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Saatchi & Saatchi New York take our opening slot for the second consecutive week with this excellent new film on behalf of P&G's secondary diaper brand Luvs. It's a great idea: to demonstrate in grown-up terms how a child feels when it's told Mummy is having a new baby. Not sure how much if anything it says about Luvs, other than as a prompt for viewers to share their own tales on the dedicated website, but the idea itself is astute, witty and well-executed. 

You may need to squint to see the subtitles on this ad for Brandt household appliances by DDB Paris, but it's worth the effort. Another clever concept.

This spot by Goodby Silverstein for Comcast's highspeed internet service actually aired last year, but we missed it first time around. Better late than never. Shows just how slow we can be beside a turbo-charged rabbit panther thingy on ice.

And finally, the best in a series of new spots for Unilever's Axe/Lynx grooming product from Argentinean agency Ponce Buenos Aires. Catch up with the other two ads here and here.

In the news this past week: Advertisers

Swedish car brand Saab has been saved from GM's scrap heap by Koenigsegg, the highly specialised supercar manufacturer which designs ultra-luxury sports cars with a price tag of around E1m per vehicle. The Swedish government has agreed to support the deal with loan guarantees. However analysts have expressed their doubts over whether Koenigsegg can make a success of Saab, whose vehicles sell for the rather more modest ticket of around E20,000. Under GM's management, the firm has barely made a profit since 1990. How likely will be that a luxury specialist can turn it around? Meanwhile talks are also continuing over the future of GM's Opel/Vauxhall division. Although a deal was agreed in principle with Canadian car parts firm Magna and Russia's Sberbank, the German and British governments are open to better offers which might preserve more jobs.

British bank Barclays agreed to sell its entire money management division Barclays Global Investors to US-based BlackRock for $13.5bn in cash and stock. The deal includes the iShares traded funds unit which the bank had previously agreed to sell to CVC Capital Partners. That arrangement was suspended last month when it became clear that Barclays could raise even more cash by selling the whole division rather than just part of it. BlackRock will become the world's largest money management firm with around $2.8 trillion in funds under management, around double closest rivals State Street Global and Fidelity. The purchase is likely to set off a wave of further consolidation within the sector. This marks the latest in a series of big acquisitions for BlackRock. One of the biggest deals to-date was the absorption of the investment management unit of Merrill Lynch in 2005. Merrill's new parent Bank of America retains a shareholding in BlackRock, which will be diluted to 35% upon completion of the BGI acquisition. Barclays will have just under 20%.

In a move expected to result in further curbs on its marketing, US tobacco products are to placed under the jurisdiction of the government's Food & Drug Administration (FDA), under the terms of the new Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act, now ready for signature by President Obama. Although the FDA will not have the ability to ban tobacco outright, it will be able to impose considerable additional rules regarding its sale and marketing, including a clampdown on outdoor advertising, promotional giveaways and any remaining sponsorships. Manufacturers will also probably be obliged to declare the ingredients of their cigarettes on the packet, along similar lines to packaged foods. The tobacco companies and various other bodies including the Civil Liberties Union voiced their opposition to the proposed new laws which, they said, failed to comply with free speech protections set in place by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Customers of British Airways could be facing a grim summer of turmoil and industrial unrest after the company asked 40,000 employees to forgo up to a month's salary to help the airline cut costs. In effect, staff have been asked to work for free or take unpaid leave. BA's unions, with whom the company has a fractious relationship at best, poured scorn on the request. However engineering staff have already accepted a change in working practises and BA's pilots are currently considering a deal to accept shares in exchange for reduced pay and terms. The airline's notoriously militant cabin crew are thought to be the group most strongly opposed to BA's proposals (despite the fact that they currently earn twice as much on average as their counterparts at Virgin Atlantic, according to recent CAA data). CEO Willie Walsh, speaking at the Paris Air Show, called the current downturn "the harshest this industry has ever faced" and predicted that the worst was still to come. Many airlines, he suggested, could go out of business over the coming months. A major factor, he said, was a determined and possibly permanent shift on the part of corporate customers away from the sort of premium-fare business travel which has traditionally provided the main profit stream for most legacy network carriers.

US amusement park operator Six Flags filed for bankruptcy protection this week in order to restructure its burdensome debt. In terms of trading, the company is doing comparatively well, with visitor numbers holding up despite the economic downturn. However, the group is struggling under a $2.4bn debt mountain built up by its previous management team. That results in hefty annual interest payments, as well as a looming $300m due this August to holders of preferred equity. Six Flags hopes to swap the majority of its debt for equity under the bankruptcy process. In the mean time, its parks will continue to operate normally. Outdoor clothing retailer Eddie Bauer, best-known for its quilted goose-down jackets, also filed for bankruptcy in order to restructure its debts but also it had already agreed a deal to be acquired by private equity firm CCMP Capital Advisors once that process is complete. 

