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Coke and Pepsi are still going head-to-head this week with a barrage of new ads. Of the latest collection, our favourite is this one by French agency CLM BBDO for Pepsi Max, which tickled our sense of humour. Obviously we spend too much time in the office. In the name of fairness, however, we'll also point you in the direction of the best new Coke ad, Swelter Stopper by Wieden & Kennedy, located here. 

A change of tone now for the next two ads, both public service announcements. Pro-bono or charitable ads always bring out the best in an agency's creative department, and these two are no exception. First up is this spot for Shelter, the British charity for the homeless. A striking piece of film, brilliantly realised. Leo Burnett London is the agency. The voiceover is by actress Samantha Morton, who experienced homelessness as a teenager. Radiohead provided the backing track free of charge. 

Martin/Williams is the agency behind this equally memorable PSA for Not For Sale, an American organisation which combats modern slavery. Another great little spot that deserves wider exposure.

And finally, let's luxuriate in some old fashioned lowest common denominator humour from DDB Chicago for Bud Light. This is one of the "secret" ads produced for the beer's Super Bowl campaign but not suitable for network broadcast for reasons that will quickly become obvious. Sadly we can't seem to lay our hands on the original ad without the bleeps and pixelated video, but I'm sure you get the idea. Frankly we felt this year's broadcast Bud Light Super Bowl spots were pretty disappointing, but this one is a corker, and a worthy successor to the brand's previous secret ads, Swear Jar and Who Cut The Cheese. 

In the news this past week: Advertisers

Global recession? Not at Reckitt Benckiser. It may not be the world's most glamorous company, but the household cleaning and personal healthcare group delivered what can only be described in the current market as a spectacular set of financial results. Revenues jumped by 25% in 2008 to almost £6.6bn, and net income rose 19% to over £1.1bn. Currency fluctuations had a lot to do with the increase, assisted by the acquisition of OTC remedy Mucinex at the start of the year, but it was an impressive performance nonetheless. Significantly, the addition of Mucinex and other brands from Adams Respiratory have made OTC healthcare the group's biggest division for the first time, overtaking fabric care. No doubt larger packaged goods groups will be watching Reckitt with interest. Brands such as Vanish, Finish/Electrasol, Lysol/Dettol and Nurofen might look rather comfortable in the portfolio of, say, Unilever.

Royal Bank of Scotland officially cancelled plans to sell off its insurance division, which includes the Direct Line, Churchill and Privilege brands. The announcement had been expected. The group originally put the business up for sale in Spring last year as it struggled to raise working capital to pay off its acquisition of ABN Amro. Yet, despite initial approaches from several private equity groups and other investors, the sell-off was derailed by the growing crisis in the banking industry. Several potential buyers walked away, those remaining made offers well below RBS's requirements. Also this week, former RBS chiefs Fred Goodwin and Tom McKillop were subjected to a humiliating public dressing-down by a UK Parliamentary panel, along with Andy Hornby and Dennis Stevenson from HBOS. The four have become whipping boys for the way in which they brought two great financial institutions to their knees. As a result they were forced to apologise like naughty schoolchildren to their shareholders and to the British public at large in a live TV broadcast. It was an absurd ritual - these four men were hardly alone in their inability to read the signs in the marketplace last year. Yet even so their carefully rehearsed apologies were far less satisfying than the sight of watching them squirm under some scathing and even derisive questioning from MPs.

General Motors restructured its sales, marketing and aftersales teams in Europe in order to allow its different brands more individuality. Alain Visser, previously chief marketing officer across the entire GM Europe portfolio, moved to VP, brand marketing for Opel. Wayne Brannon, executive director for Chevrolet in Europe was promoted to VP, with a broader remit; and Saab managing director Jan-Ake Jonsson will also take over sales and marketing responsibility of the brand. All three continue to report to GM Europe's group VP, sales, marketing and aftersales, Brent Dewar.

Vodafone and Hutchison's 3 mobile service are to merge their local operations in Australia in a 50:50 joint venture, designed to provide a stronger competitor to market leaders Telstra and Optus. Both brands will continue to operate separately, but will be managed by a single company to be known as VHA (presumably short for Vodafone Hutchison Alliance). Currently Vodafone and 3 are the #3 and #4 wireless carriers in the country with a combined total of around 6m customers. Optus has 7.6m and Telstra 9m.

