Diary: Water-cooler monitor - What topics have the industry been discussing this week?

The Talk Time spent
Wow! Who would have thought that the merged 3 hrs 2 mins
Draft/FCB, a marriage so clearly born out of
desperation, could swipe America's giant Wal-Mart
account? Just watch all rival networks polish
up their integrated credentials as a direct result
Book marketing. Publishing houses have suddenly 11 mins 18 secs
become much more ambitious in the marketing of
their products and are going on hiring sprees
around adland. First there was Penguin, which has
hired M&B and Mother, and now HarperCollins is
turning to Agency.com for advice.
Hats off to DDB for scooping the IPA's Effectiveness 1 hr 29 mins
Agency of the Year crown. Talk about showing strength
in adversity. It should be a nice little selling
point, as the agency looks to replace lost clients.