Enercare picks Gale as lead integrated agency

Enercare has named Gale as its lead integrated agency following a competitive review. Gale is tasked with handling strategy, brand, media and CRM for the energy solutions provider.

Enercare decided to consolidate its agency roster, which in the past included Canadian firm G&G Advertising. The company said one agency will make it easier to achieve its business goals, which include digital transformation, overhauling its customer communications and changing its data strategy to better support sustainable energy solutions.

“Gale impressed us with its audience-first, integrated approach, and the team’s progressive vision for the future of marketing,” Kevin Liu, Enercare’s senior VP of product & marketing, said in a statement. 

Enercare is the latest client win for Stagwell agency, which has won business from Dropbox, Cotopaxi and Athenahealth in the last year. 

Mixed reality expert Catherine Patterson dies

Catherine Patterson died Aug. 27 from cardiac arrest, following a day of dropping her son at Fordham University for his freshman year.  

Known fondly by those she worked with as “CatPat,” Patterson was at the forefront of mixed-reality and branded content programs. She held many leadership roles in emerging media and creative technology development, most recently as executive director of development at Deloitte Digital. She also spent time creating experience campaigns at VMLY&R North America, McCann New York, R/GA and NASA. 

Leslie Sims, CMO and chief creative officer at Impossible Foods, said that Patterson was the “most generous and sensitive soul” she’d ever known.

“Cat was the embodied belief engine behind some of the most celebrated work in the industry,” Sims wrote in a post on LinkedIn. “Her gift for instilling belief and her get-to-yes mantra will be sorely, sorely missed.”

Patterson is survived by her son, Nat, her parents and her brother, Nick. Funeral plans have not been set, but a GoFundMe has been set up on behalf of her son. 

Civilian Agency wins California Department of Public Health contracts

Independent San Diego firm Civilian Agency has been awarded three multi-year contracts from the California Department of Public Health for work with the Office of Suicide Prevention, the Office of the California Surgeon General and the California Victim Compensation Board.

Civilian’s work with the CDPH’s Office of Suicide Prevention will include a campaign to help prevent youth suicide, suicide attempts, self-harm behaviors and suicidal ideation with a focus on at-risk youth. For the California Surgeon General, the agency will raise awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences with the goal of eliminating the negative health impacts ACEs have on future generations. The California Victim Compensation Board has tasked Civilian with connecting victims of crime with access to support services, financial aid and other resources to help them restore their lives.

The upcoming social marketing campaigns will be done as part of Governor Gavin Newsom’s $480.5 million investment in the Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health to help improve California’s behavioral health infrastructure. 

An alternative to opioids

Bandits & Friends, the new agency created by Danny Gonzalez and David Suarez, former Goodby & Silverstein executive creative directors, launched a campaign for a medical cannabis company that is meant to present the products as an alternative to opioid prescriptions.

As part of the campaign for Show-Me Organics, the agency created a spoof of typically cheesy medicine ads. The video shows a couple dancing with cheerful music playing with a narration stating alarming facts about opioid use and abuse.

The campaign was launched on Aug. 31, Overdose Awareness Day.

Oliver launches AI council

Global agency Oliver, which focuses on building and running bespoke in-house agencies for marketers, has created its own AI council as part of its self-governance policy. Leaders from within Oliver, key clients and industry experts comprise the panel, which will meet monthly to review AI industry developments.

“The Oliver AI Council was born from the belief that to get AI right, we need to be very conscious of how we use this technology in its infancy to better support our clients as the technology matures,” Simon Martin, founder and CEO, said.

More from Ad Age: How ad agencies are using AI

Micah Parsons takes one for the team

Mother New York has a new campaign for Dave and Buster’s that stars Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons and focuses on the idea that adults would rather go to Dave & Buster’s than deal with their responsibilities.

In two 30-second spots, “Gam Gam” and “Conference,” Parsons takes the place for adults during situations such as visiting your grandmother or going to a parent-teacher conference.

Just briefly

Omnicom PR Group has bolstered its public affairs and political consulting work by acquiring Plus Communications and FP1 Strategies.

Xponential Fitness, the franchisor of boutique fitness brands such as Club Pilates, Pure Barre, Row House, Rumble and StretchLab, appointed VaynerMedia as its global creative and media agency of record. The relationship will begin in October and VaynerMedia Chairman and CEO Gary Vaynerchuk will lead marketing for all Xponential brands, according to the company. It’s unclear who previously held the account.

Global creative agency Iris has appointed Jill Smith as global chief marketing officer and Jo Holliday as global marketing director. The newly created roles are part of the network’s global realignment, bringing its local and regional offices under a centrally managed team.