Burnett (yes, he DOES have the coolest job at the agency) will participate in a discussion on Digital Privacy: How to Respect Your Consumers. This panel will examine the important duality: the need to innovate technologically while protecting the most important person in the digital business transaction: the consumer.

John Frood, one of our best and fav planners, be leading a provocative discussion on how mobile technology and social networks are redefining marketing. He'll be joined by a bunch of his equally-accomplished peers (i.e. Karenza Rayment of agency.com, James Harris of Diffiniti and Dan Ng of DDB.)

Click here for more info on all the happenings.

Creative Leaders Chosen for Buick-Pontiac-GMC

We have good news from Leo Burnett USA today. The creative leaders for the Buick-Pontiac-GMC account have been named - and, although I get paid to say it, these guys are a formidible group of creatives.


Peter McHugh (the guy in the picture) will be the creative lead on GMC. He just joined the agency from Carmichael Lynch in Minneapolis, where he was chief creative officer and a managing partner.

Before working at Carmichael Lynch, he was executive creative director and partner at 180/Amsterdam, where he helped win adidas’ consolidated global business in partnership with TBWA and put 180 among the three "Agency of the Year" nominees at Cannes in 2004. He's also been singled out as one of the top 10 creative directors in the world by Creativity Magazine and has won numerous creative accolades during stints as group creative director at Fallon Minneapolis, executive creative director at Chiat/Day Toronto and a creative director at Y&R Chicago. Seems he's already making headlines.

The creative team leading Buick is Jon Wyville and Dave Loew. They recently joined Leo Burnett Chicago from Y&R Chicago in March. (At Y&R, they created award-winning work for Miller Brewing Company, NASCAR and Sears.)

We'll continue to service the Pontiac business under the leadership of Jeff Cruz, 37. He's worked on all kinds of noteworthy Pontiac initiatives, including the annual NCAA campaign, MySpace, Pontiac Garage in Times Square and Second Life Motorati Island. He picked up two Gold Cannes Lions in the process, too.

Like I said - good line up, eh? We're looking forward to seeing what they create ... I'm sure I'll have some great campaigns to share soon!

More Animated Goodness

This lovely spot via LB/Brasil, "Heroine," first aired in Latin America on Sunday. It's part of a three film campaign for the launch of the Fiat Punto.

No details on the other two as of yet, but "Heroine" tells a love story between a young man and a comic strip beauty. According to the team in Sao Pauolo, it took a month to finish the frame-to-frame production. Another interesting tidbit: the music , a version of Shut your eyes, (via the Swedish band Shout out Louds) is sung by the film's director, Carlos Manga Jr.

It's all in the "Details"

Ooooh, this is pretty...Here's a stylish new :60 animated high-def spot for Pontiac out of Leo Burnett/Detroit entitled "Details." (The link goes to a high-res 720x540 QuickTime version of the spot, so you might need to give it some time to download.)

The team created this in conjunction with Stardust Studios. For more about the project, visit here.

Big Fish at the Sharks

So, I just found out that Leo Burnett was named the top network winner at the Kinsale Shark Awards -- and like a good little PR person, I've run to the blog to tell the world about it. We won a total of 12 awards at the show that is “dedicated to outstanding broadcast creative work.”

The Altoids Chocolates campaign “Banana Hands Edwards/Blowhole Bob/Half Deer Edward” won the national Grand Prix Award in addition to a Gold. (“Half Deer” picked up a Silver, too.) These wins, combined with a Bronze for McDonald’s “Filet ‘O Fish,” made the US agency the most awarded agency at the show. (Another fact that puts a pep in my publicity step.)

The Department of Transport “Moment of Doubt” ad also won multiple awards, a Silver and Bronze. (Have you seen this yet? It's great.)

Other winners included:
Gold
o Fiat “Spa”
o Kellogg All-Bran “Construction”
o WWF “Prank”
Silver
o Diageo “Australia Fair”
Bronze
o Fiat Spa “Ikarus”
Diploma
o Polisan “Bedroom”
o Scuola d'Arte Drammatica Paolo Grassi “Registration is Open”

The event was hosted by Irish comedian Neil Delamere and was attended by a record number of over 350 delegates, representing agencies across the world, as well as the Festival sponsors and invited guests.

Getting ready for tomorrow

Everyone knows that 50 Cent's new album drops tomorrow - and, apparently, the 50 cent energy has travelled all the way to Cairo. Check out the latest work for Melody Tunes, the only all-English music channel in Egypt (and the whole Middle East). While 50's rivalry with Kanye West might not having anyone laughing, this spot has me giggling. Enjoy.

"Man and Whale" is Official Selection of Ottowa Int'l Animation Festival

Seems the Canucks know good animation when they see it. The headline-grabbing "Man and Whale" animated film from Leo Burnett/Beacon Communications has been deemed an "Official Selection" for the Ottowa International Animation Festival, set to run September 19th-23rd. The show is one of the most respected in North America, and we're excited to see how "Man and Whale" performs there. See the film here.

Now, in case you want a little context around this piece, the central argument brought to the overall whaling debate by the Japanese is this: whale meat was the main protein source for Japan after World War II. So, the country feels they should have the right to keep the tradition alive, even without internal demand for the meat.

This film directly addresses this issue and appeals to the history of the issue in a wholly new way. The touching animated film focuses on an elderly man who, like many older Japanese citizens, remembers eating whale meat in school while he was young. During the film, the elderly man is called upon to save a whale. He does so to honor the fact that, as a child, a whale saved him. The film’s message is: “They saved us. It’s our turn now.” As such, the idea visits the topic of Japanese whaling in whole new way.