Trailer Park has acquired goodness Mfg., a creative and strategy boutique based in Venice, CA. Beginning next week, goodness Mfg will combine their staff with Trailer Park, an integrated communications and postproduction company with nearly 300 employees.
The combined agency will pursue advertising business under the goodness Mfg. banner with Trailer Park serving as the calling card for its entertainment clients (as it has since Trailer Park launched in 1994). The terms of the deal are undisclosed.
Founded by five former execs at Crispin Porter + Bogusky (CP+B), goodness Mfg. recently gained a higher profile based on its online campaign and website launch for Google’s Nexus One smartphone. Additional goodness Mfg. clients include LucasArts, Nestle and American Cancer Society.
Prior to forming goodness Mfg, the three creative leaders of the agency–Paul Keister, Tom Adams and Bob Cianfrone–were best known for their contributions to groundbreaking campaigns at CP+B such as Burger King’s Subservient Chicken, the anti-tobacco campaign Truth, IKEA’s Lamp, and the launch of MINI. The trio, who will continue to lead creative at the combined agency, find themselves reunited with former CP+B colleague Matt Bonin. Formerly VP/integrated head of production at CP+B in Boulder, Colo., Bonin came aboard Trailer Park last September as senior VP/director of integrated production.
“Traditionally, thinking and doing have been very separate entities in advertising. It’s that separation that creates wasted time and missed opportunities,” said goodness Mfg. executive creative director, Tom Adams. “With goodness Mfg. joining Trailer Park, it enables collaboration much earlier in the process. As a result, we get creative alignment sooner–ensuring the work goes to market faster. This is especially critical as communications evolve into hundreds of micro-interactions, not just one big campaign.”
Trailer Park CEO Rick Eiserman added, “As marketers look to new partners to ensure their brand communications are keeping pace with increasingly demanding consumers and an evolving media landscape, Trailer Park and goodness Mfg. are really well situated. Our ability to provide unparalleled creative and production capabilities, without all the inefficiencies of an old world model, is a game-changer.”
Eiserman cited Goodness’ consumer insights practice and creative talent coupled with Trailer Park’s offerings spanning digital, design, postproduction and advanced content. These combined resources, he said, facilitates the creation of relevant content across multiple platforms.
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