Zulu named Agency of the Year at Kinsale Sharks

Zulu Alpha Kilo stood the tallest at this year’s edition of Ireland’s Kinsale Shark Awards, taking Agency of the Year honours on the back of 12 award wins.

That win was the result of numerous wins at the show, including a Grand Prix for the “Tough Turban” for Pfaff Harley-Davidson in the Ambient/Non-Traditional & PR category, one of five Grand Prix awarded during the show. The campaign also won two Golds, with Zulu also winning Gold for the “World’s Oldest e-Sports Team” campaign for Home Equity Bank and The Royal Canadian Legion, as well as its design work for SingleCut Beersmiths’ Notes IPA. The agency also won a pair of Silvers and five Bronze Sharks.

Rethink was the other Canadian winner at Kinsale, picking up a Silver for the “Heinz Ketchup Puzzle” in the Ambient/Non-Traditional category.

LMNO adds to executive leadership

Saskatoon’s LMNO has made an appointment to its leadership team and named two new partners as a long-time leader retires.

Group account director and agency partner Tina Assie-Kurtz will be taking on duties as chief operating officer after 25 years with the agency. Assie-Kurtz joins a leadership team that also includes Corey Michel (who took on duties as president and CEO at the beginning of the year), Garnet McElree (who was named CCO in 2019), chief growth officer Blair French and design director Taylor Pfeifer.

Assie-Kurtz’s appointment – and Michel’s earlier promotion – come as former president and partner Shelley Arvay prepares to retire. Arvay took on the president’s duties in 2010 (when the agency was still known as The Marketing Den) following the retirement of then-partners Barry Gillings and Dave Gillespie.

French and Pfeifer have also been made partners at LMNO. French joined the agency as director of strategy in 2019 and was promoted to chief growth officer in 2020, while Pfeifer was hired to lead the agency’s design studio in 2018.

Blue Ant partners with The Influence Agency on influencer offering

Blue Ant Plus, the company’s branded content studio, and The Influence Agency have formed a strategic partnership to offer a one-stop destination to help clients to move from one-off influencer campaigns to a more sophisticated content-based strategy.

This full-service offering includes standardized pricing and data analytics reporting. Blue Ant Plus will lead the creative content production, distribution, and project management. The Influence Agency will act as matchmaker to help clients discover and work with a diverse range of influencers who can share their messages in an authentic way. The offering is being led by Toni Rufo, head of client services at Blue Ant Plus, and Stephanie Palsati, partner and director of client success for The Influence Agency.

Prior the new partnership, the two companies collaborated on campaigns for clients that include Corby Distilleries, Catelli and Spin Master.