Amplifying mothers for Mother’s Day

It's almost Mother's Day and this year agencies are celebrating with some purposeful ad campaigns. New York agency Fancy, which is entirely female-owned, has created an uplifting social media effort for I Support the Girls, a collective dedicated to providing women in need with essential items like bras, underwear, and menstrual hygiene products. The campaign, titled “Lift a Mom,” features a series of shareable, illustrated images and GIFs that encourage people to donate new or gently used nursing bras with the added options of donating cash or purchasing on an Amazon “wish list”  to mothers in need. 

“Nursing bras...nipple creams, shields, pads, cooling gels, pumps… the list of things you need to breastfeed in comfort is endless and nursing bras are just the start,” Hollie Fraser, creative partner at Fancy, said in a statement. “I’m 18 months into breastfeeding and I know from experience it’s not easy, and every bit of support really counts.” 

During the pandemic  ISTG has seen a 35% increase in requests for products, and since March 2020 it has collected and distributed over 2,000,000 products around the country to both individuals and organizations, according to the statement.

"Being a new mom and nursing is hard enough. Now imagine doing that while homeless, or without the resources to pay for a properly fitting nursing bra," Dana Marlowe, founder and executive director of I Support the Girls said. "We are so grateful that Fancy is recognizing this need. These nursing bras will be immensely appreciated by the women and folks we serve." 

Starting on Mother’s Day ISTG will be accepting donations via www.liftamom.com for two weeks, ending on May 23.

Justice for moms

New Toronto agency Hard Work Club launched this week with a campaign for Canadian Women’s Foundation that features an inspiring 90-second spot calling for “justice and equality—rather than just brunch or flowers—for moms,” the agency said. The “Mother Rising” spot was created to dispel the image of mothers as one-dimensional caregivers and consists of a series of shots of mothers (and expectant mothers) and their children, with a voiceover asking for justice for all types of mothers.

“It was important for us to launch with a campaign that was meaningful to us personally, and a call for positive change,” said Hard Work Club Partner and Creative Director Meghan Kraemer, one of three founders of the agency.

Some 35% of mothers reported symptoms of depression last year, up from 19% pre-pandemic, according to Statistics Canada.

“The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on them has been dire, especially for those facing multiple barriers such as racism, poverty, and gender-based violence,” said Andrea Gunraj, VP of public engagement at the Canadian Women’s Foundation. “This campaign opens space for them to tell their stories without judgement, to be angry and frustrated at the ways they’re expected to hold it together with such little support, and share what systemic changes need to happen so they can have a better future.”

The other two founders of Hard Work Club include Christian Buer, partner and creative director for design, and Cameron Stark, partner, growth and operations.

Stop-motion and football

Following this year’s National Football League draft, Clemson University celebrated Trevor Lawrence, the school’s first-ever No. 1 draft pick, by teaming up with Heartlent Group, a social-first sports marketing collective, to create a stop-motion video that shows Lego Lawrence swapping his Clemson jersey for a Jacksonville Jaguars jersey. 

The video was posted on Clemson’s Twitter and Instagram pages the moment Lawrence was drafted. To date, it has garnered over 100,000 views and nearly 500,000 impressions overall across both social platforms.

This is Heartlent’s first project as part of its recent strategic partnership with Opendorse, a technology platform dedicated to helping athletes market themselves, to provide digital and social strategy, as well as creative production and content to student athletes, colleges and universities.

“This is an example of what’s possible on the creative landscape for college athletics,” co-founder and head of creative of Heartlent,  Elliot Gerard said in a statement.  “As we enter the new age of NIL [Name, Image, and Likeness], colleges and universities are going to be stepping up their content strategy as part of the overall approach to recruiting.” 

Georgia wants to be on your mind

Explore Georgia, the state tourism office within the Georgia Department of Economic Development has teamed up with Atlanta-based agency Blue Sky Agency to launch a multimillion-dollar recovery marketing campaign across a variety of digital and print media.

The “Ready. Set. Georgia.” campaign pairs imagery around Georgia with a call to action for travelers to explore the state.

