For Destination BC, Z.A.K. uncovered deep, international insights identifying German car washes as great, unexpected forums for captive audiences.
The first thing the Zulu Alpha Kilo (Z.A.K.) TEAM does with a client brief is to look at what’s the same.
What are competitors doing? What is the category doing? “And then we run in the opposite direction,” says Mike Sutton, president and CEO of the agency.
While the QSR category is typically driven by product innovation and discounts, Z.A.K. leaned into timely political discourse to give its “Bipartisan Wings” campaign some bite.
It’s not just being different for the sake of it, but because it’s necessary. “Brands, along with products, culture, and so many other things in the world, are increasingly becoming homogenized,” says Sutton. “It’s never been more important for brands to be distinct.”
It’s a strategy that’s resonating with clients. The agency has won four major new assignments in the past year, including President’s Choice, Make-A-Wish, Kimberly-Clark (Huggies, U By Kotex), and the BCAA. Z.A.K. also made Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies” list this year, “putting us in good company with Taylor Swift and Nvidia,” he laughs. “Our team’s ability to combine creativity and innovation is one of our greatest strengths.”
Serendipity drove insights for Z.A.K.’s HomeEquity Bank’s “Meeting with the past” campaign for Remembrance Day. A team member scheduled a meeting for the project, but accidentally dated it in the past. It turned out you could schedule a meeting in the past, and the idea grew from there.
Stephanie Yung, Z.A.K.’s chief design officer, calls out the agency’s “Art Rate Monitor” campaign for the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) as an example. “The challenge was how do you bring in people who don’t consider themselves to be art people? Art can be an extremely intimidating area, so when people have to make a decision about what to do with their free time, it was hard to get the AGO onto that priority list,” Yung explains.
In the second year of its partnership with Major League Baseball, Booking.com and Z.A.K. tapped into historic baseball rivalries to prove that through its choice of hotels, travellers can become a fan of any US city.
The insight that rose to the top was that everyone experiences art differently. “So we created the ‘art rate monitor’ that tracks the emotional response to the art,” she explains. The wrist-worn heart-rate tracker included beacon technology that tracked visitors in the gallery and what exhibit they were viewing. “It made the experience more personal: What piece of art made your heart race the most? What slowed it down and relaxed you?”
The idea that “hugs change everything” was one thing, but the sound of a hug? Z.A.K.’s Huggies campaign concept culminated in an Alexa Skill and web app that turns heartbeats into audio hugs, creating soothing sleep tracks for babies.
Brian Murray, Z.A.K.’s chief creative officer, says the agency’s recent “Bipartisan Wings” campaign for Pizza Pizza is similarly out-of-the-box. The U.S. presidential election was top of mind, but “not a lot of brands had the courage to wade into those waters,” Murray says. “It’s a very polarizing topic. But this campaign breaks through because taking something as serious, complicated, and volatile as the political climate and combining it with chicken wings is such a funny juxtaposition. Ultimately, it really resonated with consumers.”
Z.A.K. casts a wide net when searching for insight and opportunity. For example, client Destination BC wanted to reimagine how they showcase BC to global travellers. So the Z.A.K. team uncovered this: “In many parts of Germany, it’s illegal to wash your car at home because they don’t want to pollute the groundwater,” says Z.A.K.’s Vancouver ECD, Dean Lee. “As a result, car washes are something of a cultural mainstay.” So the agency created “the world’s first immersive car wash experience,” transporting customers to northern British Columbia while having their car washed.
Z.A.K.’s “Possible lives here” creative platform for President’s Choice was informed by feedback from more than 1,500 consumer perspectives and 800 qualitative and quantitative research studies, revealing that Canadians are often overwhelmed by daily stressors and by juggling mundane tasks.
Chief creative officer, Jenny Glover, credits the organization’s culture to its innovativeness. She says the agency has always encouraged challenging the status quo and for staff to “put their own stamp on things.” Now, with 185 staff across Toronto, Vancouver, and New York, the indie agency encourages each of its teams to take a unique approach. “Each market is different, with different clients and different people, with everyone putting their fingerprints on what we’ve created,” Glover explains.
“We’re a collection of creative leaders who are all rowing in the same direction.”
Z.A.K.’s Art Rate Monitor campaign for the AGO personalized gallery visits, measuring and tracking responses to the art with a wrist-worn heart-rate tracker.
Ultimately, it isn’t just about being different, Yung says. “It’s about being creatively confusing. There’s no predicting how our creative solutions show up. It’s just about what’s best for the brand, what resonates, and whether audiences engage with it.”
That’s just how the agency is wired, she adds. Some of their ideas are difficult to bring to life. “But that’s the point. If we run into a situation where we’re like ‘oh sh*t, how are we going to do that?’ we know that’s when we’re on to something.”
CONTACT:
Christine McNab
Chief operating officer
christine.mcnab@zulualphakilo.com
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