Legendary Advertising "Mad Man" Allen Kay Connects with London Creative Shop Ekstasy

LONDON, Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Allen Kay, a Madison Avenue legend with two advertising Hall of Fame citations and more than 28 Clio awards for innovation and creative excellence in advertising, is to become Creative Chair of up and coming London agency Ekstasy, best known for its work with Starling Bank.

Kay, who conceived the Brother Dominic "It's A Miracle" advert for Xerox, named one of ESPN's 10 All-Time Best Super Bowl spots, will help mentor Ekstasy's team of advertising creatives and film makers as the firm builds its presence in the UK and Europe and eyes expansion into the US.

Led by Mike Saraswat, Ekstasy is developing a reputation for fearless advertising, which challenges preconceptions about brands and marries creativity with effectiveness. Among the clients which have benefited from its approach are fintech challengers Starling Bank, Sumup and Klarna, as well as more established businesses including Samsung, SES Satellites and Amazon.

Saraswat first approached Kay to help inspire his team with a series of three training sessions this summer focusing on his concept of "Advertainment," Kay's belief that ads should be informative and entertaining, otherwise no one will stick around long enough to get the information. This was demonstrated through three unexpected, out-of-category classic adverts Kay developed - Virgin Atlantic Airways ("Take Us For All We've Got"), Tri-State Honda, ("The Car That Sells Itself") and Wilmington Trust ("Recognizing Worth") as well as uber-category campaigns such as Comedy Central cable network ("What the hell is going on here?")

This led to Saraswat and Kay agreeing that he should take a role as creative chair, mentoring the team and acting as a sounding board for Ekstasy's high-profile, unconventional ideas being developed for clients, as well as helping build the reputation of Ekstasy in the US.

Allen Kay said: "Ekstasy is a great agency with an entrepreneurial spirit and exceptionally bright, gutsy people eager to write a new chapter in the history of advertising. It's my kind of place."

Mike Saraswat added: "Allen shows us that striving for the impossible makes the difficult easy. He is helping us raise our sights and deliver the sort of fearless advertising that we believe clients need."

For more information contact:

Jason Nisse, The Nisse Consultancy [email protected] +44 (0)776-968-8618

About Allen Kay:

Allen is in two advertising Halls of Fame, serial-winner of every major advertising award, including 28 CLIOs (then he stopped counting), is the father of Brother Dominic, the Xerox monk who stars in one of the best 25 campaigns of the 20th century. The "Its a Miracle" commercial has appeared on ESPN's list of the All-Time Best Super Bowl Spots, credited for kicking off the Super Bowl as the arena for groundbreaking adverts. Allen was also selected as one of eleven people who influenced technology marketing most in the last quarter of the 20th Century. "Humanology" is the word Allen coined to describe his approach to selling bits and bytes. The advertising devotee is known for helping put companies on the map, then all over it. Including Xerox. Virgin Atlantic Airways, Comedy Central, Wynn Resorts, Celebrity Cruises, CNN Airport Network, and Stuart Weitzman.

About Ekstasy:

Ekstasy is a full-service, creative advertising agency that specialises in helping both start-ups, scale-ups and established companies grow their brand awareness and acquire new customers globally. Ekstasy helps both B2B and B2C corporations such as Samsung, Amazon, Oracle, Netsuite, LG, Starling Bank, Sumup, RS Components, Whirlpool, CBRE, Yale, ESET, Klarna, Canon, L&T, SES Satellites and others create effective campaigns. Its senior team of strategists and creatives bring a wealth of top-tier experience developing campaigns for clients including Airbnb, Uber, Visa, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Burger King, Adidas and other leading brands. Companies choose Ekstasy because the agency is known for fearless advertising that helps their brands stand out from their competition and creates a meaningful and memorable identity. www.ekstasy.com

SOURCE Ekstasy

Related Links

http://www.ekstasy.com