PJ DDB PARENT FILES SUIT AGAINST SUM MEDIA, AGENCY LAUNCHES NEW UNIT
By Adnews Staff
New York-based DDB Worldwide Communications, parent company of Vancouver-based Palmer Jarvis DDB, is suing Vancouver-based Internet company Sum Media Corp. for $6 million in unpaid fees. According to media reports, the suit alleges Sum Media agreed to make five separate payments over a three-month time period for a national advertising campaign but only made one of US$100,000 in mid-October. Agency president Frank Palmer joined Sum Media's board of directors in January of this year. According to the reports, his resignation from the board was due to a DDB Worldwide instruction that agency officers can not serve on companies' boards and not due to the law suit.
In other PJ DDB news, the agency has announced the launch of a new specialized business unit called fuzekitchen. Vancouver-based fuzekitchen will serve the marketing needs for global high-tech clients. The unit will be an independent consulting division of Omnicom Canada. Rob Whittle, president and COO of PJ DDB Integrated in Vancouver, will serve as interim CEO of fuzekitchen. Darlene Hartmann, formerly an account director at PJ DDB Vancouver, will serve as managing director. The unit has been created in response to the unique marketing requirements of high-tech companies today, Whittle said. Fuzekitchen will service North American clients, accessing both the DDB Worldwide network and Omnicon's DAS Diversified Agency Services, as client demands grow. DAS is a global enterprise of more than 100 distinct companies.