Taiwanese computer manufacturer Acer, now the global #3 as a result of rapid expansion since 2005, has its sights set on a new target: smartphones. The company has announced plans to become one of world's top five in that sector too within three to five years. It launches its first four handsets next week in its home market. Currently the sector is led by Nokia, with a commanding 41% share of the market, followed by BlackBerry, Apple, HTC and Samsung.

H&M announced its latest designer partnership. Footwear guru extraordinaire Jimmy Choo is producing a limited edition line of shoes, bags and accessories which will go on-sale in around 200 of H&M's 1,800 stores in November. Choo follows in the footsteps of other designers including Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Roberto Cavalli and, ahem, Madonna, all of whom have produced similar budget editions for H&M.

Tata Tea, the Indian group which owns UK market leader Tetley announced plans to enter the RTD market with its own iced tea product, going head-to-head against the likes of Nestea and Lipton. To begin with it intends to target developing markets in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

In the news this past week: Agencies

Two of the world's most highly regarded independents are to merge to create a powerful new digital and traditional advertising group. Interactive specialist Sapient is acquiring advertising boutique Nitro for around $50m in cash and shares. The merged business will adopt the name Sapient Nitro, and the latter's founder Chris Clarke is expected to  remain CEO of the advertising operations, which include offices in New York, London and China as well as Cummins Nitro in Australia. For its part, Sapient already has a global presence, and is the leading digital agency in several markets, not least the UK. According to the WSJ, Sapient had opened talks with several other independent advertising agencies, prompted by the demands of clients, who want to consolidate their online and offline requirements in a single shop. Wieden & Kennedy and Modernista were also approached before Sapient settled on Nitro. 

Some personnel changes: Christopher Graves was named as the successor to Marcia Silverman as CEO of Ogilvy Public Relations. Graves will step up to the job in January 2010. Silverman will become chairwoman. In London, Kate Howe was named as the new chief executive of the local office of DraftFCB. Her predecessor Enda McCarthy left at the end of 2008 to join Agency.com. However he too was up and off once again this week, quitting Agency.com after little more than six months to join Publicis Modem London.

Omnicom is to merge two of its biggest PR names, Ketchum and Pleon. The Ketchum brand operates globally, but is dwarfed in some European markets, especially Germany, by stablemate Pleon. That business, currently a subsidiary of BBDO Germany, is far and away the country's biggest PR agency. Under the new structure it will absorb local European offices of Ketchum, adopting the name Ketchum Pleon. Outside Europe, Ketchum will retain its single brand name. The combined business will have well over 100 offices spread across 66 countries, and revenues of almost $400m, placing it close behind Omnicom's lead PR network Fleishman-Hillard.

Also in the PR field, WPP has created a dedicated global PR network to handle communications for LG Electronics. The new business, named LG One, comprises skill sets drawn from across the range of WPP's existing PR brands including Burson Marsteller, Ogilvy and Hill & Knowlton. The business is being led by Luca Penati, previously managing technology of Ogilvy PR's global technology practice.

Brand Republic reports the launch by Y&R of a second-string network in Europe, to be known as LGM, or Little Green Men, to handle client conflicts. Its UK hub will be provided by London shop Swarm, an offshoot from RKCR/Y&R.

Activision Blizzard appointed TBWA\ChiatDay in Los Angeles to handle the marketing for the latest instalment in its blockbuster Call of Duty games franchise. The agency  has been tasked to make the new game, due out this November, "the biggest entertainment launch of all time". Also this week, Activision Blizzard appointed Mediaedge:cia to take over its global media requirements, estimated at around $150m. In other account assignments, Nokia selected Carat for its own global media account. Societe General of France and insurance giant AXA both called media reviews. SocGen is currently split between MPG and OMD; AXA uses several shops including Mindshare, Initiative and OMD. For all other appointments, subscribers can access the full Adbrands Account Assignments database here. 

In the news this past week: Media

Virgin Media, the UK cable and broadband provider, announced plans to launch a music download service in 2010 in partnership with Universal Music. Users will pay a monthly fee to stream or download tracks from the entire Universal roster. The monthly rate is expected to be around £15. Virgin hopes to sign similar deals with the three other music majors.

Struggling pay-TV broadcaster Setanta was given until the end of the week to sort out its finances or have its rights to Premier League soccer games withdrawn and put up for auction. Under its current three-year contract, the group holds rights to televise 46 live games out of the upcoming 2009/10 season, but has been struggling to raise the cash to settle a of £30m instalment payment due this week to the Premier League. It is trying to raise cash from a number of potential investors including Russian-American businessman Len Blavatnik, owner of another pay-TV service, Top Up TV. Disney's ESPN division is seen as one of the most likely buyers if the matches do go up for sale.

Congratulations to Nicholas Coleridge, long-serving managing director of Conde Nast magazines in the UK, who was awarded a CBE in the Queen's birthday honours for services to magazine publishing.

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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