We'd give this Zulu Alpha Kilo an award for this campaign, but that would be beside the point.

Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight.

During Strategy Magazine’s Agency of the Year competition earlier this week the Toronto-based agency debuted  “Awards Gone Wild,” a video that pokes fun at the industry’s obsession with awards by showing what would happen if other professions resorted to the same tactics agencies do to win awards. 

Examples from the video include a lifeguard asking people on a beach if he can pretend to save their lives to win an award; a doctor asking a perfectly healthy patient if he can perform a triple bypass on him to win the "Heart Surgeon of the Year" award; and two little girls steal the show when they try to win a bake sale award by having customers hold piles of empty cookie boxes to enhance their case study video.

“This year, it really hit home how much time, effort and money we all spend on awards shows,” Zulu Alpha Kilo Founder and Chief Creative Officer Zak Mroueh said in a statement. “In speaking with leaders in other agencies, there were times where it felt like we’re all working in the case study business, not the advertising business. With this video, we wanted to poke fun at ourselves as an industry, while also starting a conversation about getting back to awarding real work.”

And in case you're wondering: Yes, Zulu Alpha Kilo did walk away with some hardware at the end of the night, winning Silver Agency of the Year.

LinkedIn post attracts Mischief

As the agency world struggles to find talent, talent is also trying to get noticed. One woman took to LinkedIn in a bold way to get attention from Mischief@No Fixed Address in order to snag an interview with the agency. Sarah Keats, an associate creative director, went to LinkedIn with a post indicating she waited all day hoping to hear back from the New York City-based agency after sending it an email.

But it wasn't just any job-hunting email: It was written as if Keats was penning an exit interview for Mischief 10 years in the future.

When reached for comment, a spokesman for the agency, which works with brands like Netflix, EOS, and Kraft Heinz, responded that one of the "cats" at Mischief said: “We’ll talk to anyone mischievous enough to catch our attention. Stay unexpected. Meow.”

It's gotten plenty of traction. As of this writing, Keats' initial post has garnered 300 reactions including this one from Colin Parajon, global brand strategy lead for Netflix, who commented, “I’m somehow invested now, too.”

New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s first campaign in a decade

This week the New York-Presbyterian Hospital launched its first new brand platform and campaign in more than 10 years. 

The "Stay Amazing" campaign by Havas New York features an anthemic film that aims to capture the joy of city residents throughout their everyday life journeys and the moments they share by receiving medical care through the hospital. The creative will appear in national and regional print, TV, radio, and online media outlets, as well as across social channels, digital advertising, and out-of-home placements in the Big Apple.

"As we look to the future, we are transforming how care is delivered, making it more convenient, accessible and equitable for all,” Dr. Steven J. Corwin, president and CEO of New York-Presbyterian said in a statement. “We recognize that what people need from their health care providers has changed, and this campaign represents how we are evolving to meet our patients' needs, delivering exceptional care wherever and whenever patients need it."

Gary Vee talks metaverse with Mark Zuckerberg

In a podcast hosted by Gary Vaynerchuk, the CEO and founder of VaynerMedia sat down with the founder of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg. During the 30-minute video the two spoke about the future and applications of the Metaverse. Zuckerberg even gets a little personal, speaking about his experience using dating apps in the past. 

“The metaverse to me feels like the next frontier in social connection, in much the same way social networking did when I was getting started back in 2004,” Zuckerberg said during the podcast. “That’s the big reason we wanted to change the brand of the company. Today I think most people think about us as a social media company, but in our DNA we’re a technology company that builds all types of technology to help people connect.”

In late October that Facebook changed its corporate name to Meta. The brand also released its first campaign earlier this month. 

A 5-course meal in one candle

Ace Hardware is getting into the holiday spirit by creating a limited edition 5-Course “Thanksgrilling” candle with the help of its lead agency OKRP. The hand-poured candle aroma begins with smoked spatchcock turkey, followed by cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole, sage and sausage stuffing, and ends with pumpkin pie cheesecake. The candle, which retails for $14.99, was created to support the hardware company’s annual “Thanksgrilling” event which takes place on November 20th this year.

On that day, participating Ace Hardware stores across the nation will be hosting local events where people can learn lessons and tips for cooking a grilled holiday turkey and other dishes, while showcasing grills available at Ace. For those who cannot attend the event, people can go online to watch helpful grilling recipe videos and a preparation playbook for a complete holiday feast hosted by Chef Jason Morse.

