By Kristin Wilcha
New Faces
Creative director John McNeil is joining McCann Erickson, San Francisco, to head creative on the Microsoft account. He was previously with Ogilvy & Mather, New York.
Bertrand Garbassi is joining chemistri, Troy, Mich., to head the creative on the Cadillac account. He comes over from Young & Rubicam Detroit, Dearborn, Mich., where he served as co-creative director.
David Jenkins has joined agency Sedgwick Rd., Seattle, as senior VP/executive creative director.
Logan Wilmont, co-executive creative director at kirshenbaum bond + partners, New York, is leaving the agency to open a new venture in London.
Todd Lamb, a copywriter and art director, has joined Mother, New York. He was previously with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.
Account Movement
Samsung is consolidating its global ad account—estimated to be worth $400 million—with a team of agencies from the WPP Group. J. Walter Thompson, New York, will provide global management, while Berlin Cameron/Red Cell, New York, will handle creative duties.
Young & Rubicam, New York, has won ad duties on the Weight Watchers account.
Crispin Porter+Bogusky, Miami, has resigned the Ikea account, estimated at $40 million. Ikea has selected Santa Monica agency Secret Weapon to handle the account.
Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), New York, has won ad duties on Diageo’s Smirnoff Ice account.
DirecTV Buys Dish As Satellite Rivals Hunker Down Against Onslaught Of Streaming Services
DirecTV is buying Dish and Sling, a deal it has sought to complete for years, as the company seeks to better compete against streaming services that have become dominant. DirecTV said Monday that it will acquire Dish TV and Sling TV from its owner EchoStar in a debt exchange transaction that includes a payment of $1, plus the assumption of approximately $9.8 billion in debt. The prospect of a DirecTV-Dish combo has long been rumored, with headlines about reported talks popping up over the years. And the two almost merged more than two decades ago — but the Federal Communications Commission blocked their owners' then-$18.5 billion deal, citing antitrust concerns. The pay-for-TV market has shifted significantly since. As more and more consumers tune into online streaming giants, demand for more traditional satellite continues to shrink. And, although high-profile acquisitions have proven to be particularly tough under the Biden-Harris administration, that may make regulators more inclined to approve DirecTV and Dish's pairing this time around. DirecTV said Monday that the transaction will help it bring smaller content packages to consumer at lower prices and essentially provide a one-stop shopping experience for entertainment programming. It's hoping this will appeal to those who have left satellite video services for streaming. The company said that combined, DirecTV and Dish have collectively lost 63% of their satellite customers since 2016. "DirecTV operates in a highly competitive video distribution industry," DirecTV CEO Bill Morrow said in a statement. "With greater scale, we expect a combined DirecTV and Dish will be better able to work with programmers to realize our vision for the future of tv, which is to aggregate, curate, and distribute... Read More