Doug Speidel, formerly executive creative director of TEQUILA, the digital and direct-marketing unit of TBWAChiatDay in Los Angeles, has moved to New York to join digital agency MRM Worldwide as senior VP/creative director.
In his new capacity, Speidel is set to work on the Diageo business as MRM continues to add to its roster of brands from that client. He will also contribute to business development at the agency.
At TEQUILA, Speidel helped build the North American offices of the worldwide network, providing TBWACD with an integrated creative offering that gained plaudits in both digital and direct creative competitions.
Most notably under Speidel’s watch was Sony PlayStation’s landmark viral “Giantology” campaign that launched the Shadow of the Colossus game and won awards in interactive categories at D&AD, the One Show and Art Directors Club, as well as Best in Show in the Advertising Club of Los Angeles’ Beldings competition.
Before joining TEQUILA, Speidel spent four years as chief creative officer in the New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco offices of Direct Partners where the accounts included DirecTV, E*Trade, Disney and Kmart.
From ’97 to ’98, he was executive creative director at Lowe Direct in New York working on the Mercedes Benz account for North America. From ’90 to ’97, he was a group creative director at Wunderman in New York, a division of Young & Rubicam, a year of which he spent as exec creative director of Wunderman in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
Speidel is the latest significant creative hire at MRM Worldwide in N.Y. this year. The shop recruited Farid Chaouki, VP, director of innovation and experience design, and Roy Eventov, design director, from Israel, a hot-bed of digital talent. Cheryl Van Ooyen, who worked at Deutsch and BBDO Worldwide, creating highly recognized and awarded campaigns for Ikea, Snapple and VISA, joined MRM in April.
MRM’s suite of offerings includes, original content creation, digital strategy, cross-media analytics, search, technology strategy and website design. The agency network has 62 offices in 40 countries and counts Microsoft, Intel, MasterCard, Verizon, and General Motors among its clients.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More