Unpleasant sounds

Via kicked off its first campaign as HearingLife’s agency-of-record with spots that embrace the ugly sounds we all don’t like to hear.

In the “Beautiful Sounds” campaign’s 60-second spot, people are shown listening and identifying unpleasant sounds such as traffic, typing, a toilet flushing and a kettle’s whistling. At the end of the commercial, it is revealed these people are only able to hear these ugly noises thanks to HearingLife hearing aids.

The campaign, which launched earlier this month, is running on broadcast and is supplemented with social executions.

Subscribe to Ad Age now for award-winning news and insight.

Summit Hill Foods keeps media business in Cincinnati

Cincinnati-based agency Curiosity has been named media AOR for Summit Hill Foods, without a formal review. Under the new relationship, Curiosity will manage above-the-line media strategy, planning and buying, along with strategic partnerships across the food company’s full product portfolio with an initial focus on its Better Than Bouillon and Louisiana Hot Sauce brands.

The account was formerly handled by fellow Cincinnati-based agency Empower while creative duties, which were not up for review, remain with Blackbird NYC.

“Moving our media business to Curiosity wasn’t just about their capabilities and experience,” Brad Olsen, VP of marketing at Summit Hill Foods said in a statement. “It was also about their culture and values, both of which were so deeply aligned with our own. We’ll be ramping up marketing efforts across a number of our flagship brands throughout 2022, diving more heavily into a mix of national TV and unique influencer partnerships. Curiosity is the perfect partner to help bring these initiatives to fruition.”

S4’s third-quarter earnings

S4 Capital announced its third-quarter earnings this week. The Martin Sorrell-led company reported third-quarter like-for-like net revenue up over 42%, to £144.4 million, which will keep it on track to surpass its full-year target of 40% net revenue growth.

"Following an exceptionally strong second quarter, we saw continued very strong momentum in the third quarter, which was ahead of the revised 40% top line like-for-like guidance,” Sorrell said. “We now have secured six "whoppers" and identified nineteen more potentials, setting up the possibility of exceeding our 20 target. The pandemic has proven to be an accelerator of digital marketing transformation and we are taking full advantage of this opportunity by choosing to invest a proportion of our EBITDA margin in growth." In S4 parlance, "whoppers" are accounts over $20 million.

The company’s numbers come after S4 launched its unified brand under the Media.Monks name in August.

Just briefly

Havas Media has been named global media partner for four International Airlines Group airlines: Iberia, Vueling, Level, and IAG Cargo. Havas was chosen as part of a wider IAG review that saw Omnicom Media Group pick up the British Airways media account from WPP.

Dentsu has appointed Kai Weidle as its first senior VP of diversity, equity and inclusion for its media operations in the Americas.

Circus Maximus has named Alberto Quintero as its first executive creative director and Meghan Cermack as its director of account services. The agency also promoted Ashley Richardson-George to its first-ever chief content officer and partner. Cermack replaces Alaina Andreozzi, who left to take on a role as head of brand marketing for Suma Brands.

MRM, which is part of McCann Worldgroup, has appointed Félix del Valle as chief creative officer of it’s Spain office.  Valle takes over for Miguel Bemfica, who left the agency in July. Valle previously served as Ogilvy Brazil’s chief creative officer for six years.

GroupM’s Essence has named Anthony Reeves as its president and global client partner. Prior to taking on the newly created positions, Reeves served as managing partner at Courageous.

Settle-based agency DNA has brought on Mishy Cass as creative director. Before taking on this role, which is part of an expansion of the agency’s creative department, Cass served as group creative director for outdoor recreation brand REI.

Deloitte Digital has hired Lauren Lavalle as head of client engagement and Brooks Day for the newly created role of managing director and studios leader for the west coast. Lavalle is taking over duties for Leyland Streiff, who was recently elevated to general manager, leading advertising across the business.

Natural food products distributor Bolthouse Farms has named The Many as its advertising AOR and Finn Partners as its public relations AOR. Both agencies won the account as part of a competitive review process. New York-based PR firm Peppercomm was the incumbent for communications. Bolthouse Farms says it has worked with multiple agencies on projects in the past but none in AOR capacity.

Contributing: Keira Wingate