The Pitch: Advertising and marketing news for 5.30.23

Caley Cantrell

Peter Coughter

Longtime Brandcenter professors Caley Cantrell and Peter Coughter are retiring after 17 and 26 years, respectively, at the graduate school. VCU News also reports on a group of students from Creative Circus who received their degrees at this year’s Brandcenter commencement after the Atlanta school closed last year.

The Idea Center was hired by Leo Lantz Construction to redesign its website. It’s working with Virginia Cardiovascular Consultants of Fredericksburg on a new website and ongoing SEO.

Will Sidaros

Idea Center hired Will Sidaros as a project manager. The George Mason alum has previously worked as a freelance videographer.

Spurrier Group was hired by Allianz Partners as the travel insurance company’s lead agency for digital media and marketing. Work will focus on scale the company’s audience base and digital strategy.

Addison Clark was hired by local builder River City Custom Homes to provide strategic marketing including paid and organic social media, search engine optimization, and web and design support. The agency launched a redesigned website for client Gilman Heating, Cooling & Plumbing. The mobile-first site reflects the company’s updated branding.

Kimberly Loehr

Kimberly Loehr of Loehr Lightning Protection Co. was awarded Virginia Professional Communicators’ 2023 Communicator of Achievement Award at the group’s spring conference this month. The award recognizes achievement in the communications field and service to VPC, National Federation of Press Women and the community.

Loehr is a co-owner of the Richmond-based contracting firm and serves as president of nonprofit Virginia Press Women Foundation.

Cade Martin won Best in Show in Communication Arts Magazine’s 2023 Photography Competition for images included in a branding campaign for the International Spy Museum. The campaign was led by D.C.-based agency January Third and involved Philadelphia-based NLD Productions.



Arts & Letters Creative Co. created an ad for ESPN to promote the NBA Finals. The 30-second clip is part of the “It’s a Beautiful Time for Basketball” platform and showcases scenes from the NBA season this year displayed on the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Molly Jamison

Arts & Letters promoted Molly Jamison to executive creative director, joining fellow ECDs Charles Hodges and Danielle Flagg. Jamison will be responsible for developing talent within the creative department and leading initiatives for ESPN and other agency clients.

Jamison has worked at Arts & Letters since 2020 and was previously a creative director. She previously worked at New York agency Fig, Barton F. Graf 9000, Droga5 and Wieden + Kennedy NY.

Familiar Creatures was hired by Hampden-Sydney College for creative and strategic work. It previously has worked on the college’s Swagalog promotional magazine. The agency created a brand platform for Mateo’s Gourmet Salsa. Called Real Obsession, the platform turned customer reviews into ads and included sound by Overcoast and animation by Hue + Cry.

Mateos Salsa “Feral” from Proposal on Vimeo.

Ryan Barber

Familiar Creatures hired Ryan Barber as associate creative director/art director. Barber previously freelanced for agencies in New York and Los Angeles. Summer interns include Taylor Martin, Trey O’Shea and Stella Tessarollo. The agency also moved its office to 2915 W. Leigh St. in Scott’s Addition. It was previously at 3300 W. Broad St.

Brand Federation opened a second office in New York City. It’s leasing a space from design collaborator Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv in Manhattan at 15 E. 26th St. Floor 12.

Rocket Pop Media is going remote and closing its office at 2530 W. Main St.

Adweek reports Buffalo Wild Wings split from The Martin Agency in favor of New York-based Anomaly as its new lead creative agency.


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