Best of the Week: Secret meetings and feeling fresh

[View web version]( BEST OF THE WEEK [Cooperate]( And another thing... Have you ever had one of those days that really got away from you? (Spoiler alert: Of course you have). Mine started yesterday on the bus on the way into work when a man vomited all over me. What do you even do in that situation? Well, speaking from a place of experience now, I can tell you - not a whole lot. At Mumbrella360 last week, Richard de Crespigny - the pilot who successfully guided a heavily damaged QF32 and all its passengers to safety - spoke about how people react in unexpected situations. The first 30 seconds, he said, are crucial. Some people are trained to overcome their emotions, fears and irrationalities, so can focus on attacking the immediate problem in front of them. Others take action which ultimately makes their predicament worse. And a third group - which apparently is where I will sit when the world bursts into flames - do nothing. I now know for sure I will be entirely useless in any unplanned, unexpected emergency situation (but if you give me a pre-planned, organised, scheduled disaster, there's every chance I will be prepared). Now as much as I'm sure Sir Vomitalot was having a worse day than I was, it really was less than ideal for me. I spent far too long standing on the street trying to decide what to do now, if people at work would even believe me ("Do I take a photo to prove it? No, don't do that, that's weird and gross. People don't want to see that, Vivienne. And as much as you love to be real on social media, this really isn't a 'Get it for the 'Gram' moment"), and, of course, how late this would make my daily Mumbrella newsletter. I was then, predictably, late to all my meetings yesterday, and completely ran out of time to do this Best of the Week email. By the time I got home last night, there was simply no way I could bring myself to sit down and write it. Which is why it's now 9:35am on Saturday - I'm not a morning person - and I have precisely 30 minutes to tell you some interesting rumours I heard this week. International relations Back in May, the world's largest advertising and communications group, WPP, announced what many saw as a 'left-field' appointment as its new CEO. I love to pretend I know everything - and I also have that annoying habit when big news breaks, or something scandalous is revealed, of saying 'I BLOODY KNEW THAT' - but even I hadn't heard Jens Monsees, a marketer from Germany, bandied around as a potential successor to Mike Connaghan. Immediately debate started about whether or not Monsees was the best person for what is going to be a tough gig - although perhaps not as monumentally tough as the task Henry Tajer is facing in trying to rebuild the Dentsu Aegis Network. It was hard for a lot of the industry to even draw a conclusion on the appointment, as so many of us were completely unfamiliar with him. 'Fleshpeddler', for example, said in the Mumbrella comment thread: "So am I right in thinking….neither Australian or New Zealand experience nor any time working in an agency? hmmm". While 'realitycheck' argued: "When you’re at that level (global remit) learning a tiny market like AU/NZ takes very little time. And client empathy, in the current market, is far more valuable than having been indoctrinated in the antiquated way agencies operate in this region. He will probably soar in the role. Refreshing move by WPP." My secret squirrels tell me Monsees slipped into the country this week. I understand he isn't taking over from interim CEO and chairman John Steedman for some months yet, but he has begun meeting with some of the many people he will soon be leading. The visit, it seems, has only further fuelled speculation about the cultural difficulties Monsees will face coming into the role, and the rumour mill on Friday was in overdrive about what WPP will look like under his leadership. Fresh to death Speaking of the rumour mill, we all know that as soon as a new chief marketing officer comes on board, speculation mounts as to when - not if - they will review their brand's agency arrangements. And so to Coles, where former CMO of Tourism Australia, Lisa Ronson, has started her role. Coles' iconic - and annoying, and divisive, and effective - 'Down, Down' campaigns are created by agency Big Red. There has also been the 'Good things are happening at Coles' brand platform. These ads, while perhaps not as exciting and inspiring as Ronson's Dundee Tourism Australia campaign - which incidentally just [won a TV Week Logie]( - do work. Yet it feels like everyone is waiting to see if Ronson can use her status as a brave and innovative marketer to re-invent the category. Big Red has, I believe, met with Ronson already, and is confident with the arrangement. I'm sure, however, other agencies would love to work with one of the biggest accounts in the country, and indeed one of the most spoken about marketers. Let's remember, that while many of us think of supermarket and department store advertising here as boring and price-based, internationally it can be a different story - so there is definitely room for Ronson to make an impact. Thinking about this walking home from Bondi Junction station last night - no bus for me - I walked past Spar Express on Bondi Road. And right there, in a big wrap around on The Sydney Morning Herald is a giant Coles ad. 'Get fresh for the weekend Australia'. Initially, I laughed, as it sounded a bit like a 47-year-old Dad trying a bit too hard to be a bit too cool with his young daughters ("Stay fresh, kids"), but then I paused. While, of course, Coles has marketed itself on fresh, local produce in the past, and indeed continues to do so, competitor Woolworths has managed to somewhat own the 'fresh' idea due to its 'Fresh food people' tagline. 'Get fresh for the weekend' blurs that line slightly, and I wonder if it could be the beginning of a new marketing angle for Coles. Big jobs So both Lisa Ronson and Jens Monsees have big jobs in front of them, but there's another big one still to be filled. Do you have any word on who might be set to replace Danny Bass as CEO of IPG Mediabrands? One school of thought is, do they even need to replace him? With global CEOs for each of the holding group's agency brands, the local CEOs are still accountable and have a clear reporting line. Plus, if there's a CFO in place, someone's still keeping an eye on the group's overall performance. General sentiment in the industry at the moment seems to be that brands and marketers are definitely no longer appointing holding groups, or buying into that larger, over-arching brand. Instead its about the individual agency and what it can offer. Then there was speculation Mat Baxter - who has been ramping up his local profile again, getting himself the name 'The Walking Headline' - could be set to return home to replace Danny. Mat is currently based in the US as global CEO of IPG Mediabrands' agency Initiaitve. For now, however, that speculation has been shut down. So, who's in the running? Or will we have another Monsees situation where someone nobody saw coming steals the show? That's it for this week. I think I may go back to bed. I'm not feeling great, but that really could be because I've just forced myself to relive Vomit-aggedon, and write this in under an hour. My colleague Hannah is on the newsdesk this weekend, you can reach her at: hannah@mumbrella.com.au Or feel free to drop me a line: vivienne@mumbrella.com.au Stay fresh kids, Vivienne Kelly Editor - Mumbrella [Cooperate]( Mumbrella | 46-48 Balfour Street Chippendale NSW 2008 Australia This email was sent to {EMAIL}. If you would rather not receive Mumbrella's Best of the Week email you can [unsubscribe]( or [manage subscriptions](. [Facebook]( [LinkedIn]( [Twitter](