Erwin Penland Promotes 3 to Leadership Roles

Erwin Penland co-president and COO Allen Bosworth announced three key promotions today: Karen Mawhinney and Kat Shafer will both serve in the newly-created position of managing director while Jeff Hoffman will take on the role of director of business development.

“These promotions are well-earned by proven members of the Erwin Penland team, and recognize individuals that will be an asset in our next generation of leadership,” Bosworth said. “Jeff, Kat and Karen have proven themselves as committed, integral parts of our family day in and day out. I know each of them will thrive in these new positions, continuing to lead our agency teams and establishing new client relationships.”

Hoffman, who previously served as senior vice president, group account director, was selected for the director of business development role “due to his ability to foster organic growth on multiple accounts.” He originally joined Erwin Penland as management supervisor in March of 2005. He left to become an account director with Hill Holiday three years later, returning to accept a position as vice president, group account director in 2010 and received a promotion to senior vice president, group account director two and a half years after that. 

Shafer will report to Hoffman and handle half of the agency’s client portfolio, including Verizon, L.L. Bean, Califia Farms, CIT Bank, hello products and TUMI. She was promoted from her previous position as senior vice president, group account director, a role she has held for the past two years. Shafer joined Erwin Penland as senior vice president, account director on Verizon in August of 2011, also working on the agency’s Bojangles and QuickenLoans accounts in the position before receiving a promotion to group account director. Before her current stint at Erwin Penland she spent almost three years as vice president, management supervisor with Hill Holliday, also working on Verizon. That followed a prior stint with Erwin Penland in which she spent around three and a half years as an account supervisor. 

Mawhinney will also report to Hoffman, continuing to lead accounts including Denny’s, The UPS Store, and Sears Auto Center. She also previously served as senior vice president, group account director, a role she has held since joining the agency in 2005. Prior to Erwin Penland she served as a senior account supervisor with Henderson Advertising for a year and a half, following stints in account executive positions at BBDO South and Scharbo & Company.

The last major senior-level change at Erwin Penland came in February, when CEO Karen Kaplan of sister agency Hill Holliday promoted Bosworth and chief creative officer Con Williamson. The two now share the title of president.

Erwin Penland Introduces Alaska to Verizon

Erwin Penland teamed up with production company Harpoon Picures for a visually striking tribute to Alaska, celebrating the network’s arrival in the 49th state.

The well-shot 30-second spot highlights some of the state’s natural beauty before concluding with the Verizon team showing up and saying, “We’re here Alaska.” The ad celebrates the fact that Verizon’s expansion into the territory has made the company Alaska’s largest and fastest 4G LTE network. Harpoon was able to assemble a team and put the spot together over the course of just several days.

“A project like this reminds us that it takes more than a great director to produce a great spot,” said Chris Miller, Harpoon’s director of new business development.”Harpoon put all our best problem solving skills to the test and our amazing production team deftly pulled off every challenge presented to them in an incredibly short amount of time.” (more…)

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Erwin Penland Parodies ‘Love Actually’ for Denny’s

Denny's

Erwin Penland, which took over the Denny’s biz earlier this year, has created a holiday campaign for the chain parodying a famous scene from Love Actually, which has been repeatedly called one of the worst movies of all time (ed. note- I am unabashedly a fan).

If you love bacon and Love Actually, Erwin Penland’s GIF spot “will most definitely put a smile on your face.” If, however, like most sensible people, you love bacon but hate Love Actually, your reaction will probably be more along the lines of “meh.” The piece of bacon, echoing a scene in the movie, holds up cards professing his love for the egg. Because people go to Denny’s and get bacon and eggs. Yawn. I’m not sure why they decided to go for a GIF campaign (I guess because they didn’t need sound?), or who is actually going to see this, but in a way it makes sense: because eating at Denny’s and watching Love Actually on Christmas are both kind of sad. Credits after the jump. continued…

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