Say it with sex

Looking for the perfect Valentine’s Day gift? Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Elephant is running a campaign for K-Y timed to the holiday that suggests a better gift than flowers or candy is … pleasure. Noting that millennials aren’t really into commercialization, the shop has created online videos to promote the company’s Pleasure Box, which, it says, “includes best-selling products such as Yours & Mine and Moisture Plus, and also serves as a beautiful keepsake for all sexual enhancers right by your bedside.”

Although ... well, you still have to buy it.

The push will run through March on sites including Refinery29, Bustle, Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram. You can watch the video here:

K-Y says it’s part of its overall strategy to position sex as self-care. “'Choose Pleasure’ serves as a call to action to show self-care, love and preservation—for any and all,” says Cynthia Chen, president of North America Health at parent company RB. 

OK, but when it comes to self-care, what Agency Brief really wants for Valentine’s Day is the COVID vaccine.

TBWA/Chiat/Day L.A. paints the town red

The Los Angeles outpost of TBWA/Chiat/Day is celebrating President’s Day with some new wins, including Behr Paint Co., for which it will field strategy, data and analytics, creative social and production following a review. Look for new millennial-focused work in April themed around the company’s “Today let’s paint” tagline. Discussing the win, Jodi Allen, chief marketing officer at the paint company, cited “TBWA\Chiat\Day LA’s tremendous energy and unique perspective on how to approach both seasoned and new do-it-yourselfers.” Deutsch LA previously had the business.

The shop also delivered for Red Baron, Tony’s and Freschetta pizza brands and will now lead strategy, creative, digital, social and production for the Schwan’s-owned brands. First up is a second-quarter push for Freschetta thin-crust pizza.

As earlier reported, TBWA/Chiat/Day is also now handling Moderna, maker of the popular COVID vaccine, and has already launched a consumer campaign for the company.

Erich & Kallman goes for a ride 

San Francisco’s Erich & Kallman has been tapped as agency of record for the Meineke Car Care Centers and Take Five Oil Change brands. The shop will handle strategy, creative and production on both a national and regional scale as well as media buying for the companies, which are owned by Driven Brands. The agency, which had been doing projects for Take 5, won the business without a review. Publicis’s Moxie was the prior agency. Meineke and Take Five both operate under parent company Driven Brands and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.

It’s Miller time

One of McCann Worldgroup’s more familiar globe-trotters, Jeremy Miller, is going even more places. The exec VP-global chief communications officer was bumped up to exec VP, global chief marketing and communications officer for the Interpublic Group of Cos. agency. Miller, a creativity geek who tirelessly boosts the agency’s work, such as its recent “No Way Norway” ad for GM (which inspired this accompanying artwork) has spent nearly nine years in communications roles at McCann and previously logged 15 years at TBWA Worldwide.

In an internal memo, Bill Kolb, McCann’s chairman-CEO, said that in his new role Miller will develop marketing plans to increase awareness for the agency and “evangelize the strength of our global service offerings in support of client business.” So, look for Miller at Cannes—if it happens in-person—this June. But maybe not Norway.

From Norway to Iceland

Jaime Robinson and Lisa Clunie, founders of Joan, seem to have a new skill set: telepathy. Just ask Icelandic Provisions, which has signed on with the New York agency for its Skyr creamy-style yogurt.  “Our connection with the Joan team was close to telepathic,” said Dan Hickle, CMO of the company, in announcing the win. The shop’s upcoming push will include video, out-of-home and print, social, in-store, influencer, PR, social and experiential work. The prior agency was Circus Maximus, which took an offbeat approach called Hallo from Iceland, portraying actors playing locals and was filmed at the Icelandic coastal village of Vík.

Just briefly

Holding company MDC Partners is aiming to expand its global presence by inking deals with new affiliates. Among the new groups it’s working with are Brand New Galaxy in Eastern Europe and MENA, Beyond Global Media in East Asia and North America and OKC Media in Vilnius and Moscow. “We’re building a strategic, tech-centric and scalable global model for ambitious marketers, not the duplicative brick-and-mortar infrastructures typical of the traditional players,” said Mark Penn, Chairman and CEO of MDC Partners. 

B-Reel has signed on Yujin Lee as an executive creative director in Los Angeles, the first to hold that role. Lee previously led product development and creative direction at Nike Digital Innovation and R/GA, where she was focused on smart products and connected experiences.