12351: Highlighting 14 In 2014.

It wasn’t easy to find 14 highlights in the advertising industry for 2014, but here goes (in no particular order):

1. Artist/Writer/Recovering Adman Lowell Thompson marched on.

2. The Marcus Graham Project Infographic exposed the exclusive state of affairs on Madison Avenue.

3. Pam El was drafted by the NBA as the league’s new CMO.

4. Dawn Hudson was drafted by the NFL as the league’s new CMO.

5. Jerry Seinfeld dissed the advertising industry at the CLIO Awards—unintentionally proving to be prophetic with his ultra-lame Acura campaign featuring a Black guy.

6. The Advertising Standards Council of India created mandates barring spots that portray dark-skinned people negatively.

7. Roy Eaton delivered the best 3.5 minutes you’ll spend all year.

8A and 8B. Issa Rae and Living a Creative Life enlivened Here Are All The Black People.

9. Commonground/MGS was unveiled as a new holding group comprised of eight independent, minority-owned agencies.

10. Ogilvy & Mather South Africa CEO Abey Mokgwatsane examined three macro drivers contributing towards a very vibrant South African ad industry: talent diversity, digital migration and the changing role of South Africa as a gateway to the rest of Africa.

11. MediaCom UK CEO Karen Blackett was named “most influential Black person in Britain” on the Powerlist 2015.

12. David&Goliath President Brian Dunbar declared, “L.A. is a very culturally diverse city and I think the cultural makeup of the agencies reflects that. It certainly does at David&Goliath. I see a lot more diversity here than I have at other agencies in my career and I think that helps make the work more interesting.”

13. Despite a rough year, Steve Stoute and Translation rebounded by winning the NBA shootout.

14. Team Epiphany may be the most diverse enterprise in the advertising industry.

12318: Discovering Team Epiphany.

Adweek spotlighted Team Epiphany, self-described as “a brand solutions agency” with offices in New York and Portland. This place may be the most diverse enterprise in the industry.

This Agency Started Doing Influencer Marketing Before It Was Cool

All about a blend of social and experiential tactics

By Lauren Johnson

Specs

Who Managing partners (l. to r.) Sky Gellatly, Lisa Chu, Coltrane Curtis

What Brand solutions agency

Where New York

Since 2004, Team Epiphany has mixed experiential, social, influencer and public relations services for clients including Heineken, Cadillac and Incase. With offices in New York and Portland, Ore., Team Epiphany boasts a 70-person staff that excels in blurring tactics. To promote Cadillac’s ELR coupe during the 2014 New York Auto Show, the agency picked four popular Instagramers, gave them a car for two weeks and sent them on the road to document their travels. The photos were displayed in a gallery at the auto expo, which actually led to two car sales. That approach to off- and online marketing appears to be paying off—Team Epiphany’s revenue is up 30 percent year over year and is expected to reach $15 million for 2014. “It’s really great to activate on the ground but know that we’re creating assets that we can then amplify socially and digitally,” said managing partner Coltrane Curtis.