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First up, a large-scale "spectacular" from Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam for Honda Europe, promoting the company's new Insight hybrid vehicle. We love the idea and execution for this spot, but to be honest we were just as knocked out by a new viral currently doing the rounds in which a similar effect is achieved using sheep. Yes, really. See it here. We didn't make the sheep-herding spot ad of the week because it doesn't really count as an ad, even though it ends with a name check to Samsung. Top marks to W&K for getting their Honda drivers to synchronise their headlights so effectively, but getting sheep and sheep dogs to do the same is even more impressive. 

Here's another superb - but violent! - ad for human rights organisation Amnesty International. We've featured several of their spots in Ads of the Week in the past, each one distinguished by its stark monochrome animation. As usual, the latest film makes an excellent point with elegant precision. The underlying point is depressing. If there's one thing we humans seem to be really good it, it's going to war with one another, over and over and over again. Leo Burnett's Lisbon office is responsible. (For the ad, that is, not for the wars...)

Fashion retailer H&M has come to excel in eye-catching fantasies to promote its new collections. The latest is no different, and features the gorgeousness of supermodel Eva Herzigova and bad boy actor Vincent Gallo (whatever happened to him?). Delightfully odd. See more of H&M's ads, including the wonderful Madonna, Kylie, Lagerfeld and Cavalli spots on the Adbrands profile page here. All the ads are created inhouse by H&M's Red Room unit.

And finally, the new campaign for US air carrier JetBlue from JWT New York, which pokes delicious fun at America's current climate of corporate crisis (for more on which, see below). To see the final two parts of The CEO's Guide to Jetting, see here.

In the news this past week: Advertisers

The furore over executive pay reached new levels in the US at the end of last week. The House overwhelmingly approved a bill to impose a 90% tax charge on all staff bonuses paid out by companies which have received emergency funding from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The bill was a knee-jerk reaction to the widespread public outcry which followed revelations that AIG, the insurer whose dabbling in high risk derivatives brought about its effective collapse, had paid out an extraordinary $218m in bonuses, more even than had been previously reported, and much of it to the very executives whose actions had contributed to the company's decline. Several of these individuals have already agreed to return the money they received, but not apparently the ones resident outside the US, who so far seem intent on weathering the storm. The proposed tax would also apply to employees of most of the country's leading banks and General Motors, all of whom took cash from TARP. However representatives of the companies in question were quick to express their concerns that such a punitive measure would actually create an even bigger problem by encouraging key staff to jump ship to employers better able to afford them. The President also seemed uneasy about the tax, and indicated that he would seek some form of compromise arrangement. As a result, a decision on the proposed bill has been postponed until mid-April, and could be superseded by other measures currently being considered by the Treasury.

Neatly moving the agenda on from bonuses, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner cheered global stock markets with a bold but widely anticipated plan to create a "bad bank" which could acquire toxic assets held by banks and insurers to relieve the pressure on their balance sheets and credit ratings. The government would provide around $100bn in funding for the scheme and is seeking a further $400m from the private sector. The general good mood was also buoyed by the surprise revelation that the number of house sales had increased between January and February for the first time since summer 2008, although average price tumbled. The bankruptcy cloud hanging over Detroit also lightened somewhat with news that the government is leaning towards an offer of further financial assistance to General Motors and Chrysler, provided significant concessions can be wrested from management, unions and bondholders.

No such luck in Germany, however, or not just yet. The coalition government is bitterly divided over whether or not to inject funds into General Motors' failing Opel subsidiary. Chancellor Angela Merkel - up for re-election this year - is against such a move, supported by her political party, the Christian Democrats. Her coalition partners, the left-leaning Social Democrats, are in favour however. Labour minister Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat, told the Bild newspaper "To let Opel die would be more than a mistake, it would be an unforgivable failure of government." Merkel, for now, is holding firm that the country can't afford to save every company that runs into trouble, even one of Opel's size and stature. Meanwhile Daimler, owner of the Mercedes-Benz brand, raised $2.65bn of cash by selling a 9% shareholding to an Abu Dhabi investment fund, which now becomes the biggest single shareholder in the company, overtaking the state of Kuwait whose stake is now around 7%.

"Recession? What Recession?" As regular readers know, we try to find at least one company each week that isn't suffering the grinding effects of the current downturn. This week it's the turn of Spanish fashion group Inditex, owner of Zara and other clothing chains. Many apparel retailers are struggling to get customers through their doors, but Inditex keeps going from strength to strength, aided by its extraordinarily effective supply chain, which can get clothing from the drawing board to the store in just a matter of weeks. Revenues for the year ending Jan 2009 rose 10% to E10.4bn, although net profits were flat at E1.25bn, mainly because of exchange rate fluctuation and one-off charges. Underlying profits rose around 3%. The group is closing fast on Gap, currently the global #1 in fashion retail. Gap's revenues for 2008 slipped to $14.5bn; Inditex's latest figure is equivalent to around $14.1bn. It is already bigger by store numbers, with 4,264 outlets to Gap's 3,100. It opened an extraordinary 573 stores during its most recent financial year, but said it would reduce the target for the current year to between 370 and 450 stores.

