WPP’s Wunderman Thompson announced in an internal memo obtained by Ad Age that Tamara Ingram, longtime agency vet and global chair, will be moving into a non-executive chair role before departing the company at the end of this year.

“Tam has been a great friend and colleague to me, as I am sure she has been to many of you,” WPP CEO Mark Read says in the memo. “I have learned a tremendous amount from her about our industry and what makes it special, and this has been invaluable to me. Having watched her in action, not only do I have a few stories, but I can say that there are few better at building relationships between clients and agencies that get the best out of both.”

Ingram, who first joined WPP in 2004, tells Ad Age that she is leaving to pursue philanthropic work. She is currently serving on the board of Save the Children in the U.K., and is a trustee of the nonprofit internationally, and plans to put her creative expertise behind more charitable projects.

“Having done so much with so many people and creators, I wanted to take that learning and put it toward doing good for other people,” Ingram says.

Before becoming the chairman of Wunderman Thompson following the 2018 merger of Wunderman and J. Walter Thompson, Ingram was the first female global CEO of JWT. She assumed that post a week after Gustavo Martinez was forced to step down following the high-profile discrimination lawsuit lodged against him by then-JWT Chief Communications Officer Erin Johnson. During her nearly 17 years with the holding company, Ingram also led Team P&G, the group’s dedicated Procter & Gamble unit where she was instrumental in winning Gillette, and served as chief client officer of the holding company before taking on the chief executive role.

Menstruation is not the end—period

For girls, menstruation is just part of the natural progression of life—the cramps, cravings and mood swings that come with it might be irritable and uncomfortable, especially at first, but we ladies all go through it in our transition to womanhood. Unfortunately for many young girls in India, periods, as uncontrollable and natural as they are, carry a stigma and mark the beginning of the end. When the majority of girls in India get their periods, they are forced to drop out of school, are called “impure” and are made to feel ashamed, according to a study by the Journal of Family Community Medicine.

The study found that one out of five girls in India drop out of school, 58 percent of school girls are not allowed to participate in sports; 75 percent are barred from praying; and 74 percent are not even allowed to step out of their houses while on their periods. A new awareness campaign from FCB Ulka in India for Carmesi, India’s first biodegradable sanitary napkin, asserts that this is far from OK.
 

“The Period Girl” is a social media effort that includes Instagram Stories challenging the stigmas around menstruation and declaring that “life shouldn’t stop when periods start.” The Instagram posts share some harrowing true stories including an incident in which 68 undergraduate female students at Shree Sahajanand Girls Institute in Gujarat “were forced to strip to their underwear to prove that they weren’t menstruating” because the school is run by a conservative religious sect that bars women from “entering temple, kitchen or touching other students” while on their periods. The Instagram account also provides women with the information they lack on how to deal with their periods like don’t eat salty snacks or skip your routine exercises when having cramps.

“This campaign is very close to our hearts because it’s a beautiful depiction of a rather painful reality,” Carmesi Founder Tanvi Johri says. “To see the Period Girl in all her childhood innocence, being crippled by something as basic as periods touches a chord in people."

There has been a steady rise in marketing efforts to increase and educate people on menstrual health as of late. This week, social enterprise Hey Girls and agency Adam&Eve/DDB debuted a campaign in the U.K. that called attention to the fact that one in 10 young women are regularly forced to use unsanitary items while on their periods in place of real sanitary products because they cannot afford it. Meanwhile, Carmesi also works with a group of nonprofits on the social initiative Unified in Red that provides workshops on menstrual health and products like pads to girls in need.

Kanye and Kim split the buffet at KFC

When Kim Kardashian West posted an Instagram story about her and husband rapper Kanye West’s recent trip to a KFC in Paris, the French Colonel was quick to jump on the moment as a marketing opportunity. KFC France responded to Kardashian West’s Instagram on Twitter using a line from West’s song “Touch the Sky" that says “Me and my girl split the buffet at KFC.” The response was orchestrated by agency Sid Lee Paris. KFC France says in the tweet that it “created a bucket for you inspired by our favorite song of yours. For the next time you’ll come split the buffet at KFC Paris.” (“Touch the Sky” was also included in a Bucket Bangers Spotify playlist KFC and Sid Lee Paris compiled last year.)

