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Christmas ads are coming in thick and fast. Our particular favourite this week is the slightly out-of-the-ordinary spot for UK department store chain John Lewis, by Lowe London. We think it's a great ad, witty and stylish, and brilliantly cast, but we wonder how happy John Lewis are with it. Certainly it's a lot more downbeat than other retailers' seasonal spots, and that more restrained tone may not be quite what the public is looking for in these straitened times. The account has just gone into review (see below). Lowe is defending.

Havas-owned H Paris has a great new ad breaking this week in France for the Citroen C4 Picasso, and rolling out across Europe soon. It's a brilliant and original idea, nicely executed.

If you thought the John Lewis spot was a little moody, how about this stunning film for Milk Producers of Quebec, by BBDO Montreal. You may need to turn up your brightness though, because it's very very dark. 

And finally, an absolutely bizarre film by McCann Erickson's TAG unit for Lips, a new karaoke game for the Microsoft Xbox console. Truly insane, but guaranteed to have you singing the song for the rest of the day.

In the news this past week: Advertisers

Citigroup announced a further dramatic reduction in staffing numbers in an attempt to claw its way back to profit after four straight quarterly losses. The group is to shed another 52,000 jobs, on top of the 23,000 losses already announced earlier in the year. By the end of 2008, Citi will have cut around a fifth of its total workforce. Yet critics are far from certain that this will be enough to restore Citi to heath. In particular, there are concerns that the group lacks the management skills needed to turn around its US retail banking business, which is wrestling with sharply increasing loan losses in its mortgage and credit card divisions. Its recent failure to complete the takeover of smaller rival Wachovia, stolen from under its nose by Wells Fargo, was regarded as a crucial misstep, and there have been numerous reports of bitter division among the group's directors. CEO Vikram Pandit sought to bolster confidence by publicly acquiring around $8m-worth of shares in the group, his first declared purchase since he took the top job last year. However, this act merely encouraged other shareholders, not least former chairman & CEO Sandy Weill, to express their dismay that it had taken a full year and a 68% plunge in the stock price for Pandit to demonstrate his confidence in the group's future. Citi's shares took a further hit this week after Pandit acknowledged that the current troubles were far from over. “[Next year]," he told staff, "is likely to be one of the most difficult economic environments we have faced as a company." Citi expects to record more than $10bn in credit losses in the first half of 2009, on top of more than $16bn already accumulated since January. See also Citigroup profile on Adbrands. 

Meanwhile, America's struggling carmakers continue to burn furniture to keep warm. General Motors announced plans to sell its remaining 3% shareholding in Japanese partner Suzuki for around $230m. It sold the rest of what was once a 20% stake in 2006, as well as a similar holding in Subaru the year before. The group also launched a massive PR effort to persuade mediaowners, dealerships and even ordinary consumers to pressure Congress to lend financial assistance to Detroit's big three. A dedicated website, GM Facts & Fiction, urges Americans to "Tell your US Senators and Representatives that support for the US auto industry is in America’s best economic interest and is a sound investment toward a more competitive future." However ABC News noted sourly that CEO Rick Wagoner had flown to Washington by private jet to lobby for federal assistance, at an effective cost of around $20,000, whereas a first class seat on Northwest would have been roughly $800. Whatever the level of public support for a Detroit rescue, cash handouts look unlikely to come through under the current administration, so the companies must struggle to keep going until January in the hope that the new President will come to their aid. It could be too late by then. Chrysler told a Senate committee that it is currently losing as much as $1bn per month, and could run out of cash before the end of December. Meanwhile, Ford is to raise around $540m by selling off a 20% shareholding in Mazda, reducing its own stake to around 13%. Mazda will itself buy back some of the shares; the rest are being acquired by various supplier companies, including Japanese car parts producer Denso. The strategic alliance between Ford and Mazda will continue. See also General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Suzuki, Mazda profiles on Adbrands.

Johnson & Johnson is the latest major marketer to withdraw from sponsorship of the Olympic Games. Despite the huge cultural success of this year's Beijing Olympics, the various global sponsors suffered a series of blows ranging from negative publicity associated with the torch procession to excessive security during the Games themselves which prevented many visitors from accessing the sponsors' areas. The cost of sponsorship has also increased dramatically. The price for the next four year contract, which covers the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and the 2012 Games in London, is a whopping $100m. Kodak, Lenovo and ManuLife have also already declined to renew their support for the new term. Yet, in another area of sporting endeavour, the Financial Times this week reported that Honda had spent an extraordinary £147m (around $250m) this year alone on its sponsorship of its UK-based Formula One motor racing team. Despite that lavish handout, the highest by far in the sport, the Honda team finished a disappointing 8th in this year's championships. Nevertheless Honda has apparently committed an even larger sum to fund the 2009 season. See also Johnson & Johnson, Kodak, Lenovo, Honda profiles on Adbrands.

