Take me out to the virtual ballgame

Ever get bored during baseball games? Stagwell thinks it has the answer.

Minnesota Twins fans on Monday got a first look at its location-based augmented reality platform ARound that allowed the game's 40,000 attendees to play multiplayer AR games with one another. Using the app, fans at Target Field could play games like Batter Up and Blockbuster with others in the stadium or compete to see who can knock down the most virtual blocks on the real-life field by lobbing virtual hot dogs or baseballs. 

Using the tech, fans could also see and interact with real-time content led by action on the field, such as after home runs, mascot races, or when the Twins took the field. This technology tackles an ongoing problem for the MLB, which has been criticized for its slow-paced games.

Read more: MLB's CMO on its marketing strategy

“Current AR platforms isolate users in singular experiences. ARound believes massive, multi-user AR enables a host of creative opportunities to redefine what it means to be part of a connected fan experience,” ARound Founder and CEO Josh Beatty said in a statement.

ARound is part of the Stagwell Marketing Cloud, a proprietary suite of SaaS and DaaS tools. Other products within the cloud include PRophet, a predictive AI platform for PR professionals; Koalifyed, an end-to-end influencer management platform; the Harris Brand Platform, focused on providing brand intelligence.

Lionsgate goes to the movies

Lionsgate Motion Picture Group has named Horizon Media media agency of record for its theatrical and home entertainment business following a review. Horizon was chosen in part due to its proprietary data platform called blu.

“Horizon’s data-driven approach, coupled with their experience in theatrical and entertainment marketing as the driver behind many innovative and successful campaigns, made the difference for us,” Adam Fogelson, vice chair of Lionsgate’s Motion Picture Group, said in a statement. 

Playing with your food

In 2021, Lunchables and Goodby Silverstein & Partners launched the “Built to be Eaten” campaign, creating “Lunchabuilds” kits, which sold out in less than two minutes. Now, the brand is expanding with the launch of an “Order This Build” functionality that allows families to order kits to fashion fanciful Lunchabuilds creations out of its snacks.

There are over 25 different designs, including a bear, dinosaur, helicopter and drum set. Families can find the products and download the building blueprint from Lunchables.com.

The launch includes sweepstakes set to give 25 people $2,000 towards what they consider once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Now through Sept. 4, fans can enter on Instagram by following the Lunchables account and tagging #LunchabuildThis and #Sweepstakes when posting their Lunchabuild creations, explaining what inspired the build and how they would spend the $2,000.  

A $500 race car

Minneapolis-based agency SixSpeed participated in the 24 Hours of Lemons, an endurance car racing series for cars that are bought for only $500 or less.

All employees took part in some way in refurbishing a 1999 Honda CR-V the agency used for the race, with the driver team consisting of seven employees. The team ended up driving the car 611 miles and completed 291 laps. For every mile, the agency matched the number with a donation to The Lift Garage, a Minneapolis charity that works towards mobility and accessibility for the impoverished. It raised over $1,200.

A Regal win for Tombras

Distiller Pernod Ricard USA has named Tombras as its creative agency of record for its Chivas Regal brand in the U.S. The brand is sold in over 150 markets. 

The agency is already working with Pernod Ricard’s American Whiskey Collective—Jefferson's, Smooth Ambler, Rabbit Hole and TX Whiskey—and it will now be responsible for marketing for both Chivas and the American Whiskey Collective. The first work is expected in 2023.

Havas Play finds chateaus for cats

A few more cats have been added to the popular third-person cat adventure video game Stray, where players embody a small cat wandering in the deserted streets of a forgotten city. 

In order to raise awareness about animal adoption, the French Society for the Protection of Animals (La SPA) teamed up with Havas Play to create models of five real rescued cats that players can use in the game instead of the main cat character. The five replicated cats are named Pastelle, Doc, P’tite Crevette, Zoya and Câline. Jacques-Charles Fombonne, president of La SPA, hopes the five cats will become “ambassadors” for cats without a home.

“This summer was particularly challenging for our teams. They had to face the saturation of our 63 shelters and SPA houses,” Fombonne said. “They took in more than 10,150 cats who are now waiting for a new family.”

Bold-faced name

Wunderman Thompson Benelux has appointed Sandra Bold to the newly created role of chief creative officer. She most recently served as global creative director at Publicis Milano, where she oversaw global campaigns for brands like Heineken and Bottega Veneta.

Bold will work across Wunderman Thompson’s offices in Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Brussels to lead the agency’s creative output across its client portfolio in the region, which includes Microsoft, JDE and VodafoneZiggo. She will be based in Amsterdam and report to Wunderman Thompson Benelux CEO Erwin Jansen and work closely with Kristof Snels, executive creative director of Wunderman Thompson Belgium and Carlos Camacho, executive creative director of Wunderman Thompson Amsterdam.

VMLY&R’s deputy chief creative officer

VMLY&R has promoted Rafael Pitanguy from chief creative officer of the agency’s Sao Paulo office to the newly created role of deputy global chief creative officer.

Pitanguy, who has worked at agencies in Brazil for the past 20 years, will now be based in New York and work directly with Global Chief Creative Officer Debbi Vandeven, leading the creative for Coca-Cola. He will continue to look after creative for the agency’s Brazilian market on key accounts. 

The veteran creative landed at VMLY&R in 2016 and helped the agency land many awards, such as Cannes Lions Agency of Year for two consecutive years. He has worked with other agencies such as Africa and Fischer in Portugal and with brands including Vivo, Visa, Via, Colgate, Ambev, Itaú, Santander and Dell.

Just briefly

Optimad Media has relaunched as Optimal and will expand its performance and marketing capabilities with the acquisition of Effective Spend, an Austin, Texas-based company focused on paid search, social media advertising, search engine optimization and Amazon marketing services.