Havas New York has brought Marcelo Ramirez and Bharat Kumar on board as executive creative directors from Johannes Leonardo, and Melissa Tifrere as head of integrated production. Most recently Tifrere served as an independent executive producer leading productions for such shops as BBDO, JOAN, Translation and 72andSunny.
Ramirez, Kumar and Tifrere mark the first hires by chief creative officer Dan Lucey, who took Havas New York’s creative helm in December 2020.
Prior to Johannes Leonardo, Ramirez and Kumar were VP, creative directors at Momentum WW. Over their combined 30 years in advertising, they’ve worked together across a wide range of categories including CPG, beer/spirits, automotive, fashion and sports, and on brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, American Express, Kraft-Heinz and others. For much of that work, including the notable “Church of Hoops” for Nike, Ramirez and Kumar have been recognized at the industry’s top award shows, including Cannes Lions–where they won two Grand Prix awards–D&AD, The One Show, Clios and The ANDYs.
Tifrere has been producing for the last 14 years. She brings a modern take on production with a keen eye for visual storytelling, and has worked at many of the leading creative shops in the industry–large and small. Tifrere has delivered work for Microsoft, BMW, AT&T, Foot Locker, PepsiCo, Reebok, Chase, Marriott, Verizon, Crayola, Sharp, Chevron, United Airlines, Goldman Sachs and USPS. As senior producer at m:united/McCann, she oversaw the entire production process from beginning to end for the Microsoft account. Prior to McCann, Tifrere was lead producer on BMW at KBS.
“My priority,” said Lucey, “is to build one of the most inclusive, collaborative creative departments in the industry with only the best talent that love what they do; it’s that simple. Marcelo and Bharat’s work consistently raises the bar in terms of how it has influenced culture and changed society for the better—all while still selling products. They understand that brand actions speak louder than ads. Melissa, who I’ve worked with before, is one of the most dynamic producers in the business. She can effortlessly tackle large scale productions and also has the agility for fast-moving quick turns.”
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