The Advertising & Design Club of Canada (ADCC) is Canada’s oldest industry club. And it’s in trouble. It needs money to stay alive.
Clearly, a lot of top industry people think it matters that it does. David Droga, Alex Bogusky, and expat Canadians, Colleen DeCourcy and David Kolbusz, were some of the global adland icons who stepped in to help save it, in an initiative by Toronto creative agency, Zulu Alpha Kilo.
To bring in the necessary funds to keep the club alive, Zulu Alpha Kilo pulled off an ambitious 24-hour webathon.
The livestream contained a mix of live and curated content, which featured a number of top names from the advertising and design community. It was all done in the style of an old-fashioned telethon, complete with impassioned pleas to save the organisation. Even David Droga and Alex Bogusky stepped in with provocative pleas. Both ad legends sat down for a rare, never-before-seen, intimate discussion with Zulu Alpha Kilo’s chief creative officer & founder, Zak Mroueh, to talk about everything from what it takes to do the best work in the world to their thoughts on vegetables (which was surprisingly captivating).
It’s the only time Bogusky and Droga have ever done a talk together in history.
Edelman’s global chief creative officer, Judy John, moderated a panel on why the world needs more Canadian creativity, featuring two expat Canadians, Wieden+Kennedy’s Colleen DeCourcy and Droga5 London’s David Kolbusz.
Six copywriters from all over North America participated in a timed writing battle. Panels voted on the top 10 Canadian ads of all time. A legendary Canadian panel discussed the past, present and future of the industry. Panels debated Pro-bono vs paid work and where the industry’s collective creative efforts should be focused.
There was a live Q&A with Cossette’s global chief creative officer, Peter Ignazi, over Cheerios. Director X got candid about his creative process. A creative auction was held where a mug went for $1000. And Andrew Simon, ADCC president, read the ADCC annual to his daughters and his guinea pig, Tulip, and fell asleep on air. He said, “As a non-profit, we’re in a very different position compared to other programs. We rely on the funding to help support our speaker series, student competitions and many other events that run year-long. Thankfully, we were able to save the ADDC.”
Auction items included advice on How to Start Your Agency ($1000), Positive Reinforcement from Andrew Simon ($130), a Socially Distanced Photoshoot ($250). Plus many agency creative directors were sold for one-hour mentorship time slots.
The ADCC provides support and opportunities to young and veteran creatives. It hosts educational events and student competitions to promote the next generation of talent, creates behind-the-scenes content that shows off how great Canadian creative gets made, and it has preserved the last 71 years of Canada’s creative history in a digital archive.
Zak Mroueh, founder & chief creative officer of Zulu Alpha Kilo, stated, “We’ve all missed the interaction with our peers during the pandemic and this once-in-a-lifetime event literally brought our local and global industry together. Through the industry’s generosity, we managed to raise the necessary funds.”
The ADCC All-Nighter, hosted by 6Degrees, Christian Goutsis, took place on July 10-11, 7pm-7pm. The webathon ran through Eventstream, and the full 24-hour rundown is viewable on the ADCC YouTube page.
Credits:
Agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo
Creative Director: Zak Mroueh
Designers: Jeff Watkins, Vince Rozas & Zoe Kim
Writers: Nick Asik, Jackson Kemp & Dan Cummings
Art Directors: Jenny Luong, Michael Romaniuk & Vic Bath
Account Team: Erin McManus, Nina Bhayana, Rob Feightner
Planner: Tim Hopkins
Digital Producer: Michael O’shell
Senior Producer: Rebecca Adams
Editors: Felipe Chaparro, Ashlee Mitchell, Jessie Posthumous & Noah Mroueh
Post Production: Zulubot
Post-Production Producer: Sarah Dayus
Studio Director: Greg Heptinstall
Studio Artists: Ashleigh O’Brien, Jeannette Downes & Andrew Martin
Audio House: 6Degrees
Host: Christian Goutsis
Client: Advertising & Design Club of Canada
Client Team: Michelle Ovcaric, Andrew Simon
