Agencies

On the face of it this online film (by Mother presumably) for IKEA is good wholesome stuff, a bunch of kids having a party with some rather large toys. But the toys have a slightly sinister air and the final ...

Giant global bank HSBC has announced it’s reviewing its global ad account worth about $1bn at WPP’s JWT and media buyer GroupM while pharma giant Pfizer has said it’s dumping Interpublic and concentrating its work into WPP, Omnicom and Publicis ...

Much speculation among the clinking sundowners at Raffles Hotel in Singapore that the venerable Bates agency (now rather reduced as it’s an Asia-only network albeit a large one) might be calling last orders. Bates is now owned by WPP and ...

All Microsoft is saying is that this launch ad for its new Surface iPad rival is directed by John Chu (presumably he wouldn’t do it without a credit). And that it’s nothing to do with Crispin Porter which is supposed ...

Arnold Worldwide has poached Paul Stechschulte from San Francisco’s Pereira & O’Dell to be ECD of Arnold Amsterdam and creative lead on its Volvo account. Stechschulte has also been a creative director at Goodby Silverstein and worked at Wieden+Kennedy and ...

The latest IPA Bellwether survey published today reveals that marketing budgets were revised down for a second successive quarter in Q3 to the greatest extent since the end of 2009. This was due to a tough trading environment hampering profitability ...

Only as non-exec chairman mind but no doubt Howell’s contacts book and boundless optimism (Howell was a founder of HHCL, marketing boss of ITV and head of McCann in the UK) will prove useful to Billington Cartmell Group’s new owners ...

The big marcoms companies have rather enjoyed the sagging global economy over the past couple of years, managing to increase revenue and earnings by rather more than most other sectors, apart from freaky performances like Apple’s (Apple is almost a ...

Well this is the woman you don’t want to meet, a mere (innocent) brush and she’s pregnant. There are loads of weird ads emerging from Scandiwegia (and some of their exiles are taking over big agencies like McCann). And this ...