Independent creative agency Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners (BSSP) has hired Robison Mattei and Will Sands as its newest associate creative directors. Both industry vets–who have held senior-level creative roles at agencies including TBWAChiatDay, 180LA and Deutsch–will work across all BSSP clients and new business projects, helping the agency to further elevate its creative work and effectiveness. They will report to group creative directors Nicole Michels McDonagh and Sinan Dagli.
Mattei has spent the last decade working at agencies around the globe–from São Paulo to Dubai to Los Angeles, creating work for McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Toyota USA, ABInbev, Asics, Nestlé, P&G, Google Cloud, among others. Brazilian born, to an Italian family full of artists and creators, he was naturally drawn to design. Mattei started his ad career at F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi Sao Paulo and worked his way up the creative ladder with stints at Lowe, JWT, Leo Burnett, Crispin Porter + Bogusky and 180LA. Most recently, he served as a sr. art director at TBWAChiatDay. His work has been recognized by several major award competitions including the Cannes Lions Festival, New York Festivals, The One Show and the Dubai Lynx International Festival.
A truly integrated creative, Sands has spent time at both traditional and digital agencies including 180LA, Deutsch, and AKQA, working as a copywriter on major brands like Jordan, Volkswagen, Bud Light, Postmates, and Taco Bell. It was during his tenure at 180LA where he and Mattei first worked together. Over the last year, Sands has freelanced for various L.A.-based shops including Virtue, 72andSunny, and Decoded. His work has received industry awards at the Cannes Lions Festival, The One Show, D&AD and ANDYs; he’s also participated on juries for the CLIO Awards and The Webby Awards.
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