Ownership by a European company has made no difference to the trademark battle between America's iconic Budweiser beer and its Czech rival Budvar. Those two brands have sparred for years over who actually owns the Budweiser and Bud trademarks. (See the Adbrands profile of Budweiser for background). This week the superior European Court of First Instance turned down AB InBev's appeal against an earlier ruling which refused it permission to register the Budweiser name as a trademark. As a result, the group will have to continue to share that name with Budvar in 23 out of the 27 European markets in which it operates. In the remaining territories, including Germany and Austria, AB InBev is barred altogether from using either the Budweiser or Bud names, which remain the sole property of Budvar.

BT, the UK's largest telecoms company, was granted permission for the first time to sell a bundled "triple play" service which combines phone, broadband and its BT Vision television offering for a single price. Bundled services are common in other countries, and even in the UK where BT's competitors Sky and Virgin Media have always been allowed to sell a combined package. BT was until now restricted from such a move by the telecoms regulator because of its dominance. However, the level of competition has increased so sharply in recent years that those original fears are no longer valid.

British whisky company William Grant & Sons has widened its arrangement with the Russian owners of Stolichnaya to manage distribution in several additional countries. The company secured US rights for Stoli last year. Now it will also handle distribution of the iconic spirit in 13 other markets including The Netherlands, Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore.

Some marketing appointments: Tracy Britton was named as group head of marketing for HSBC. Volkswagen poached Fiat marketing chief Luca De Meo to become the new head of marketing & communications for its VW brand, from September 2009. He will replace Jochen Sengpiehl, who is expected to move to another position within the group.

In the news this past week: Agencies

The offices of Lowe and Draftfcb in two small but significant Western European markets have merged to form a single unit. Oddly enough, the new name varies in each country. In the Netherlands, it is Lowe/Draftfcb Group; in Switzerland Draftfcb/Lowe. In each case, the stronger of the two local agencies takes seniority. Is this the beginning of a slow motion merger of Interpublic's two problem networks? If so, few would be particularly surprised. At a global level, both agencies have struggled for years to find stability, and repeated attempts to bolster the brands through merger or acquisition have for the most part ended in dismal failure. Consolidation of the two brands could be the answer. Let's all hope it doesn't prove to be yet another stage in both businesses' slow decline.

M&C Saatchi reported excellent results for 2008, with revenues up 19% to £104m, and net profits jumping by a third to £10.5m. Performance in the UK and Australia was especially strong, although the group continues to suffer in the US and in its minority-owned Spanish office, although it has no plans to pull out of either market. Instead, M&C has continued to expand its global footprint, establishing a presence already this year in two new countries: Brazil and Switzerland. Another UK agency, Beattie McGuinness Bungay, now part of Korean marketing services group Cheil, was also in expansive mood this week, confirming plans to opens its first office in New York this summer as well as its own inhouse PR division.

In account assignments, Deutsche Bank dropped Grey Group from its agency roster. Grey had been responsible for the bank's consumer advertising within Germany; Scholz handles corporate and institutional advertising. The relationship between DB and Grey had been strained for several years, although cost-cutting may also have been a major factor in the latest development. In other news, DDB Germany was named as the global agency for sportswear brand Reebok; Wieden & Kennedy was awarded global creative for the Nestea iced tea brand jointly managed by Coke and Nestle; cosmetics group Clarins appointed French agency Havas City. For all other appointments, subscribers can access the full Adbrands Account Assignments database here. 

In the news this past week: Media

Jan Koeppen, formerly co-head of the media practise of Boston Consulting Group, was appointed to a new position as chief operating officer for News Corporation's Europe & Asia region. He will be responsible for finance and corporate development, reporting to regional chairman James Murdoch. The creation of the new role could be designed to free up the younger Murdoch to take on some of the North American responsibilities now being surrendered by the group's outgoing COO Peter Chernin. 

Bertelsmann reported generally stable results for 2008, although topline revenues were hurt by the sell-off of its half of Sony BMG as well as the US mail order and book club division. That figure declined 14% to E16.1bn, and net income fell by a third to E270m as a result of impairment charges. Even without impairments, only one of the group's five divisions reported an increase in either sales or profits. This was the Arvato printing and distribution services business, the group's second largest subsidiary with sales of just under E5.0bn.

Separately, Bertelsmann added urgency to discussions over the future of commercial television in the UK, saying that its British broadcast subsidiary Five will need to merge with either ITV or Channel 4 if it is to survive. Group CFO Thomas Rabe told investors "We don't think Five in its current form is sustainable and that a transformation of the business or consolidation is necessary. Everybody agrees that there will be further consolidation in the UK TV market and we are deeply convinced we will be part of it. There is no doubt that in consolidation, Channel Five will have a value. A combination of Five and ITV: everybody can agree this does make sense, if we could agree terms and conditions."

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Simon Tesler
Publisher, Adbrands

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