Full-service innovation and advertising agency WorkInProgress (WIP) has hired accomplished creative director duo Kelly McCormick and D’Arcy O’Neill, joining earlier this year. The team will head up the agency’s Domino’s partnership—after the account moved to the independent shop in January—and take key leadership roles as the agency continues to grow.
McCormick began her career at McCann, NY, in 2007. After a brief stint as a junior art director, she switched to copywriting and helped win the agency’s first Cyber Lion for Golden Grahams cereal. From 2010 on, she worked at CPB Boulder, creating breakthrough work for American Express, Burger King, Best Buy, Infiniti, Kraft Mac & Cheese, and Domino’s, with highlights including the launch of Small Business Saturday for Amex, creating the ultimate “Dream Road” that Infiniti fans could drive on in fully immersive VR, and getting Amy Poehler to make dongle jokes on TV for Best Buy during the Super Bowl.
Much of McCormick’s favorite work was made when she and O’Neill became partners—“in a rare, arranged work marriage that actually worked out”—to run the Domino’s account. Together, McCormick and O’Neill crafted the iconic Ferris Bueller Tracker shot-for-shot remake, launched the first-ever pizza wedding registry, and rolled up their sleeves and hit the pavement—sort of—to pave potholes in all 50 states. Their work impacted every consumer touchpoint, from evolving Domino’s rewards program by giving people loyalty points for eating pizza even if it wasn’t Domino’s to creating pizza damage insurance to allowing people to get pizza delivered to places without a physical address.
O’Neill also began his career in New York by landing a job at Mother NY. This was followed by a brief stint at EURO RSCG, another at Modernista! in Boston, and a residency at the Martin Agency in Richmond. “I worked with people I learned a lot from and got to touch many brands in nearly every category,” he noted. Eventually, O’Neill landed at CPB in Boulder before joining WIP. Standout campaigns include the “Official Sponsor of Birthdays” for American Cancer Society, “The Vodka” for Stolichnaya, and “The World’s Largest Blind Taste Test” for Kraft Mac & Cheese.
The two are excited to continue their partnership at WIP together along with Domino’s, saying, “It’s a rare opportunity to be a part of an all-star cast of creative advertisers who have worked on the brand’s biggest actions and successes both past and present, spanning over a decade,” referring to the founding team at WIP who led the Domino’s team while at CPB prior to founding the agency in 2016. O’Neill praised WIP’s indie spirit and vision of creating long-term partnerships, not just ads, and the special, trust-based relationship that exists with the Domino’s team.
“I had the privilege of working with Kelly and D’Arcy while at CPB years ago,” said WIP CCO Matt Talbot. “I’ve followed their successes from not very far away and am so excited to see the work that comes from our shared vision of creating bold, action-based work that generates true business results.”
When not obsessing over pizza, McCormick can be found trail running and hiking in the foothills above Boulder, having summited 31 of Colorado’s 58 “fourteener” mountains, and spending time with husband Jake, son Alden, and samoyed Timber. O’Neill finds himself in Boulder by way of Toronto, Rio de Janeiro, Caracas, Wisconsin, Paris, Philly, New York, Atlanta, Boston, and Richmond, adventuring with his three daughters (who made an appearance in a homemade Domino’s commercial last summer), wife Maureen, and vizsla McNulty (named for his love of The Wire).
About WorkInProgress
WorkInProgress, founded in 2016, believes that every brand, and person, should be a work in progress. They are a full-service, innovation and advertising agency that helps its partners prove what they believe by taking action—an approach that leads to more memorable and effective advertising. Named a Small Agency of the Year by AdAge, and to Outside Magazine’s Top 50 Places to Work in 2020, they have applied their approach across a variety of categories to generate results for clients including Domino’s (who began a three-year partnership with WIP in 2021), Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Jimmy John’s, Nescafé, and truTV.
2024 AICP Awards Tour Concludes with Stops in Dallas and Chicago
The 2024 AICP Awards Tour concludes with stops in Dallas and Chicago this month as it wraps up its tour of cities across the U.S. The National Tour brought presentations, panels and screenings to marketers, advertising agencies, production and post production companies. The AICP Awards will be in Dallas on Thursday, November 14th, at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, followed by the Chicago event, set for Thursday, November 21st at The Old Post Office. Tickets are available now for both events at www.aicp.com. In Dallas, the program kicks off at 6:45 pm with a happy hour, followed by the screening and panel discussion at 7:30. The evening ends with a networking reception from 8:30 to 11:30. The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is located at 2201 N. Field Street in Dallas. Appearing in Dallas will be Abe Garcia, Chief Creative Officer, Dieste; Julia Melle, Director of Brand and Content, Southwest Airlines; and Isaac Pagán Muñoz, VP, Executive Creative Director of PepsiCo Foods. The panel will review selected winners from the suite of the AICP Awards programs, offering insights into what made them rise to the top of their respective categories and share their viewpoints on key trends in the industry. The Chicago stop starts at 6:00pm with a happy hour, followed by the presentation and screening at 7:00pm. A reception caps the event, starting at 8:00pm and concluding at 11:30pm. The Old Post Office is located at 433 W Van Buren Street in Chicago. The panel there will feature 2024 AICP Awards Curators and Winners from the marketer, agency, production and post production sectors who’ll highlight this year’s winners. The conversation will include a discussion about the winning work, including insights... Read More