Dear Adland: Kastner has a message.
The agency of record for Red Bull recently changed its named from Kastner & Partners to Kastner -- and has gifted the ampersand to shops across the West Coast.
"During lunch one day I passed by the Deutsch sign in Playa del Rey and saw a few employees standing outside the building," explained Simone Nobili, Kastner’s creative director. "I felt close to them because we all belong to the same family, but at the same time I felt like we were total strangers.
"As we were in the process of changing our name, I thought of giving our ampersand a second life and using it for good. ‘Dear Adland’ is a message from Kastner to the advertising agencies that live in Silicon Beach.
"By giving our ad family the retired ampersand, we want to regain that sense of partnership and collaboration that too often appear to be lost."
Kastner released a two-minute video that captures workers leaving the ampersand on agency logos with a note reminding them that they’re all in it together.
Kastner CEO Brandon Rochon added: "We live in a country where national conversation is full of division -- us against them. The only way we can truly make an impact through the work we do is by loving the people we do it with and for.
"If we encourage each other to remember that we are all in this together, it’s us ‘&’ you not us ‘against’ you, that is what makes all of us great."