Agency news
AOR wins: Hearing-aid brand Miracle-Ear has selected Doner as its agency of record, fast-food chain Krystal has named Dagger its agency of record and telehealth company Heal has tapped The Woo as its AOR.
The Shipyard launched an e-commerce practice, headed up by Lance Porigow with two new clients: Bollé and BrewDog.
Partners + Napier launched a content production hub called Gammut Productions.
Former The Mill CCO Angus Kneale launched Preymaker, a collective of creatives, technologists and producers that work with cloud-based tools such as AWS.
On the move
R/GA promoted two San Francisco execs, managing director David Corns and executive production director Julie Andrews, uniting the agency’s California offices under the same leadership.
A bunch of moves at McCann Worldgroup this week: Grant Theron was named CEO of Chevrolet agency Commonwealth//McCann and global business leader on the GM account; McCann North America promoted Sean Bryan and Tom Murphy to co-CCOs and Veronica Bertran to chief client officer. And McCann New York elevated Chioma Aduba to EVP, head of business leadership.
The Martin Agency tapped Wieden + Kennedy vet Ashley Marshall as ECD.
MediaLink hired Dentsu exec Reshma Karnik as VP of data and technology solutions.
Production company 1stAveMachine signed Ron Brodie to its directorial roster.
Engine appointed Nadine Cheung as creative director, Jana Cudiamat as account director and Jennifer Jones as media director.
Former MLB and Publicis Media exec Celeste Bell joined Deutsch New York as EVP, director of human resources.
Indie agency PMG brought on 360i vet Jason Hartley as head of search, social and shopping.
CTV ad platform Innovid named Dale Older as its first chief product officer.
CX and commerce agency LiveArea named Barry Fiske SVP of global experience and innovation.
Chicago-based Two by Four promoted Jessica Romaniuk to VP.
Juan Woodbury joined FCB as EVP, director of branded content and entertainment.
SB Nation added Nyerr Parham as GM and Bryan Graham as senior director of audience and engagement.
Kaylin Goldstein was promoted to head of planning for Leo Burnett Chicago.
Election runup
Facebook botched an effort to ban new political ads in the week prior to the election, deactivating pre-approved campaigns that were sent in prior to the deadline.
Joe Biden became the highest-spending candidate ever on TV ads, hitting $582.7 million.
Snapchat brought back its famous dancing hot dog to help people vote early.
Agency Wildbytes launched a mobile game where players can interrupt a presidential debate with a boxing match.
Brand news
Burger King rolled out reusable cardboard packaging. In Chile, the fast-food chain launched a Referendum Whopper in light of the country’s vote this week to change its constitution, and gave away a free blue pen for voting with every order.
Fortnite tapped J. Balvin for an in-game Halloween concert, where he will debut a new single.
Chipotle reported its largest ever quarterly sales increase of 8.3% year over year, thanks to increased online ordering. The brand also tapped Bill Nye The Science Guy to promote its in-app tracker, which gives consumers information about ingredients.
Jay-Z launched a cannabis company called Monogram.
Panera introduced flatbread pizza to its menu as people order takeout for dinner.
Bayer launched a Global Creative Council, bringing together senior creative leaders across agencies and brands to help the brand transform consumer health experiences.
Tech download
E-commerce is king. Google Shopping launched price insights, price comparison and price tracking tools to help people score deals for the upcoming holiday season. Facebook is enabling shopping within messages on WhatsApp. And Pinterest rolled out online merchandising tools including storefront designs, product tagging and catalogue uploading.
The billboards are alive. The Out of Home Advertising Association of America launched a working group to set standards for real-time bidding, and OOH media owner Clear Channel can now validate impressions in U.S. Airports.
Identity crisis. LiveRamp will support The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0 solution as third-party cookies disappear, and Lotame is out with a cookieless ID solution. Epsilon released a study that finds advertisers are “frustrated” and “disappointed” about third-party cookie deprecation.
Big money. Verification vendor DoubleVerify received a $350 million investment led by Tiger Global Management; marketing intelligence company SimilarWeb raised $120 million.
IAB Tech Lab released a content taxonomy to help third-party verification vendors identify content for brand safety purposes.
Facebook is taking on Twitch and Microsoft with a move into cloud gaming.
Amazon launched new functionality in its demand-side platform, including widely available API reporting, bulk editing on bids and preferred filters and settings.
In the media
T-Mobile launched three streaming services and a streaming device called T-Mobile Hub to “take on the cableopoly.” Because we all need another streaming service.
In podcast land, iHeartMedia acquired programmatic marketplace Voxnest, enhancing its targeted ad serving capabilities, and Podchaser launched a directory with audience and contact information for major podcasts.
Nielsen rebranded its global consumer business as Nielsen IQ after splitting the company from its media business last year.
Anti-Trump Republican advocacy group The Lincoln Project is launching a media company.
Senate Democrats want regulation to protect local newspapers, which are being decimated by Google-Facebook duopoly and by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Good
Stacy’s launched limited edition bags with a QR code that directs consumers to more than 13,000 nearby female-founded businesses.
Pinterest will allow creators, retailers and advertisers to identify as part of underrepresented groups in its commitment to ensure a diverse ecosystem.
Johnson & Johnson created an Instagram filter that guides women through a breast self-examination for Breast Cancer awareness month.
Buchanan’s Whiskey teamed up with J. Balvin and World Central Kitchen to provide 40,000 meals to people across the U.S.