Arrivals + Departures has been named the first-ever AOR for Eirene—which describes itself as Canada’s first online cremation arrangement service.
A+D Media, the agency’s nearly two-year-old media department, also won the brand’s media planning and buying assignment.
The win reunites A+D with Eirene’s chief operating officer, Kevin Edwards, who worked closely with the agency as former CEO of SkipTheDishes. His nearly five-year stint with Skip coincided with a series of ads from A+D—more than 30 in total—starring Mad Men star Jon Hamm as an “ordinary Canadian guy.”
Those ads helped raise Skip’s national profile, but A+D lost the assignment in 2021, when its parent company Just Eat Takeaway consolidated its global creative with McCann Worldgroup.
“That was a big move for that brand to do that at that time,” said A+D partner and president Mike Bevacqua. “But that work, and [Edwards’] bravery as a client…in many respects aided in [SkipTheDishes’] leap to number one from number four.”
Edwards also worked with A+D—then still known as Extreme Group—when he headed up marketing for office supplies store Grand and Toy.
After announcing his retirement last year, Edwards decided to join Eirene in January. In a release announcing his appointment, he called the company’s co-founders, Mallory Greene and Faisal Abid, “innovative disruptors.”
As with other tech-driven solutions, Eirene (the name is a reference to the Greek goddess of peace and spring) is a brand looking to disrupt traditional industries. While there are fewer such industries remaining, death care remains firmly rooted in tradition.
“This is the Airbnb of hotels, this is the Uber of taxis,” said Bevacqua. “[Death care] is an antiquated, staid category, and… we are trying to let people know that there’s another way to do it that allows you to take the time at a time when you need it most.”
In Canada, about 76% of all deaths result in cremation, up from just under 56% in 2006. According to data from the Cremation Association of North America, cremation rates are expected to hit 78.8% by 2027.
Bevacqua said that A+D is in the strategy development phase, and it’s too early to determine what the tone and creative approach will be. However, he said he welcomes the opportunity to work with an entrepreneurial challenger brand.
“Our ethos is to see the world differently… turn away from the conventions of normalcy and provide a more present-day [viewpoint],” he said. “The mundane is not something we love, and we do well with these young, start-up, tech-based businesses. Skip is a testament to that, and this is another example that I think good things will come out of.”
