Agency news
Domino’s ended its 130-year relationship with Crispin Porter + Bogusky and hired WorkinProgress, an indie agency founded by CP+B vets; Hershey’s put its $400 million U.S. media account, which has been with UM since 2013, up for review; and the NBA handed its creative account to Cartwright and its media buying account to MediaHub for the 2020-21 season.
APAC creative agency Special Group opened an office in the U.S., headed by William Gelner, with Uber Eats as its founding client.
Digital innovation company Icreon acquired growth strategy consultancy Chinatown Bureau.
On the move
Mother brought on Katie Longmyer as managing director and partner in New York, completing the office’s senior leadership team.
72andSunny hired Sherina Florence as group creative director in New York.
Human appointed Adam Skalecki as ECD and Kelsey Sullivan as senior director of insights and strategy.
LA indie media agency GP Generate hired Krissy Kobata as director of business development and Nick Perez as integrated media director.
Kevin Redmond joined indie full service agency Fuseideas as chief creative strategist.
Dagger hired Christofer Peterson as SVP of people and culture, Brandon Hampton as creative director and Vince Scicchitano as an account lead.
Integral Ad Science brought on Tom Sharma as chief product officer.
Podcast agency Oxford Road announced Stevan Abraham will join as president, Kraig Kitchin as a strategic advisor and president of culture media and Jennifer Laine as head of marketing.
Brand news
Inspire Brands bought Dunkin’ Brands Group, which includes Dunkin’ and Baskin Robbins, for $11.3 billion, including debt. And Nestlé bought meal delivery company Freshly for $950 million, with a potential $550 million bonus based on growth targets.
Brands including McDonald’s, Wendy’s, White Castle and Krispy Kreme offered free giveaways to U.S. customers looking to stress eat while waiting for election results.
East coast restaurant chain Friendly’s filed for bankruptcy.
In lieu of a Super Bowl spot, Avocados from Mexico is partnering with sportscasters Troy Aikman and Erin Andrews on an in-store shopper program that gives consumers the chance to win $1 million.
Henkel launched an AI tool that gives personalized hair consultations.
In addition to the Pringle’s mascot, KFC’s Colonel Sanders is shaving his mustache in support of men’s health during Movember.
Tech download
California passed Proposition 24, also known as The Consumer Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which adds even more stringent online data privacy controls to the existing California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The act, which will become enforceable by law in 2023, more closely resembles Europe’s GDPR. **Cue ad tech freak out**.
Nielsen will sell its Global Connect unit, recently rebranded to NielsenIQ, to PE firm Advent International for $2.7 billion. Nielsen also said it will support The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0 Initiative to replace cookies, and that it will start including data from cable set-top boxes in its TV measurement methodology.
DoubleVerify can now assess brand safety across Google’s buying platform, Display & Video 360, for the first time.
Martech consortium CM Group acquired Selligent Marketing Cloud.
Connatix launched a tool for publishers to create contextually relevant Stories.
W2O added new features to its Symplur social media analytics platform that offer more insight into what doctors see, do and say for life science companies to better engage.
In the media
YouTube is ending advertiser takeovers of its masthead, right after Donald Trump bought the coveted slot pre-election.
AT&T is in talks with PE firms to sell a large minority stake in DirecTV, AT&T Now and U-Verse. The deal could value the pay-TV unit, acquired for $67 billion with debt five years ago, at just $15 billion.
Snapchat will now allow creators to display their follower counts.
TikTok signed a licensing deal with Sony that allows its users to upload music from its record labels.
Start-up HyphaMetrics launched to offer TV measurement at the individual level, challenging Nielsen and Comscore.
The Washington Post launched a tool that uses its first-party data to contextually target ads.
Out-of-home media owner Clear Channel won the largest U.S. airport advertising contract with Port Authority of New York & New Jersey to create digital experiences.
The IAB is out with a new study that proves advertising against news has a positive impact on brand trust.
For good
S4 Capital is starting a four-year immersive fellowship program for graduates from HBCUs.
AnalogFolk created an AI tool called BigUp.AI 2.0 that helps women speak and self-promote more confidently in emails and other communications.
Sneaker brand Vans will celebrate self-expression and donate $1 million to global charities that support mental health for its Checkerboard Day.
Retailer Kohl’s is gifting $5 million to nonprofits this holiday season.