SPI Group, the organisation which exports the Stolichnaya vodka brand worldwide, appointed William Grant & Sons to handle its US distribution. Family-owned Grant's is best-known for its Glenfiddich and Grant's whiskies. US distribution of Stoli was previously handled by Pernod-Ricard. The French group surrendered its license following the acquisition of Absolut. Meanwhile Diageo entered exclusive negotiations to acquire a 15% stake in the spirits division of India's United Breweries conglomerate. United is by far the biggest spirits company in India, and the world's 3rd biggest by volumes, although its sales are mostly limited to its domestic market and and surrounding countries. It has around 17 brands which sell more than 1m cases per annum, including top-selling whisky McDowell's. If Diageo can finalise a deal it will also secure invaluable access to United's vast distribution network within India. See also Pernod-Ricard, Diageo profiles on Adbrands. 

US and European regulators cleared the merger of Anheuser-Busch and InBev without any serious conditions, allowing the deal to be completed mid-week. However, the combined Anheuser-Busch InBev is required to sell the license to market its Canadian beer Labatt within the US to an unconnected third party. The group is expected to strike a deal with a smaller rival, possibly The Boston Beer Company. In an unconnected development, Anheuser-Busch's VP, global media & sports marketing Tony Ponturo is to retire at the end of the year after a 26-year career at the company. Ponturo is one of the most influential figures in sports marketing, responsible for forging Budweiser's long-running association with the Super Bowl, and establishing the group as America's biggest sports advertiser. See also Anheuser-Busch, InBev, Budweiser profiles on Adbrands.

In the soft-drinks market, Australian brewer Lion Nathan made an offer worth around US$5bn to acquire Coca Coca Amatil, the bottler which produces Coca-Cola's products in Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, as well a small portfolio of its own non-alcoholic beverages and foods. The initial offer was declined, but talks continue. Lion Nathan is itself controlled by Japanese brewing giant Kirin. See also Lion Nathan, Coca-Cola, Kirin profiles on Adbrands.

Jose Luis Duran resigned as CEO of French supermarket giant Carrefour, and will leave the company at the end of the year. He will be replaced by Lars Olofsson, currently EVP, strategic business units, marketing & sales at Nestlé. (Olofsson will himself be replaced on an interim basis by chief technology officer Werner Bauer). Carrefour has struggled for years to improve performance in its domestic market, where it is under intense pressure from mass discounters including Aldi and Lidl. Separately in the UK, toys and entertainment retailer Woolworths Group acknowledged that it is in preliminary negotiations to sell off its entire retail business, comprising around 810 stores, for as little as £1. See also Carrefour, Aldi, Lidl, Nestle, Woolworths profiles on Adbrands.

Louis Vuitton announced it has signed up Madonna to appear in a series of ads for its Spring 2009 collection. The campaign will photographed by Steven Meisel. Madonna is to receive around $10m for her appearances. No credit squeeze in Madge's house then for 2009. See also Louis Vuitton profile on Adbrands.

In the news this past week: Agencies

Mainardo de Nardis was named as the new CEO of Omnicom's OMD Worldwide media network. De Nardis was previously global CEO of Aegis Media, but left that company abruptly in May this year. He will take up his new role at OMD in early 2009, reporting to Omnciom Media Group chief Daryl Simm. Meanwhile, over at Euro RSCG, Jose Cabaco, appointed as the agency's first chief creative officer for North America earlier this year, has been dismissed after less than six months in the job. His departure follows that of Esther Lee, formerly the agency's North American CEO, after what was described at the time as a "clash of egos in the C-Suite". Management control of the agency has returned to the Two Rons, Ron Berger and Ron Bess, who split responsibility for the New York and Chicago offices between them. See also OMD, Euro RSCG profiles on Adbrands.

Havas has begun restructuring parts of its global media network to bring all of its various separately branded units more closely under the shared umbrella brand of Havas Media. Shaun Holliday was named as group CEO for Havas Media North America. Charlie Rutman, who had been CEO of MPG North America, will transfer to an advisory role. In the UK, Mark Craze, formerly joint-CEO of MPG, was appointed as CEO of Havas Media UK, responsible not only for MPG (where his partner Marc Mendoza is now sole CEO), but also other units such as integrated agency AIS, PR shop Cake, second string media network Arena BLM and sponsorship agency Havas Sports. See also Havas Media profile on Adbrands.

