Avoiding dog poop

iRobot has launched its new campaign “Situation Roomb” with agency Erich & Kallman LLC and it’s all about the inner workings of the Roomba vacuum. 

The campaign tells the story of a team of tiny engineers controlling the Roomba from the inside. While the owners of the robot give it commands, a set of six different videos show the engineers trying to troubleshoot on the fly, making the best decisions for the person's home. Whether that means avoiding a pile of dog poop on the carpet or notifying someone of the best time to clean, the tiny team has the situation covered.

The campaign will run across North America on multiple TV networks and on social media including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. Over the next few months, it’ll launch in Europe, Japan and a handful of other markets.   

Havas Health lands new CCO

Havas Health & You (HH&Y) has hired David Leonardi as its new chief creative officer for Havas Tonic, its health and wellness agency. The role was previously held by Phil Silvestri, who retired. Leonardi will work closely with Tonic’s Managing Director Corey Cirillo and HH&Y Global CCO Eric Weisberg. 

Before joining HH&Y, Leonardi was at Hill Holliday where he led the expansion of the agency’s health practice and did work for brands like Cosentyx, Invokana, Xarelto, Zarbee's, Kisqali and more. HH&Y brought Cirillo to Havas Tonic in 2020 from BBDO.

Leadership changes

TBWA\Chiat\Day New York has hired Rori DuBoff as its first chief innovation officer. She joins after spending five years at Accenture Song as managing director of North America innovation lead and experience strategy. Prior to Accenture, she had senior roles at Havas Media Group and Ogilvy. She will report to the agency’s New York CEO Nancy Reyes.

Shoes for the grill master

Ace Hardware has teamed up with OKRP and Dominic Ciambrone, founder of The Shoe Surgeon to create a shoe fit for all the grilling needs that dads deserve.

The shoes have Bluetooth technology that allows dads to start their grilling playlist with a click of a button, pre-smashed backs that make them easier to slip on and off, heat-sensitive leather that changes colors while grilling and soft turf insoles.

Starting this week, Ace Hardware is asking families to post pictures of their dad's current grilling attire, including their scruffy, worn out grill shoes, on Instagram for a chance to win a pair of Ace grilling shoes, a grill from Weber, or Big Green Egg and an Ace grilling swag bag. Each user must follow and tag @AceHardware and @thesurgeon and include #AceIsTheFathersDayPlace and #Sweepstakes in the caption.

Winners will be announced on Father’s Day, June 19. Three will win the grand prize and 10 others will win another prize including a bag of grilling accessories.

Saatchi & Saatchi CCO

Saatchi & Saatchi London has a new chief creative officer, elevating Executive Creative Director Franki Goodwin to the role following the departure of Guillermo Vega, who is relocating back to the U.S. after four years.

Goodwin joined Saatchi in 2013 and has been behind work for clients including Direct Line and Deutsche Telekom. Alongside working at Saatchi, she is executive producer at independent production company Western Edge Pictures, which she co-founded in 2010. Her promotion is the latest in a series of senior appointments under Chris Kay, who joined the agency as CEO in October 2021 from 72andSunny.

Secure your cloud

Orca Security, a cloud security startup, partnered with PMG on a new global campaign focusing on cloud security. 

“The cloud is yours” features a man who flies off into the clouds with everything from his office. What starts off as a fun ride into the sky to show the ease and convenience of the cloud quickly turns into a storm that emphasizes the risk that can come from the cloud. A voiceover says: “With Orca Security, your vision is clear. Your business is secure. And your cloud? Well, it’s yours.”

It is running across video and content partnerships targeting tech and IT professionals and will also run on social media. 

Fiction or reality?

Madrid-based independent agency Officer & Gentleman has created a “purely coincidental” campaign featuring the Amazon Prime original series “The Boys.”  

The campaign promoting the third season of the show features outdoor ads for the TV show outside of events and institutions across Europe in the UK, Spain, Italy, France and Germany with headlines making reference to everything from Milan Design Week to Spanish politics, professional football and the Queen of England herself. 

One of the ads features the party animal on the show called “The Deep” with a headline reading “The Boys is a fiction series about controversial leaders with a penchant for parties. Lots of parties.* *Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental.”

The campaign includes print, digital screens and roving mobile billboards.

Just briefly

Venables Bell + Partners has hired Jasmine Clark as its new head of strategy. She succeeds Gavin Jones, who was recently named managing director. Clark most recently was co-head of strategy at Preacher, where she led the strategy department and oversaw work for E&J Gallo, StreetEasy, and Jamba.

Rahel Rasu is heading to Accenture Song to serve as global lead of content and messaging. Rasu is currently chief communications officer at IPG Mediabrands and before that served as head of global comms at DDB Worldwide. She also held lead communications roles at McCann Worldgroup, last as senior VP-global communications, and before that worked as a research associate at Ad Age.

EP+Co has been named agency of record for John Deere’s Construction Division. It has served as AOR for Deere’s Residential Agriculture and Turf Division since 2018. The agency will work on brand, creative, strategy and content and will use its in-house production capabilities. 

BBH entertainment, the entertainment development arm of BBH USA, has brought on Ali Fazel as its new senior VP and head of development and current programming. He is replacing Will Swann. Fazel will lead the development of its entertainment content, focusing on both branded and unbranded, including tv, feature film and documentary. He will report to BBH USA CEO Amani Duncan.

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and California Tobacco Control Program (CTCP) have put out a request for proposal and are looking for an agency to create a statewide media campaign. It is a $200 million, five-year contract starting in September.  

Grow has expanded its executive team with the promotion of Sarah Ann Walters to chief client officer and the hiring of Anjana Kacker as chief operating officer. Walters joined the agency almost five years ago as a strategist, while Kacker comes on after serving as senior VP of operations and resource management at Dentsu.

M&C Saatchi has launched One-to-One, a new CRM agency within the M&C Saatchi Group, operating out of New York. The agency was formerly known as Lida, a customer relationship management agency. One-to-One has also launched the MarTech Studio, which provides tech services to support a brand's marketing technologies. 

OH Partners opened a new office in Las Vegas. The 6,700-square-foot office is in the Rainbow Sunset Pavilion. The new space has more than 30 employees. The Phoenix-based agency is hiring in creative and media positions for both locations. 

UTA has acquired MediaHound, a software and data analytics company. The agency’s research, data analytics and digital strategy division, UTA IQ, will use MediaHound's technology to produce more insights and focus on user recommendation engines. MediaHound employees will become part of UTA IQ.

Contributing: Alexandra Jardine, Ann-Christine Diaz