The Cavalry Productions has signed Deluxe, aka director Stephane Leloutre. Deluxe has wrapped his first project in the U.S., a spot for Toyota out of agency Burrell….
NY-based content studio The Collective @ LAIR has added director and tabletop specialist Ben Dolphin to its roster. Master of high-speed camera work and effects-driven visuals, Dolphin is known for blending live action and CGI elements often in TV commercials across the industries of food, cosmetics, fashion, beauty, and pharmaceuticals. He has worked with brands such as Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Dove, Lipton, L’Oreal and Tylenol. Dolphin recently completed his first project with LAIR, a campaign for The American Pistachio Growers featuring a vibrant, visually striking aesthetic style, supported by high-speed closeups of pistachios in motion, colorful backgrounds, and lively typography animations….
BETC, Paris, is creating TRACTION, a dedicated agency for the global automotive brand Citroen. The TRACTION name pays homage to the legendary Traction Avant (front-wheel drive) vehicle produced by the car manufacturer from 1934 to 1957. Slated to officially open on Oct. 1, TRACTION will be led by Bertille Toledano and Stephane Xiberras, presidents of BETC Paris. Citroen, which, for the last 30 years has been a historic account of the Havas network that helped build this iconic brand, was previously handled by Les Gaulois agency. Toledano will serve as president of TRACTION while Xiberras is president and executive creative director….
Google Opens Its Defense In Antitrust Case Alleging Monopoly Over Online Ad Technology
Google opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology Friday with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government.
"The industry has been exceptionally fluid over the last 18 years," said Scott Sheffer, a vice president for global partnerships at Google, the company's first witness at its antitrust trial in federal court in Alexandria.
The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by consumers.
Google counters that the government's case improperly focuses on a narrow type of online ads — essentially the rectangular ones that appear on the top and on the right-hand side of a webpage. In its opening statement, Google's lawyers said the Supreme Court has warned judges against taking action when dealing with rapidly emerging technology like what Sheffer described because of the risk of error or unintended consequences.
Google says defining the market so narrowly ignores the competition it faces from social media companies, Amazon, streaming TV providers and others who offer advertisers the means to reach online consumers.
Justice Department lawyers called witnesses to testify for two weeks before resting their case Friday afternoon, detailing the ways that automated ad exchanges conduct auctions in a matter of milliseconds to determine which ads are placed in front of which consumers and how much they cost.
The department contends the auctions are finessed in subtle ways that benefit Google to the exclusion of would-be competitors and in ways that prevent... Read More