• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, November 26, 2013

Hey here's a really cool way for two geographically disparate agencies to get to know one another -post acquisition. After Boston-based Allen & Gerritsen acquired Philadelphia-based Nieman, they implemented a cross-office game of Tic-Tac-Toe. But this version of the game has a twist. Called Pic Tap Toe, the game involves nine RFID readers for the squares, Instagram and WiFi. Each office takes turns by placing a special game piece on sections of a custom game board consisting of RFID readers and an Arduino. Instead of Xs and Os, photos from employees’ Instagram streams appear on one of the 9 corresponding screens in each office. Screens update in real time in both locations, becoming a digital connection point and a way to glimpse into their coworkers’ lives through the photos they’ve taken. What an awesome way to get to know one another.

What does an AKQA art director do in his spare time? If you're Andrew Welding, you create a Tumblr called Make the Logo Bigger and you do just that...with a twist. Welding has uploaded the logos of Starbucks, Playboy, Shell, Apple, Pepsi, the U.S, Post Office, American Airlines, GE and others. But he has uploaded zoomed-in versions of the logos making for logos that look a just a bit different than the originals. Hey, it's a Tuesday before Thanksgiving. There isn't much hard news out there so we'll take what we can get.

Former Starcom MediaVest Group executive Steven Wolfe Pereira has joined Datalogix as Chief Marketing Officer. As CMO at Datalogix, Wolfe Pereira, who will be based in San Francisco, will assume global responsibility for Datalogix's brand advertising, corporate communications, and product and vertical marketing initiatives. In addition, he will also lead Datalogix's global agency partnerships and development.  Of the hire, Datalogix CEO Eric Roza said, "Datalogix is at an inflection point as the advertising industry realizes the value of purchase-based data and the importance of focusing on buyers rather than clickers. With Steven's experience and relationships in the advertising, media and technology industries, he is the perfect fit to lead Datalogix's marketing and communications efforts."

While the review may not result in any change, especially in the case of JWT which has held the Marine Corps account for 65 years, both the Navy and the Marine Corps have placed their creative accounts in review, a practice that occurs roughly every five years. Both JWT and Campbell Ewald, which has had the Navy account since 2000, will defend. Of their participation, a JWT statement read, "We know this opportunity, just like all things Marine, is earned, never given. We are proud of the work that we have created together with our Marine partners and welcome each chance to support young Marines on Recruiting Duty. Our team's mindset and approach is that we work hard to earn the Marine Corps' business every day, showing our innovation, efficiency and competitive advantage in all we do." 

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