• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, October 21, 2013

Oh you agencies. Won't you ever learn? And it's not really all that difficult either. In fact, it's very simple. Ready? Repeat after me. "I will follow the rules when I enter my work in an industry award competition. I will follow the rules when I enter my work in an industry award competition. I will..." Oh you get the gist. Sadly, it seems, there are still a few of you out there who think it's perfectly fine to enter work into an awards show when, in fact, it never appeared anywhere. The latest agency to get caught submitting work that never ran is South African agency MetropolitanRepublic. The agency submitted and won a Loeries Grand Prix for its MTN Project Uganda work, a campaign designed to help students access study material and help people without bank accounts transfer money. The agency claimed the work ran for four weeks in Ugandan newspapers when, in fact, it did not. The agency which...wait for it...blames the whole thing on a "clerical error," has had all of its work disqualified from this year's Loeries. Andrew Human, CEO of the Loeries said, “No representative from MetropolitanRepublic will be allowed to judge at the Loeries for the next two years." In addition, Human added, “Any entries submitted by MetropolitanRepublic for the next two years must be accompanied by a media schedule, a letter from the brand representative and the contact details of the brand representative." Begs the question of course why all entrants aren't required to do that in the first place? 

The folks behind a new company called RAZR sound like they've been sipping a bit too much buzzword bingo Kool-Aid. And you know how much we love to share that particular brand of agency idiocy with you. An email announcing the company boldly states, "RAZR is a multi-faceted collective of content-driven, technology-inspired storytellers, thinkers, and creators delivering future-proof entertainment." A gushing spigot of grandiosity continues to spew with, "As a multi-disciplinary company, we actively celebrate a global innovative culture within diverse productivity platforms for advertising, fashion, media and technology. By continuously exploring the infinite possibilities of film production, content creation and tech development, we keep you (and us) at the cusp of the age of engagement." Wait. What? We're all confused now. What do you do? Make ads? Design clothes? Invent technology? Produce films? Make up your minds!

Carl Anderson, chairman of the 110-year-old B2B agency Doremus, is stepping down after leading Doremus as CEO for 12 years and one as chairman. Anderson, who began his career at Deloitte, worked at Wells, Rich, Greene as well as BBDO. Of his exiting, Anderson said, “’To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.’ My two plus decades have been a great season…my role has always been to anticipate changes in our industry and, when necessary, to reset our corporate compass as a means of keeping Doremus relevant and competitive. And now, it is time, as the song says, for a new purpose. Some may call it retirement. I call it rewirement.” As part of that "rewirement," Anderson recently founded the Brothers Fund, a non-profit micro lender dedicated to helping veterans start their own businesses. The name is in memory of his father and uncles who all served in the armed forces during World War II, and returned home safely to start families and fulfill their American Dream.

M&C Saatchi New York CEO Jeff Brooks is bringing in Graceann Bennett, veteran of such shops as Ogilvy Chicago, Leo Burnett and Arnold, to lead strategic planning. She will start in December when Chief Strategy Officer Sveta Doucet leaves the agency. Of her new position, Bennett, who left Ogilvy as managing director in March, said, "I was ready to never be in advertising again because I was sick of all the big holding companies. Once it gets really big ... you feel like you're a cog in the machine. And I wanted to create something new or be part of a team that's more nimble, more entrepreneurial and ... more connected to the work and less about the machinery of big agency holding companies." She will have that chance at M&C Saatchi New York where she will oversee the 25 staffers in the agency's ad group.

So what do you do when you leave an agency? Do you send a farewell email to the entire agency? Do you unceremoniously run around the agency in anger and tell everyone who ever pissed you off to go F themselves? Or do you get creative and record a hip hop farewell that causes one to wonder what you were doing working in advertising in the first place? That's what one former Digitas employee decided to do upon exit. Give it a listen. Not bad, huh?