Spanish fashion giant Inditex announced plans to open its first Zara stores in India in 2010 in a joint venture with local conglomerate Tata Group. Separately the French luxury groups LVMH and Hermes reported figures for 2008 which demonstrated resilience in the face of current market conditions. Revenues increased at both companies, up 9% at Hermes to almost E1.8bn, and climbing 4% at LVMH to E17.2bn. Profits were flat after the negative effects of currency fluctuation.

Bob Lachky, chief creative officer at Anheuser-Busch and widely regarded as one of the most influential marketers in the US for his work on the Budweiser brand, announced his resignation. He follows A-B's sports sponsorship guru Tony Ponturo, who left at the end of last year. Lachky stressed that his decision wasn't related to A-B's takeover by InBev, but simply the desire to move on after 20 years with the brewery titan. Lachky has overseen some of the most memorable ad campaigns of recent years for Bud, including Wassup, the Budweiser frogs and Real Men of Genius. He will not be directly replaced, although many of his duties will be inherited by VP, marketing Keith Levy.

Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo, which acquired IBM's global PC business in 2004, ousted American-born CEO Bill Amelio after disappointing performance in the final quarter of 2008. In a sign that the group is keen to return to its roots as a Chinese company, it reappointed Amelio's predecessor Yang Yuanqing as CEO, and persuaded one of the group's founders, Liu Chuanzhi, to return as chairman of the board. By maintaining the standards of high quality associated with the IBM brand, Lenovo has left itself open to competition from more nimble Asian manufacturers targeting the lower end of the market. In 2007, it was overtaken as the global #3 in the PC market when Taiwanese rival Acer acquired the Gateway and Packard Bell companies in the US and Europe. During 2008, another Taiwanese company Asus more than doubled unit sales in the European and Asian markets with its entry-level EeePC notebook. Lenovo says that low cost computers will become the main battleground over the next few years, and that entry-level machines will account for as much of two-thirds of the global PC market by 2012, up from around one-third currently.

Not even the world's most celebrated film director is immune from the current economic crisis. Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks Studios has been struggling for the past few months to raise funding to relaunch as an independent, following the termination at the end of last year of its arrangement with Paramount. In Autumn last year, the DreamWorks team secured the promise of around $500m of funding from Indian conglomerate Reliance. However that deal was conditional on the company raising a matching sum of its own. In the current economic environment that has proved far from easy, even for a director with Spielberg's track record. DreamWorks had agreed a distribution partnership in all countries except India with Universal, a studio with which Spielberg has long-standing links. In recent weeks, however, unable to raise the required funding from the credit markets, Spielberg went back to Universal and asked for a $250m cash advance on future distribution income. Universal balked at that sum, offering a much lower figure. As a result, Spielberg began secret talks with Disney instead, prompting Universal to slam the door when it found out. The Disney deal was finalised this week in a six-year, 30-movie deal. The financial details of the agreement have not been disclosed. 

Live entertainment giant Live Nation confirmed its plans to acquire Ticketmaster in an all-stock deal valued at $575m. The combined group, to be named Live Nation Entertainment, would have annual revenues of around $6bn, and would be run by Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, with Ticketmaster's Irving Azoff as executive chairman. The deal will combine the world's biggest live music promoter, the biggest ticketing service and the biggest artist-management agency in a single company. As a result, it will face intense scrutiny from regulators, spurred on by the immediate outcry from fans who fear the arrangement will lead to further steep rises in ticket prices.

