The Marketing Arm, the Omnicom agency behind Pepsi’s award-winning “Uncle Drew” film series and the Dove Men+Care “Real Strength” video, has hired Greg Neal as VP, head of production, a new position at the company. Based in the agency’s Dallas office, Neal will be responsible for leading the agency’s video content studio. He will report to CEO Dan Belmont.
“From in-house producers to a network of studio partners and makers, The Marketing Arm’s hub-and-spoke model helps us pivot to the right content solution for our clients,” said Belmont. “Greg’s the perfect guy to build on this model and deliver at the speed and efficiency brands are demanding today.”
A seasoned media executive with 20 years of experience launching cable television networks in Los Angeles and New York, Neal most recently served as VP for Silicon Valley-based Clippit, the popular mobile app used by media platforms such as SB Nation, Bleacher Report and USA Today that allows users to share live TV clips to social media.
Previously, Neal served on the executive teams that helped launch Pac-12 Sports Networks and OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. He also served as a VP of creative for Food Network. His television work has earned more than 70 creative awards, including from Promax, Telly, and the New York Festival.
“Over the last several years, I’ve been impressed — and a little jealous — of the terrific content work that The Marketing Arm has been doing for brands like Frito-Lay, Pepsi, AT&T, the NBA, and on and on,” said Neal. “They’re great storytellers, but they understand how to create content that solves many of the challenges that our clients are facing. Great work, great creative minds, big ideas.”
Is “Glicked” The New “Barbenheimer”? “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” Hit Theater Screens
"Barbenheimer" was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn't stopped people from trying to make "Glicked" — or even "Babyratu" — happen.
The counterprogramming of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office.
And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, "Saw Patrol" ).
This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation "Wicked" opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic "Gladiator II." Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: "Wickiator," "Wadiator," "Gladwick" and even the eyebrow raising "Gladicked" have all been suggested.
"'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more," actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of "Gladiator II" this week. "I think we should all band around 'Glicked.' It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it."
As with "Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, "Glicked" also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging... Read More