Havas also released financials for the first nine months of the current year. Revenues rose almost 2% to E1.1bn. Organic growth for the whole nine months, stripping out exchange rate fluctuation and disposals, averaged almost 6%. Yet strong performance in the first half of the year was offset by a disappointing result for 3Q, in which organic growth slipped to 1.5% as a result of a difficult US market and the loss of the Dell account in Asia. That weakness spooked investors in Paris, who pushed down the Havas share price by almost 10% by the end of the day, in what was otherwise a generally stable market. Havas reported net new business for the year to-date of E1.4bn, broadly in line with the same period in 2007. See also Havas profile on Adbrands.

The Publicis-owned interactive agency Digitas established its first toehold in Latin America with the acquisition of highly regarded Brazilian independent Tribal. The new purchase joins the rapidly expanding network, which has also recently established a presence in markets such as France and China. See also Digitas profile on Adbrands.

PepsiCo has followed through on its promise to overhaul all aspects of marketing for the core Pepsi and Diet Pepsi brands by transferring responsibility for US advertising from 48-year incumbent BBDO New York to Omnicom stablemate TBWA\Chiat\Day. The change of agency applies only to US advertising. BBDO will keep hold of the account in all international markets, as well as its role on other PepsiCo brands in the US, including Pepsi Max. At the same time, PepsiCo appointed another Omnicom unit, Arnell Group, to take charge of brand identity and packaging innovation for Pepsi and other brands. It's unclear as yet whether this latter appointment may entail further changes to Pepsi's "grinning" logo redesign, which was widely panned in the blogosphere. See also Pepsi, TBWA, BBDO, Arnell profiles on Adbrands.

Cadbury appointed independent shop Horizon Media to handle US media; Cossette will take over the business in Canada. CBS transferred media for its main broadcast network as well as cable strands such as Showtime to OMD, out of Initiative. HP called a review of global media for its printing and computer divisions, currently managed by ZenithOptimedia. In creative, Lowe New York captured the business of restaurant chain Outback Steakhouse, but Lowe London faces a review of its John Lewis account, one of its last remaining local, as opposed to network, clients. Wal-Mart is looking for a shop to handle creative for its new Marketside grocery store chain. BMW consolidated regional advertising and marketing services in the US at Grey West in San Francisco. Previously that account had been split with three other agencies, including Publicis Mid-America and GSD&M Idea City. The main brand account remains with GSD&M. For all other appointments, subscribers can access the full Adbrands Account Assignments database here. See also Cadbury, Horizon Media, Cossette, CBS, HP, Lowe, Waitrose, Wal-Mart, BMW, Grey profiles on Adbrands.

In the news this past week: Media

Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang finally bowed to the inevitable and tendered his resignation. Yahoo's investors were delighted with the news, sending the company's share price up by 12% in merry anticipation of a new approach from Microsoft. However, the latter's Steve Ballmer was quick to burst that particular balloon. "We are done with all acquisitions, discussions with Yahoo," he told a shareholders' meeting the following day. "I've said that a bunch of times. Somehow, some people have gotten confused, nonetheless... But we did our best. We thought we had something that made sense. Didn't make sense to them. We've moved on." He did say he was prepared to talk about some kind of search deal, but left it to Yahoo to open any such discussion. In the mean time Jerry Yang will remain in his role until a successor can be found, at which point Yang will return to his previous advisory role as "Chief Yahoo" alongside co-founder David Filo. Group president Susan Decker is seen as one possible candidate for the top job, but she may be too closely identified with Yang's botch-up of the Microsoft offer and the failed advertising partnership with Google to inspire sufficient confidence among Yahoo's own staff as well as with investors. Former AOL chief Jonathan Miller is also considered to be a top contender. See also Yahoo, Microsoft profiles on Adbrands. 

There was disheartening news this week for consumer-generated services such as YouTube and Facebook. Despite its head-start in online video, YouTube could soon be overtaken in ad revenues by rival Hulu, a joint venture between Fox and NBC Universal, which carries clips from both networks' most popular shows. According to specialist researcher Screen Digest, YouTube will close 2008 with around $100m in ad revenues, compared to $70m for Hulu. Next year, both sites are predicted to generate around $180m each, after which Hulu will steadily pull ahead of its rival. The main reason, argues Screen Digest, is that Hulu's professional content provides a more suitable environment for advertising than YouTube's, which is mostly either amateurish or posted illegally. 

Facebook too came in for a kicking, commercially at least, from Procter & Gamble's head of digital media Ted McDonnell. He told a conference this week that, despite their phenomenal potential for demographic targeting, social networks are intrinsically unsound as a platform for marketing. "I think when we call it 'consumer-generated media,' we're being predatory," he said. "Who said this is media? Media is something you can buy and sell. Media contains inventory. Media contains blank spaces. Consumers weren't trying to generate media. They were trying to talk to somebody. So it just seems a bit arrogant... We hijack their own conversations, their own thoughts and feelings, and try to monetize it...What in heaven's name made you think you could monetize the real estate in which somebody is breaking up with their girlfriend?" 

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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