Seems we were a little quick off the mark when we said last week that Michael Phelps had emerged unscathed from the bong scandal. The following morning, Kellogg's said it would be dropping the swimming champion. "We originally built the relationship with Michael, as well as the other Olympic athletes, to support our association with the US Olympic team," said the cereal and snacks giant. "Michael's most recent behaviour is not consistent with the image of Kellogg. His contract expires at the end of February and we have made a decision not to extend his contract." It's not just the dope-smoking. The agreement Phelps made with Kellogg's was meant to be an exclusive for the breakfast cereal sector. Yet late last year, an interviewer for news show 60 Minutes was shown delving through Phelps kitchen cupboards to see what foods a champion eats. Clearly visible was a box of Honey Nut Cheerios, made by Kellogg's arch-rival General Mills. Another of Phelps' sponsors, sandwich chain Subway, was more forgiving. "Like most Americans, and like Michael Phelps himself, we were disappointed in his behaviour," it said. "Also like most Americans, we accept his apology. Moving forward, he remains in our plans." Another sponsorship in threat was the relationship between Wrigley and American rap singer Chris Brown, who faces allegations of having beaten up his girlfriend, singer Rihanna, last weekend. Almost as soon as that story broke, Wrigley suspended broadcast of its current Doublemint ad (see it here), which features Brown, "until this matter is resolved".

In the news this past week: Agencies

Omnicom and Publicis reported results for 2008. At Omnicom, revenues rose 5% to almost $13.4bn and net income was up almost 3% to just over $1.0bn. However, the best performance came in the first part of the year, with revenues and profits down sharply in the final quarter. Publicis Groupe reported revenues up by just under 1% to E4.7bn, although that included a significant negative impact from currency fluctuation. Organic growth was just under 4% year-on-year. Net income fell 1% to E447m. Interpublic's figures are due in two weeks, WPP's the week after that.

Also this week, Omnicom and Publicis were both involved in cooperation deals designed to strengthen their PR presence in Japan. Publicis Groupe, which is already part-owned by Japanese giant Dentsu, announced a reciprocal tie-up between its own Publicis Consultants unit and the public relations division within Dentsu. Publicis will now offer PR assistance to Dentsu's clients outside Japan; Publicis clients can tap Dentsu's expertise within the notoriously complex Japanese market. Omnicom's Ketchum PR unit signed off on a similar arrangement with Dentsu's main rival, Hakuhodo, which will also involve both companies working together to build their combined presence in China.

Howard Draft has surrendered the role of CEO at Draftfcb to long-time president & COO Laurence Boschetto, although he remains executive chairman of the network. "Since the merger [of Draft and FCB], I have not been able to spend a lot of time with clients, as much as I should have," he said. "That is what I want to focus on now." Other changes in the agency world included the departure of Lee Garfinkel as chief creative officer of DDB New York. He is being replaced by Eric Silver, who's jumped over from BBDO. Jamie Gallo was named as president at TBWA\North America, replacing Robert LePlae, who left last month.

WPP continued to expand the footprint of its youngest global media network Maxus with the rebranding of Spanish media shop CICM. That company was previously part of local marketing group Tapsa, at one stage the local affiliate for Interpublic's FCB network. Interpublic terminated that arrangement a few years ago and the business was acquired by WPP in 2006. Tapsa continues to operate under its own brand, but CICM will now become Maxus/CICM. Clients include Fiat Group, Colgate-Palmolive and El Mundo. 

It was a quiet week for account assignments. Wal-Mart picked Publicis & Hal Riney to handle a campaign for its Great Value own-label brand. EBay called a review of its creative across Europe, currently held at several different agencies. It aims to consolidate within a single network. For all other appointments, subscribers can access the full Adbrands Account Assignments database here. 

In the news this past week: Media

In a further sign of the damage being inflicted on mediaowners by the current downturn, Metro International, the world's largest publisher of free newspapers, announced that it did not have enough working capital to keep it going through 2009, and had breached one of its banking covenants, forcing it to repay a loan of almost E29m. As a result it issued an emergency rights issue with the aim of raising an additional E52m in cash. The company publishes more than 80 editions of the free Metro newspaper in 22 countries. Meanwhile News Corporation reported a $6.4bn loss for the final quarter of calendar 2008 as a result of asset writedowns in its television, newspaper and information services divisions. Rupert Murdoch identified the drop-off in advertising by car manufacturers as a key factor in declines at the group's US newspaper and TV divisions.

As always, if you haven't already done so, please confirm your subscription to the free Adbrands Weekly Update by clicking here or on the link at the foot of this email. Thank you for your assistance! 

Simon Tesler
Publisher, Adbrands

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