At last, L.A. is preferred location

Alas, we win out over Detroit. Ad agency McCann Erickson was having such a tough time getting folks to move to its Detroit-area office that it's decided to combine the L.A. and Detroit operations. It's not as strange as it seems, considering that a lot of automotive advertising comes out of Socal. As part of the consolidation, reported by Ad Age, Steve Levit is being hired as chief creative officer - to be based in Los Angeles. Levit worked on the Toyota and Lexus brands at Saatchi & Saatchi, Los Angeles, and Team One Advertising, El Segundo. At McCann, he'll handle GM. "We wanted to hire a top creative talent; that's why we are basing the job in L.A.," said Gary Neel, CEO of McCann in Detroit. "We can't get people to move here."