May 19th, 2000

[10:00 AM] Earthlink Thinks Different About Their Advertising Thanks To Apple by Kyle D'Addario Earthlink has moved their advertising affiliation to Apple's favorite firm, TBWA/Chiat/Day. The move follows Earthlink's January announcement that they have partnered with Apple to become the computer maker's "official" ISP. According to an AdWeek article: Earthlink Networks transferred its estimated $50 million account to TBWA/Chiat/Day from BBDO West in what sources said was a centralization of ad duties resulting from the "alliance" earlier this year of Apple Computer and Earthlink. TBWA\Chiat\Day is Apple's agency of record. BBDO West, which includes Los Angeles and San Francisco offices, kept the much traveled account longer than any of its predecessors. It began in March 1999 as the Internet service provider's third agency in six months after Earthlink separated from Santa Monica, Calif., shop Ground Zero. BBDO then successfully defended the account in February 2000, when Earthlink merged with Mindspring and launched a new review for the combined business. You can find the full article at the AdWeek web site. The Mac Observer Spin: The long arm of Steve Jobs reaches far... It would be nice to have been a fly on the wall in certain executive meetings at Earthlink to find out just how much influence Apple actually exerted in this move. Perhaps it is coincidental. In any event, it was certainly a good move for Apple to go back to TBWA/Chiat/Day, and it is likely to be a good move for Earthlink. AdWeek - Earthlink