The Wests’ mundane visit to KFC Paris of course drummed up much ado on social media. Sid Lee Paris says fans flocked to the Strasbourg St-Denis KFC location, where a plaque was erected on the kiosk the Wests used (which reports have pointed out didn’t appear to be working for the celebrity couple). Sound insane? It is. The social posts also caused a stir on Twitter (what doesn’t?) over the couple’s food choice because Kardashian West has said in the past her family is mostly (mostly being the key word, people!) on a vegan diet. Also, no Popeyes?!

This ordeal has reassured me, at least, that certain people seriously need to get a life.

A return to adland

Creative Equals, the U.K. organization launched in 2017 to drive inclusion and diversity in the industry, is expanding to the U.S. With an initial 2020 launch in New York, Creative Equals aims to successfully place 100 people at agencies who are seeking re-entry into advertising after a career gap. To do so, the organization will hold a workforce re-entry program called Creative Comeback in New York (March 23 - April 6), at no cost to the returners, that will help re-train them for the industry and land them jobs. Creative Comeback NYC will be sponsored by Diageo. Agencies that have signed on as event partners so far include 72andSunny, Anomaly, BBH, R/GA, Fig, Oliver, TBWA, Vice and Virtue. Creative Comeback is accepting applications to be a part of the program through Feb. 26.

Interpublic Group of Cos.' McCann Health also recently launched a program to introduce people from non-traditional advertising backgrounds to the industry. Called Ignite, the program aims to place at least 32 creatives in its New York and London offices who, with no previous advertising experience or training necessary, can take any four of its 12-week training programs.

The wins of the week

Ad Age’s E.J. Schultz and Ann-Christine Diaz report that Manhattan-based creative studio Mythology will handle the campaign for the launch of Aha, a new sparkling water brand from Coca-Cola Co. The drink, positioned to compete with PepsiCo’s Bubly, will hit shelves in early March and is expected to get significant media support. Mythology is a spinoff of Partners & Spade, which has previously handled work for Coca-Cola. The latter was co-founded by creative vets Anthony Sperduti and Andy Spade, husband of the late Kate Spade and brother of actor/comedian David Spade. Sperduti and Spade parted ways last year, but Sperduti carried on his former shop’s creative duties at new shop Mythology.

MDC Partners-owned Assembly has been named media agency-of-record for Pabst Brewing Co. following a review. The appointment comes after the beer company’s Pabst Blue Ribbon brand named 72andSunny Los Angeles, a fellow MDC shop, its creative AOR in February. Assembly will now oversee data, media, audience and performance strategy as well as integrated buying and planning across the Pabst portfolio spanning its PBR, Lone Star, Rainier, Stroh’s, Old Style, Not Your Father’s, Olympia and Stag brands.

Ameriprise Financial selected San Francisco-based FCB West as its creative agency-of-record following a review. Ameriprise says it will work with the IPG agency to help evolve its brand—the diversified financial services company was spun off from America Express in 2005 as its own publicly traded entity. FCB West’s scope across integrated brand creative and strategy also includes work for Ameriprise subsidiary Columbia Threadneedle Investment. FCB West expects to debut its first work for the company later this year. Media duties were not affected and remain with IPG agency Initiative.

Pharmavite has named Publicis New York as its agency-of-record for its Nature Made vitamins and supplements brand following a review. The scope of the partnership includes the development of an integrated campaign across media, shopper marketing, e-commerce, social media and data analytics and measurement. Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners had handled the creative account for Nature’s Made since 2015.

Ad Age’s I-Hsien Sherwood reports London-based digital agency Brandwidth has been appointed innovation partner of record for the United Nations Development Program for Latin America and the Caribbean. The agency’s primary focus will be working with UNDP’s Acceleration Lab, which uses technology to create and scale solutions to critical development challenges necessary to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Dairy Farmers of America hired Chicago-based gravity.labs as its lead agency for its Borden Cheese and Plugrá butter brands. The agency’s scope spans creative, strategy, digital, social, media and PR. Gravity.labs will be responsible for developing and executing two year-long campaigns for the brands—“Let There Be Cheese,” a digital and social campaign for Borden that encourages families to be “cheesier”; and a new iteration of the “Better Butter Matters” Plugrá campaign that encourages chefs to use premium butter. Gravity.labs will also executive a new product launch for Borden Cheese by the end of the first financial quarter.

