Time to market Olympic push

OK. We've made it over the first of many bigger Olympic hurdles to come. So, please, let's get down to the serious business of developing an Olympic marketing game plan that really rocks. Even if it actually means spending some of that $25-million-plus in funding the Chicago 2016 Committee allegedly has in the bank.

We all know there was never a serious effort made to orchestrate a marketing plan in the wooing of the United States Olympic Committee. Everyone thought the novelty of a Chicago bid would be enough. And apparently it was, along with the appealing notion of a Summer Olympics mostly situated along the city's lakefront.

So now we really have to show the world why the world must come to Chicago for the 2016 Olympics. It's a gargantuan task that will require marketing with a sophistication and reach that -- to be honest -- is well beyond the scope of anything this city has attempted. Ever.

This must be a marketing effort that far surpasses the city and state's piddling attempts to sell itself to tourists from other parts of the country or Europe. So, please, let's dump the limiting, provincial Midwestern mindset that constantly hampers this supposedly world-class city, and show the world we can market ourselves in a truly classy, compelling and worldly way.

Thankfully, we have one part of our Olympic marketing strategy in place -- a fabulous brand identity logo courtesy of VSA Partners/Chicago. Now we have to add the other components, starting with a soaring anthem that could be the rousing, unforgettable musical calling card for our city's protracted Olympic bid.

Have a competition maybe, or go to one guy who surely knows how to make music -- David Foster, a hugely talented composer and music producer. He wrote a stunningly beautiful anthem for the premiere of McDonald's World Children's Day. He also composed the theme song for the Atlanta Olympics, "The Power ofream." When we have the right piece of music, let the Chicago Symphony Orchestra record it. They're the best, and they should do the honors.

Then we need some print and television executions (preferably incorporating the new anthem) that can begin to run and really stir the souls of Chicagoans, who will need to be 100 percent behind this Olympic effort if it's to succeed.

We still do have advertising talent in this city, but it will require all hands on deck -- meaning the best and brightest -- to come up with advertising and a video, if necessary, that will wow the locals, the rest of the world and, most importantly, a jaded and worldly International Olympic Committee, which will cast their all-important votes for the 2016 Olympic host city in Copenhagen, a mere 2½ years from now.

There's no time to waste. Let's stir up something big and memorable.

On Monday, JWT/Chicago got the grim news from Kraft: The agency is losing a significant and sizable assortment of Kraft brands, including Oscar Mayer, Kraft cheese singles, Grey Poupon mustard, plus Nabisco's Ritz and Triscuit crackers. Kraft acquired Nabisco.

JWT will hold onto Kraft's Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Wheat Thins. Lunchables, which also had been at JWT, is being reassigned to Draft FCB. For now, the JWT global network will continue to work overseas on the pieces of Kraft domestic business that JWT is losing.

Kraft roster agencies as well as new shops will be invited to compete for the accounts leaving JWT. McGarry Bowen/New York, DDB/Chicago, Ogilvy & Mather/ New York and Draft FCB all currently work on Kraft business.

The news about the Kraft account moves comes a day after the announcement that Kraft Chief Marketing Officer Jeri Finard is resigning her post just seven months after taking on the assignment. Finard cited "personal reasons" for leaving.

Sources familiar with developments indicated there might have been tension between Finard and Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld over Kraft advertising and ad agencies. Kraft's fortunes have suffered recently because of competitive pressure and the slow development of healthier products.

A source said the huge setback at JWT/Chicago probably will result in staff reductions, but sources suggested JWT/Chicago leader Ros King might not yet be willing to part ways with her creative co-leader Graham Woodall.

Kraft cuts back on JWT work

Local agency will hold onto some accounts, but many of the products it handled will be heading elsewhere