Adam&Eve/DDB Group’s North America CEO departs

Mat Goff, the CEO of Adam&Eve/DDB Group North America, is leaving the agency at the end of the year. Goff is relocating to the U.K. due to family reasons, he said, and does not have another job lined up at this time. Goff moved from the agency’s London office to its New York office this past January. James Rowe, Adam&Eve's New York managing director, will run the agency following his departure.

Goff was one of Adam&Eve’s original employees, joining the agency in 2008 when it was a startup.

“It’s been a wonderful privilege to work alongside and learn from so many outrageously talented people, past and present, on both sides of the pond," Goff said in a statement. Adam&Eve is a very special place, but family ties pull strong. We will be moving back to the U.K. and with the move comes the chance for a new work adventure too."

Project 47 Pledge

Seattle-based agency DNA launched an initiative dedicated to addressing what the agency sees as an LGBTQ+ self-identification issue. Combining obviously very undercounted but reported data from a 2021 industry survey conducted by the 4A’s and a recent report from a market research firm, the agency concluded that only 46 people across the industry—yes, the entire industry—are willing to identify as LGBTQ+. That data point inspired DNA’s “The Project 47 Pledge,” signed by 30 agencies. The pledge asks agency leaders to commit to mentoring one LGBTQ+ employee or junior-level talent, aiding industry inclusivity and encouraging employees to speak up.

“We knew immediately that this number is not an accurate representation of LGBTQ+ employees in the industry,” DNA’s founder and chair Alan Brown said in a statement. “But what it revealed is a serious problem: LGBTQ+ workers are either not comfortable reporting their sexual orientation, and/or companies are not providing the mechanism for them to do so if they wish. Either scenario begs further questions about the cultures our employees work in and whether they feel they can be their true, authentic selves at work.”

Pizza with a point

Agency Baldwin& is turning pizza into a talking point.

The Raleigh, North Carolina-based agency, known for its Ponysaurus beer and taprooms, is adding four variations of pizza boxes, each with 90 “hot takes” written on them, to its taprooms. 

These conversation starters range from social justice opinions such as “The death penalty is wrong” to “The Godfather III isn’t underrated.” The boxes then direct people to take the debate online. “Disagree to agree? Let’s talk about it: #PizzaWithAPoint,” each box reads.

The 90 “hot takes” on each box represent one side of a pizza circle. When people put all four boxes together, it not only completes the 360 degrees of “pizza roundness,” but buyers also earn a free beer.

Veterans Day initiatives

In honor of Veterans Day, Tombras and RealTruck, a seller of truck accessories, have teamed with NFL stars Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, George Kittle of the San Francisco 49ers and Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys to gift two military veterans and a first responder a new truck. 

Dentsu Media, which launched an apprentice program earlier this year for those who don’t have advertising experience, has partnered with advertising tech company Quantcast, which has its own program called Quantcast Academy, to help provide opportunities for military veterans looking to enter the advertising space. The two companies are working with digital media company Recurrent to promote each of their programs across its media outlets that largely reach military audiences.

Dentsu also announced internally this week that, starting in 2023, the holding company will observe Veterans Day as a paid holiday in the U.S. for the first time.

French’s first NIL deal

French’s signed its first-ever NIL deal with the University of Tennessee's Hendon Hooker, who is considered one of the best quarterbacks in college football. The deal was inspired by a viral image of a fan throwing a bottle of French's mustard bottle on the field after Tennessee lost to Ole Miss last season. Fitzco pitched the idea of an NIL deal to McCormick, which owns French's.

The Atlanta-based agency created a custom Air Force 1s shoe, called the Mustard 1’s, for Hendon. The sneakers feature custom vinyl cut French’s logos and embroidered tongue tags.

VCCP New York’s first CMO

VCCP Group named Robert Wills its first New York chief marketing officer. Wills joins directly from VCCP’s headquarters in London, where he served as the agency’s Europe, Middle East and Africa CMO. To take on some of Wills's EMEA new business duties, the agency brought on Nick Goff as group head of business development and Becky Marsh as head of new business for VCCP Media in October.

Wills’ new role in New York follows the appointment of Brett Edgar as the Group’s first-ever North American CEO and Caroline Grayson as managing director of VCCP New York in October. Wills, who has been with the agency for 12 years,  will also play a role in growing the agency’s global gaming unit called VCCP+.

Fanta Moon

Wunderman Thompson used Tuesday's lunar eclipse to launch a social media campaign for Fanta Mexico, in which consumers who took a picture of the reddish-orange moon and posted it social media received a free Fanta at participating McDonald's or 7-Eleven locations. 

Just briefly

Lucky Generals hired Cat Wiles as its first chief strategy officer. Wiles previously served as chief strategy officer of the Canadian agency Cossette. The agency also promoted Strategy Director Matt Gainsford to head of strategy.

WPP Chief Financial Officer John Rogers stepped down and will be replaced by Joanne Wilson, previously the chief financial officer of soft drinks company Britvic. WPP also appointed Frank-Michael ‘FM’ Schmidt as the first president of its German business. In addition to his new position, Schmidt will remain CEO of the European agency Scholz & Friends. WPP also launched its first campus in Brazil, bringing its 26 agencies in the region and 7,000 employees under one roof.

The 4A’s named Tahlisha Williams as its executive VP, talent, equity, and learning solutions. She replaces Simon Fenwick, who departed the organization over the summer, according to a 4A’s spokeswoman.

PMG teamed up with Tarrant County College to launch a "digital career accelerator” program designed to provide current TCC students with digital marketing education. The 8-week program will be led by PMG employees and aims to train more than 1,000 TCC students by 2028. The agency and school will also pick 10 participants annually to receive $1,000 merit scholarships toward continued digital education resources. To be eligible for the program, TCC students must have 30 college credit hours and a GPA above 2.5.

Cincinnati-based agency Icon Commerce launched the Icon Commerce Innovation Lab, which is meant to help local small businesses. The agency will choose 3-5 local brands and retailers and help them with various commerce marketing needs while also providing access to Amazon tools and Shopify POS devices. Shawn Murdock, CEO of Icon Commerce called the initial run of the program a “proof of concept."

"We believe this could grow to be an annual commerce accelerator, creating a cycle of innovation and growth for small brands and retailers,” Murdock said in a statement.

Contributing: Alexandra Jardine