Canadian agency Zulu Alpha Kilo has received new recognition for its innovation within advertising.

The Toronto-based agency was included in U.S. business media brand Fast Company’s annual “World’s Most Innovative Companies” list, which was released this week. The agency was included as one of 10 honourees in Fast Company’s “Small But Mighty” category of 51 to 200 employees.

The agency is being recognized for its advertising that sometimes doesn’t resemble ads in an effort to “fight sameness,” said Zulu Alpha Kilo founder and creative chairman Zak Mroueh, whose long-held mission has been for Zulu to be seen as a “creative company,” not just a creative agency.

The recognition includes D2L’s “Unstandardized Desk” B2B campaign that allows students to create a version of a desk that suits individual learning needs; “Splash Spots,” which transformed New York fire hydrants into summer cooling stations; and “Fixed-Rate Pizza” where Pizza Pizza promised not to raise the price of an extra-large, four-topping pizza for 12 months, amid an increasingly difficult Canadian economy. It also worked with Interac on the “Sound Shopping” digital tool that uses music to calm shoppers down and spend less, Sephora’s “Illumination” campaign, which showcases 140,000 skin tones with Colour iQ technology, and HomeEquity Bank’s “Metaverse Homes for Heroes” campaign that created homes in the Metaverse to raise funds and awareness for housing challenges faced by military veterans.

In addition, Zulu Alpha Kilo also became one of the first Canadian independent agencies to have a homegrown commercial air during the U.S. broadcast of the 2023 Super Bowl (an ad for its client Booking.com), adding to the Innovative Company recognition. The agency has also looked to build its brand globally in the last year, reaching past its offices in Toronto, Vancouver and New York.

“We’re so proud of this recognition from Fast Company. This is a huge honour,” Mroueh says. “It’s a testament to our entire company and all our offices working together as one team towards creating work that is truly innovative, non-traditional and drives meaningful business results.”