TombrasNiña uses AI to do justice for female astronomers

TombrasNiña has launched its first campaign since Tombras acquired the Argentine agency Niña in August. Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned winery Bodega Dante Robino enlisted the shop to develop branding for its new Gran Dante Cabernet Franc bottle. 

While all previous Gran Dante labels featured portraits of renowned astronomers—much of its branding plays on the universe—none included female astronomers.

After collaborating with TombrasNiña, the winery decided to put French astronomer Amélie Le Français de La Lande on the label, according to Inés Mastrogiacomo, marketing manager at Bodega Dante Robino.  Le Français de La Lande is best known for publishing navigational tables for sailors and catologing thousands of stars.

Due to there only being one profile image of Le Français de La Lande, who did most of her work in the 1700s, TombrasNiña turned to AI for help. It used the technology to combine the existing image with others from that time period to depict her at work for the label. 

Also read: 9 AI tools agencies are embracing right now

Luquire clients get ‘Punk’d’ for its 40th anniversary

Charlotte, North Carolina-based agency Luquire pulled a prank on its clients ahead of its 40th anniversary. The agency organized an event featuring a comedy improv session and invited clients via a Zoom call with a fake attorney, portrayed by Bill Rainey, co-creator of the reality series “Punk’d.” Rainey told the clients that before they could attend, he needed to review a lengthy waiver form.

The waiver outlined that partygoers might be required to perform some of the following improvisations as written on the form:

• 1a. Gelatinous substances: Acting as though you are made of materials such as Jell-O and/or various puddings.
• 1b. Fictional characters: Performing such that you are interpreting characters reminiscent of waste management employee, doctor, fairy godmother, or literary figures such as Tom Thumb or Maverick.
• 1c. Representing social stereotypes such as a parent, overworked employee, revolutionary leader or confused stoner.

The end result was a comedic video compilation of the different executives’ impressions and reactions when they were told they were being pranked.

Movers+Shakers hires executive creative director

Movers+Shakers has hired its first executive creative director. Mike Pierantozzi joins the Stagwell agency from VaynerMedia, where he was an executive creative director. He’s also held executive creative director roles at McKinney, Saatchi & Saatchi and Taxi.

While at Vayner, Pierantozzi led Planters’ viral “Death of Mr. Peanut” campaign in 2020, and also worked with Procter & Gamble and ScottsMiracle-Gro. He was part of the Saatchi creative team that won the Walmart account in 2013.

“We created this role to continue to level up our creative thought partnership with clients as our business evolves from project-based to social and culture AOR,” Evan Horowitz, CEO of Movers+Shakers, said in a statement to Ad Age.

A strategy hiring spree

There were multiple strategy hires this week.

Interpublic Group of Cos. hired Alex Hesz as chief strategy officer, a role that had been vacant since 2019. The role was last held by Philippe Krakowsky before he was promoted to chief operating officer and eventually CEO of IPG. Hesz recently spent time focusing on politics in the U.K. Before that, he was executive VP, chief strategy officer at Omnicom Group and global chief strategy officer at DDB Worldwide.

Droga5 has appointed Tamara Conyngham as head of strategy. She most recently served as a strategy director at Droga5 London and recently oversaw global campaign launches for the agency’s Philips Domestic Appliances account. The head of strategy role was previously vacant.

Havas Chicago appointed Chase Cornett as its new chief strategy officer. Cornett joins from VML, where he served as global chief strategy officer for the agency’s Coca-Cola Co. business, part of WPP’s OpenX team. The Havas role was previously held by Lance Koenig, who is now a chief strategy officer and managing partner at marketing consultancy We Are Rival.

Just briefly

Heineken is looking for small agencies to work with in the U.K, wrote Chris Buckwell, a senior brand manager of Heineken’s Beyond Beer, on LinkedIn.

StrawberryFrog appointed its first general manager. Steve Scutellaro, who was previously a managing director at Deep Focus, joins as the agency celebrates its 25th anniversary.

Acceleration Community of Companies acquired a majority stake in public relations firm DKC. DKC’s is ACC’s sixth acquisition to date. ACC’s majority shareholder Solace Capital also brought on Verance Capital as a strategic investor. 

Travel Wisconsin appointed Laughlin Constable as its creative and media agency of record following a competitive review. The organization previously worked with Hiebing, Turner and Simpleview.

SuperHeroes launched a unit dedicated to helping luxury brands reach Gen Z audiences. The Superheroes Deluxe unit was created based on insights from its Gen Z collective, The Robins, and its work with Balenciaga, Jimmy Choo and Louis Vuitton, which revealed a gap in luxury marketing to Gen Z.