We wanted to follow up on the global success of our video by reaching out to our local design and advertising community. We created buttons featuring altered logos of all the prominent design and advertising agencies in North America so that their brand name was turned into a variation of the word, “no.”

The real buttons of these local and international shops were used in a double page spread that targeted the industry. The piece directed them to an Adweek article written by our founder, explaining how eliminating spec work is ultimately better for both clients and agencies. The article went on to become one of the most viewed posts in the site’s history.

We became the face of the no spec movement. Canada’s influential Strategy Magazine profiled us in their annual A-List article as the “Shit Disturbers” of the industry and featured the buttons in the piece. Our stance was further noted when we won Ad Age’s Small Ad Agency of the year—the first non-US agency to win the prize. The editors wrote, “To heck with spec, Small Agency award winner Zulu Alpha Kilo shows guts, smarts and creative flair.” In December, our founder was interviewed by ANA magazine in the U.S. (Association of National Advertisers) to comment on the best way to choose an agency without spec. This, in turn, led to us winning our first US client without having to pitch spec work. More importantly, we’re seeing more clients in Canada removing spec requirements from their pitches, often to accommodate our stance.