P. Diddy Agency Exec Flames Out

- Jim Edwards

The president of Blue Flame Marketing + Advertising—better known as Sean "P Diddy" Combs' ad agency—has left the firm to join Damon Dash's Roc Brands as chief brand strategist.

Jameel Spencer's move leaves the future of New York's Blue Flame somewhat cloudy and signals Combs' retreat from the agency game. The marketing firm had worked on Anheuser-Busch's World Select brew, Calvin Klein's Crave perfume and also counted Bacardi USA, Hewlett-Packard and Sony Pictures among its clients.

Since Spencer's departure Blue Flame has abandoned its main mission of attempting to be a full-service promotion and ad agency serving corporate clients. Now it is mainly an internal licensing dealmaker for Combs' Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group, noted Spencer. "I don't think the [ad agency] business makes sense for who he is," Spencer said of Combs. "Puff is not the kind of person who is interested in helping . . . a marketing campaign for Xbox; he's going to create his own Xbox."

At Roc Brands, Spencer will oversee 14 different lines including the Roc Box MP3 player that will be re-launched in March, he said.

Executives at Blue Flame and Combs' main business, Bad Boy Entertainment Worldwide, did not return calls by press time.