Agency news to know: December 22, 2023

’Tis the season when agencies use what is left of their creative energy to spread joy with their annual holiday cards. This year, shops took the opportunity to give back by spreading laughter, raising awareness and tapping into nostalgia. In a special edition of Agency Brief, we look at the Top 5 cards that flooded our inboxes. Want more holiday cheer? Check out the Top 5 holiday campaigns of 2023. See our Year in Review stories here 5. Laughlin Constable’s game of telephone Instead of sharing its holiday message in a straightforward, coherent way, Laughlin Constable decided to wish its clients and friends Happy Holidays with a lengthy game of agency telephone. What starts as a simple message: “Let’s take a moment to say cheers to you, our clients, coworkers and friends. Here’s to more great work in 2024,” quickly morphs into nonsense as it gets whispered down the lane to increasingly baffled coworkers. By the time it reaches Laughlin Constable CEO Anthony Romano, the message is unintelligible—yet still merry. 4. Acento’s life-saving ornaments Cross-cultural advertising agency Acento is giving “The Gift of Life” with ornaments that can help combat the opioid overdose epidemic. Each crystalline ornament includes confetti and two Naloxone nasal sprays, which can reverse the fatal effects of an opioid overdose. The ornament comes in a box featuring a QR code that leads recipients to usage instructions and detailed information about the opioid epidemic. The holiday gift is part of Acento’s continued work advocating for the health and wellness of diverse communities. 3. Jack Morton gives back … packs Jack Morton Worldwide decided to give the gift of sustainability this year. The experiential marketing agency partnered with Rareform, a company that repurposes billboards into clothing, to use materials from recent client campaigns to create backpacks. The hundreds of backpacks they created together were then donated through Backpacks for Life to at-risk and homeless veterans. 2. Brownstein’s holiday spirits Nothing says the holidays like fruitcake, awkward family conversations and the desire for a drink to survive it all. Philadelphia-based agency Brownstein gets it. Its “Holiday Spirits” card is an art deco-styled website of advertising-themed holiday drink recipes. Drink cards, including “The Original Man Man” and “Under the Influencer,” offer not only ingredients and instructions but helpful hints such as “camera drinks first” and “pairs well with reading spicy feedback.” Complete with a soundtrack of smooth holiday jazz music, the recipe site will help you reach your inner Don Draper this holiday season. See our 2023 Marketers of the Year here 1. Archer’s holiday wish book Archer took a sleigh ride down memory lane for its 2023 Holiday Wish Book, inspired by toy catalogs of the past. The independent agency used artificial intelligence to create pages of excessively joyful marketers receiving all the things they’ve ever wanted—from a YouTube ad people won’t skip to a 75% increase in brand awareness. The retro catalog even encourages readers to show that special someone in their life how much they love them with “an unlimited production budget.” Honorable Mention: Team One’s ‘UnCringeMas’ In another creative use of AI, Team One looked to solve the torturous holiday problem of tone-deaf caroling. It’s “Uncringemas” tool uses AI to autotune your voice singing a variety of holiday classics, including “The 12 Days of Christmas” and “Deck the Halls.” Users simply pick their song and identify the tone of their voice on a scale from Barry White to Mariah Carey. They then record themselves reading a self-deprecating passage—and ONLY reading, no singing, please—to train the AI.

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