Sunday, August 31, 2014

12024: Intel Heading Out…?

Advertising Age speculated that the hiring of a new CMO prompted Intel to place its creative account into review. This is, of course, a standard gripe in the advertising industry: the short-lived tenures of CMOs lead to automatic reassignments, leaving poor, poor, pitiful incumbent agencies in losing positions. Or maybe such maneuvers are actually indicating other industry trends. Perhaps the holding companies—through corporate cultural collusion and commoditization of shops within the networks—have established a generic field that inspires CMOs to seek change. And perchance the CMOs are essentially mimicking advertising agencies; that is, when a new agency leader—say, a CCO—shows up, a general housecleaning is the norm. Hell, a major bloodbath is almost guaranteed. For an agency to cry foul over a disruptive CMO is the pot calling the kettle black. Although most agencies are far more White than Black.

In Wake Of New CMO, Intel Launches Creative Review

Venables, Bell & Partners Has Been Lead Creative Shop

By Maureen Morrison

Intel is holding a review for its creative business, Ad Age has learned.

The move comes after Intel hired Steven Fund as its new chief marketing officer in May. Prior to his appointment at Intel, he was senior VP-marketing at Staples. The review is being handled internally by Intel, and the marketer reached out to a small number of agencies, according to people familiar with the matter. Venables Bell & Partners has been handling the creative, and it’s believed that the shop is participating in the review. Venables declined to comment. An Intel spokesman said the company regularly reviews agency partners but wouldn’t comment beyond that.

Venables was named lead global agency back in 2009. The marketer switched its agency approach for a couple years after that, moving to a jumpball setup. DDB handled some big campaigns during that time, though the shop does not currently work with Intel. Last summer, however, Venables became lead agency again, starting with the launch of Intel’s “Look Inside” campaign.

Work for by Venables includes a few films for Intel’s global “Look Inside” campaign featuring blind mountaineer Erik Weihenmayer, 16-year-old medical pioneer Jack Andraka, and more recently, Mick Ebeling, founder of The Ebeling Group and Not Impossible Labs. The latter film tells how, after reading about a boy named Daniel who lost his arms during the civil war in South Sudan, Mr. Ebeling traveled to Africa with 3D printers, Intel 2-in-1s and spools of plastic and established the world’s first 3D prosthetic printing lab.

It’s not yet clear whether Intel’s other agency relationships could be affected by future reviews, but according to one executive, others may be forthcoming. In May 2013, Intel hired Leo Burnett’s Arc to handle digital and shopper marketing.

The chip maker spent $85 million on measured media in 2013, according to Kantar Media, up nearly 60% from a year earlier. In the first half of 2014, the company has spent about $44 million on U.S. measured media.

Contributing: Malika Toure

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