Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 6

http://www.beyerinsurance.com

Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 6 - Index

��
��
��
The band Radiohead is up to its
old tricks again. I don’t mean old
tricks as in the creation of intricate
pop dirges that soothe listeners into
melancholy abandon. I’m talking
about self-serving promotional
schemes that dupe listeners into
blissful serfdom. This time, they want
some lucky contest winner to make
an animated video for a song from
their latest album, “In Rainbows.”
Many will recognize the album as
a cog from an earlier marketing
wheel that allowed consumers to
determine how much, if anything,
they wished to pay for the luxury
of downloading the fresh cuts. As
a result, today’s hyper-manipulated
music fans erroneously and unofficially
refer to “In Rainbows” as “Name Your
Own Price” in much the same way
that yesterday’s dazed and confused
music fans referred to Led Zeppelin’s
“IV” as “Zoso.” Radiohead’s greatest
challenge is to educate the public on
the proper title.
Once that task is complete, it’s all
downhill for the band and their fans.
A panel of judges and online viewers
will select a group of finalists. Then
Radiohead will determine which will
receive $10,000 to produce a fulllength
video.
The real prize goes to the band itself.
The millionaire pop artists will receive
tons of publicity, a huge choice of
custom-made vehicles for their songs
and a highly anticipated rock video
at virtually no cost whatsoever. The
game of manipulating enthusiasm has
not been played so perfectly since
Tom Sawyer got his neighborhood
buddies to pay for the privilege of
whitewashing Aunt Polly’s fence.
It’s like a restaurant holding a “Cook
Your Own Meal” contest. Imagine
you’re sitting at Charlie Trotter’s
when the celebrity chef himself
approaches your table. “Guess
what?” he says. “We’re gonna
try something different tonight!
I’m offering an opportunity for
you, the diners, to step into the
kitchen and whip up a meal. And
whoever cooks the tastiest meal
gets a prize: to cook all night.
I’ll be judging each and every
dish for originality, flavor and the
likelihood that you’ll fall for some
similar kookiness in the future.”
Chris Foster Named
CEO Fallon North America
Chris Foster has been named CEO of
Fallon North America, the Minneapolisbased
agency that has created some
of the world’s most groundbreaking
and admired creative
campaigns over the past
quarter century.
Foster, 43, has for the past
three years been Executive
Vice President, Global
Equity Director at Publicis
Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi
New York, heading the
agency’s communications
efforts across P&G’s Home
Care portfolio. Laundry
and household cleaning
is P&G’s biggest business
globally. Foster and his team have
helped brands including Tide, Ariel and
Cascade achieve new levels of sales,
shares and creative excellence.
Previously, Foster was General Manager,
International Accounts, at Saatchi &
Saatchi Asia Pacific, responsible for
P&G, Danone, General Mills, Pillsbury
CPW and Johnson & Johnson across 18
countries. He also was CEO for Saatchi
& Saatchi’s offices in Japan and Hong
Kong.
Foster’s appointment was announced
by SSF Group Chairman Kevin Roberts
and Fallon Worldwide Chairman Pat
Fallon. Kevin Roberts said, “Chris Foster
has been an inspirational leader at
Saatchi & Saatchi, leading a global
team of 400 people and taking the
cornerstone laundry category to new
levels of brand leadership, a Grand
Prix for Tide plus seven Lions in the
Laundry category at the 2007 Cannes
Advertising Festival, and significant
new business growth. He is strategic,
creative and has executive acumen
- a perfect combination.”
“Chris is a leader who will challenge
the Fallon team to once again rewrite
the rules of what’s possible in our
industry,” said agency Founder and
Chairman Pat Fallon. “He will see to
it that we regain our rightful place of
prominence and ensure we are at the
forefront of creativity, client satisfaction,
brand building and business success. I
will support him and the team in every
way I can, making damn sure the
legacy of this great agency is defined
by a future of breathtakingly daring
�� Visit www.screenmag.tv for more daily news than ever before!
initiatives and accomplishments.”
The opportunity to lead Fallon was
“irresistible,” says Foster. “This is a
revered agency operating outside
of the confines of Madison Avenue.
Minneapolis is a significant American
city with extraordinary
credentials in theatre,
visual art, literature,
music and craft. It is
an innovative city that
has a unique American
perspective and voice.
This edge attracts the
talent that makes Fallon
great.”
Foster says that, on a
personal level, he
“grew up in awe” of
the approach and
achievements of Fallon. He started
his career and worked for a decade
between 1988 and 1998 in Toronto
advertising agencies. “I loved Fallon
for actually going out and doing what
others just talked about. Fallon has
always had a culture of inventing the
future, and this is what we are going
to do again.”
The key priority of Foster and his Fallon