Agency news you need to know—March 11 2022

Ogilvy's new strategy chief Ogilvy appointed Mick McCabe as its new global chief strategy officer, replacing Ben Richards, who held the role for seven years before departing eight months ago. McCabe held several leadership roles with Publicis Groupe over the past decade, including global chief strategy officer for Publicis Worldwide. WPP’s Ogilvy has made a number of executive moves in recent months, including the January promotion of Devika Bulchandani, who was named global president of Ogilvy, in addition to her position as CEO of Ogilvy North America. McCabe’s departure from Publicis comes after Katie Newman, who led new business across Publicis’ U.S. creative agencies, joined No Fixed Address last month as its first global chief marketing officer. Alicia Keys rings in International Women's Day with Athleta Alicia Keys has partnered with Athleta for a new campaign titled “Within You,” created by agency Yard NYC. The campaign features a video of Keys with three women in a sacred circle inspired by the Chi in Athleta’s logo. They discuss the difference in their beauties while wearing a new limited-edition collection. The video opens by showing the saying, “A powerful woman knows the power of women.” Shaniqwa Jarvis was the director and photographer for the campaign, which was shot in Santa Monica, California. Wunderman Thompson California’s new president Corrine Hendricks was named president of Wunderman Thompson California, succeeding Andrew Solmssen, who is moving on to a Web3 incubator, according to the agency. Hendricks was previously senior VP of client services. The office recently added Snap to its client roster. The agency named Audrey Melofchik CEO of its North America operations in December. Caesars Sportsbook latest ad Caesars Sportsbook is preparing for March Madness with its latest ad, “If You Don’t Have My App,” created by agency Ten6. The 60-second spot sticks with JB Smoove as Caesar and Halle Berry as Cleopatra. The spot promotes the sportsbook’s app-based loyalty program, with Smoove singing “If you don’t have my app, I can’t reward ya.” It also shows Smoove doing an Evil Knievel impression by jumping across several Caesars properties such as the Caesars Superdome. Caesars’ March Madness push comes a month after it aired its first Super Bowl commercial, which also starred Smoove and Berry, in addition to the Manning family. Santander Bank and Eargo hire new Media AORs Santander Bank has consolidated its media business under Dentsu following a six-month pitch. Dentsu X will handle media in the U.S. and Poland while Carat will handle media in Spain, Portugal, and the U.K. Dentsu previously shared responsibilities with Havas Media’s Arena. Hearing-aid manufacturer Eargo named UM its media agency of record. The account was previously handled by MMSI. UM’s recent wins include Grubhub, Enterprise Holdings, Tonal, Storck USA, Behr Paint and NYC & Company. Just briefly Chicago-based agency Two by Four has named Korie Brown group media director, a new position at the agency. She will report to Jessica Romaniuk, who was named president of the Chicago office in October. Brown joined the agency in 2018 and was most recently media director. Blue Chip hired Valerie Williams-Sanchez as VP of cultural intelligence and relevance. Williams-Sanchez previously worked on marketing for Disneyland and product launch planning for Volvo. Ann Yun joins as group creative director, working on media creative, after freelancing for Blue Chip and others. OKRP hired Kevin Lilly for the newly created head of strategy role. He will report to Chief Strategy Officer Nate Swift and work on accounts such as the Illinois Office of Tourism, P&G and Ferrara. Lilly was most recently at Leo Burnett, where he served as executive VP for 10 years, working on campaigns such as Allstate’s Mayhem. Independent agency BLAC is accepting applications for its 12-week paid internship program through March 18. The program takes place at 20 independent agencies, and participants will have the opportunity to work on real briefs from the program sponsor, Procter & Gamble. Participating agencies include Fig, Odysseus Arms, OKRP and DNA. Fitzco has brought on Stephen Lintner and J.W. Affourtit as associate creative directors to work on McCormick’s French’s business and the Checkers & Rally’s accounts. They will report to Ryan Boblett, Fitzco’s head of creative. Lintner and Affourtit replace Erin Fillingim and Evan Miguel, who left the agency. Lintner joins Fitzco from GSD&M, where he was a senior writer and worked on the Popeyes account. Affourtit joins from Edelman, where he was a senior art director and helped relaunch the Electrolux Kitchen line of appliances. Creative agency 180LA has named Sarah Rubinstein as head of strategic planning. Kaleen Ogden last held the position in the fall and is no longer with the agency. Rubinstein comes from TBWA Chiat/Day in Los Angeles where she was principal and VP of strategy. She founded the agency's purpose-led consulting practice. Rubinstein reports directly to Al Moseley, global chair and chief creative officer. Labelium Play, the digital marketing arm of global e-commerce performance agency Labelium, is launching NXTLVL, a gaming-only ad agency. It will be based in Chicago and led by Clayton McLaughlin, managing director of Labelium Play. NXTLVL will specialize in product insertion, virtual experiences within gaming platforms and brand integration.

Agency news you need to know this week

Featured Stories