“As more people are vaccinated and eager to travel, tourism is a top priority for Georgia’s economy, and I am committed to ensuring both its recovery and continued success," Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said in a statement. "I was glad to approve an additional $1 million to support communities throughout the state to restart their tourism marketing after a year when their primary funding source was impacted dramatically,”

The campaign follows a decision made in April by Major League Baseball to move the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta in response to a new Georgia law that has civil rights groups and politicians concerned about its potential to restrict voting access for people of color, according to a report by ESPN.

Fetch Rewards brings on creative and media AORs

Fetch Rewards, a mobile shopping rewards platform, has named Anomaly its first creative agency of record and Noble People its first media agency of record. There was no formal review.

Under the partnership, Anomaly and Noble People will collaborate on a brand campaign that will look to increase awareness among the head of household shoppers but also expand to new audiences beyond traditional grocery shoppers, according to a statement. This is the first time the platform with 8 million active users will invest in an integrated national marketing campaign since launching in 2017.

Joan takes a bite into new startup

New York-based agency Joan is doing the launch campaign for startup Hive, a marketplace dedicated to selling curated natural and sustainable products such as cookies, condiments, canned goods and cleaning products. The launch features promo videos, banner ads, and across-the-board social media assets, which all have a simple and clean aesthetic.

Joan has also taken a partnership stake in the startup, which was co-founded by Scott Morris (co-founder of FreshPet),  Katie Tyson and Thomas Ellis.

“As a breakthrough new startup, Hive is the perfect example of a modern brand that

is poised to become a legend, and we especially love that it’s hip to something modern culture is looking for right now,” Lisa Clunie, co-founder and CEO of Joan, said in a statement.

People on the move

MDC’s Forsman & Bodenfors has hired three new associate creative directors for its New York office. Sarah Ratinetz joins after spending four years as an associate creative director at Burns Group. Matteo Capaldi and Alice Chiapperini join F&B as a team, having worked together for eight years, the last five-plus at AKQA in Portland. 

These moves are a continuation of creative hires for the agency. In March it was reported Emma Eriksson was brought on as the New York office’s new co-head of creative after previously serving as an art director at F&B's Stockholm office. The new hires will report to co-heads of creative Eriksson and Matt Creamer.

Rafael Donato is the new chief creative officer of David Miami after spending five years at the agency’s São Paulo office. Prior to joining David in 2016, Donato spent eight years as a creative director for Ogilvy Brazil.

Los Angeles marketing shop Cashmere has brought on two key hires. Sandy Song, previously a chief client officer at Phenomenon, was brought on to lead client services and Jesse Nicely, an eight year Cashmere veteran was promoted to VP, previously serving as a strategy director.

Tessa Conrad, previously global director of operations at TBWA New York, has been named the Head of Innovation for TBWA\Asia, based in Singapore.

Digital content agency Little Dot Studios has hired John Holdridge as its managing director in the U.S. Holdridge previously served as Fullscreen’s general manager of brand services and is also bringing over a number of his Fullscreen colleagues, including James Norell, who takes on the role of senior VP business operations and strategy, and Jordan Benedict, who becomes senior VP, content development and creative strategy.

The 4A’s has brought on new members of its executive leadership team. Ashwini Karandika joins as the exec VP of media, tech, and data. Mollie Rosen joins as exec VP of strategy and insight and innovation. Greg Walker has been promoted to exec VP of member engagement and development for independent agencies and retention; and Brian Nienhaus has been promoted to exec VP of member engagement and development-holding companies and growth. 

“Saturday Night Live” directors Hannah Levy and Adriana Robles have signed as commercial directors for creative production partner Tool of North America.

Just briefly:

Ogilvy was named the lead agency for World of Hyatt, which is Hyatt’s guest loyalty program. Ogilvy will support the strategic development and creative expression of World of Hyatt’s member communications, promotions, and program enhancements.

Cincinnati-based agency Curiosity was named agency-of-record for Canadian-based personal care brand basd, where it will lead the company’s brand strategy, creative concepting and production, media activation, and data analytics. 

Publicis Groupe’s Team One moves into its new Boise office which was previously known as Publicis Boise. The move is a result of “realignment” within the Publicis network, the agency said. The office will be led by managing director, Christal Gammill, a veteran of the Publicis team who has been overseeing operations of the Boise office since 2013.

MullenLowe New York promoted João Paz, previously associate creative director, to head of design. Previously Paz was at Ogilvy for five years across multiple offices where he worked on accounts like Coca-Cola and American Express.