McGarryBowen New York won Manhattan Mini Storage following a national review that involved seven agency finalists. McGarryBowen will be tasked with elevating the brand. Manhattan Mini Storage, owned by Edison Properties, provides self-storage space to New York businesses as well as for personal use to city dwellers living in cramped apartments. The company, founded in 1978, has become known for bringing a bit of quintessential New York sass to its advertising through, for example, its Storage Guru spokesperson and series of cheeky ads that haven’t shied away from insulting its core customer base.

Mexican food brand Cacique has named Gallegos United as its AOR across brand strategy, creative and social. The decision follows a review that involved multiple agencies. Cacique previously worked with several shops and, with plans to bolster its marketing efforts in 2020, decided to consolidate with a single AOR, according to the companies. Cacique CEO Gil de Cárdenas says Gallegos will help it connect its cheeses, dips and other food brands “with when, where and how consumers are navigating the moments of their lives.”

The hires, moves and promotions

The Martin Agency named Elizabeth Paul chief strategy officer, marking her return to the Interpublic Group of Cos. agency. Paul, an Ad Age 40 Under 40, most recently was the U.S. chief strategy officer for IPG sibling shop MullenLowe. Before that, she spent eight years at The Martin Agency, more recently as a senior strategic partner, until her departure in 2012. When she left The Martin Agency, she served a two-year stint as a strategic planning director for the Mom Complex—an organization she helped found that assists Fortune 500 companies in better connecting with modern mothers—before joining MullenLowe.

IPG’s Huge has named Matt Weiss president of its Brooklyn office. He will lead a team of 300 people across integrated marketing, branding, experiential, connected commerce and products and platforms. Weiss was leading global strategic growth for the agency since September 2017. He will report to Huge Global CEO Pete Stein.

Dentsu Aegis Network promoted Michael Epstein to CEO of Media Brands & Product at Dentsu Aegis Media. He will retain his current role as CEO of Carat Global. In the new position, Epstein oversees agencies Carat, iProspect, Vizeum, DentsuX and Posterscope, and will be tasked with building out a strategy that strengthens their individual and combined offerings.

Erica Hoholick has joined 22squared as its first chief client officer. She will lead the account management and business development departments and report to CEO Richard Ward. Hoholick most recently was president of Phenomenon in Los Angeles, which landed key wins under her watch including from companies PepsiCo and TD Ameritrade. She was global president of TBWA/Media Arts Lab before that.

Monica Hoyer was named managing director of digital marketing agency Levelwing. She is tasked with fueling the agency’s overall growth and opening a new office in North Carolina alongside its Charleston headquarters and New York and San Francisco outposts. Hoyer was previously head of marketing at Participate Learnings, which works to enhance global education programs at K-12 schools.

Wain Choi has joined Toronto shop Zulu Alpha Kilo as executive creative director, marking his return to Canada. He most recently was the chief creative officer and executive VP of CJ Live City in Seoul, Korea and the senior VP and chief creative officer of Cheil Worldwide before that. Choi’s also held global roles at Ogilvy, Y&R (now VMLY&R) and Dentsu but got his start in Toronto, at shops Cossette and Ammirati.

Edelman promoted Lisa Osborne Ross to U.S. chief operating officer to evolve the firm’s operating model and oversee domestic sectors, talent and business development. Osborne Ross will keep her current title of president of Edelman’s Washington, D.C. office, where she remains based, and continue reporting to Edelman U.S. President Russell Dubner.

Stink Studios elevated Jacinte Faria to managing director of its L.A. office. She was brought onto the agency in 2015 to open the office, so seems fitting she’d lead it as managing director. Beginning as an executive producer, Faria has steadily moved up the ranks to director of production to now managing director. Her background includes stints at agencies FutureBrand, Taxi, B-Reel and Acne.