Leo Burnett and Arc North America hired former DDB executive Patrice
Dermody as executive vice president and director of retail, a new
position created to further develop the U.S. retail marketing efforts
at the two agencies.
Ms. Dermody will lead retail-oriented new business efforts and serve
as a member of Leo Burnett’s U.S. executive committee. Based in
Chicago, she will report to Rich Stoddart, co-president of Leo
Burnett and Arc North America.
“[I’ve been asked to] optimize the retail practice that’s already
here in this building and grow it,” Ms. Dermody said. “Rich and the
management team have identified retail as a key growth area for the
company and I have a passion for retail.”
Leo Burnett retail clients include PetSmart, McDonald’s, Allstate and
Washington Mutual.
Ms. Dermody’s task is to bring together Leo Burnett and Arc North
America’s retail services under an umbrella offering customized to
meet the needs of retailers.
“Really my role is to span all those disciplines, such as direct
marketing, digital marketing, traditional advertising and
experiential marketing, and bring an end-to-end solution to our
retail clients,” Ms. Dermody said.
Prior to her new position, Ms. Dermody was president of integrated
marketing at DDB North America, Chicago. She led multichannel retail
accounts including Midas, LensCrafters and Safeway. She also helped
win the Dell, OfficeMax and Home Depot direct marketing accounts. DDB
no longer handles Home Depot. Ms. Dermody also served as principal
and senior vice president at Publicis, Dallas. Before that she was at
Grey Chicago.
Given today’s retail environment, Ms. Dermody knows she has her work
cut out for her.
The challenge is “the changing consumer and the proliferation of
channels and the proliferation of choice,” she said.
Therative launches ThermaClear push
Therative Inc., a medical products maker, has hired GolinHarris and Carat Fusion to support the launch of ThermaClear, a new acne treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
GolinHarris will work on public relations for ThermaClear. The agency’s San Francisco office will focus on brand-building, new product introductions, word of mouth marketing, media relations and acne treatment and skincare maintenance communications.
Carat Fusion’s San Francisco office will handle integrated media
strategy and planning. The assignment includes offline and online
media planning and buying, direct response television media services,
online display advertising and search marketing. Carat Fusion is part of Aegis’ Isobar digital network.
Drafttfcb gets Royal Caribbean account
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., operator of Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, named Draftfcb Singapore as its creative and media planning agency for Asia-Pacific. The agency is charged with creating and planning media and advertising for Royal Caribbean International. The first task is to debut “Rhapsody of the Seas,” Royal Caribbean’s maiden voyage into Asia in the fourth quarter of 2007 with cruises from Australia, Singapore, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Draftfcb offered a combination of media, events, interactive marketing and customer relationship marketing to clinch this account. Billings and fees were not disclosed.
Royal Caribbean seeks to become a major name in cruise-related
holidays. The firm has 34 ships in service and six under
construction. It runs tour vacations on land in Alaska, Australia,
Europe, Latin America and Canada.