2022 Winners
![Delta_Team Photo](/Media/Default/IHAY%20Awards%202021/Delta_Team%20Photo.jpg)
2022 In-House Agency of the Year
Delta Air Lines
There’s a saying the folks at Delta Air Lines live by—Keep Climbing. And in 2021, that’s exactly what Window Seat, Delta’s in-house creative studio, did. This team of storytellers, designers, and operational visionaries was pivotal in helping the company achieve its mission to connect the world and get people traveling safely again.
Inspiring world travel in the wake of a pandemic is no easy feat. From imagining touch-free ways to navigate an airport to mastering TikTok in record time, generating hundreds of thousands of impressions, Window Seat exceeded expectations. Not only did their efforts build trust among internal clients, it resulted in an unprecedented demand for their services.
In twelve months, Window Seat has generated over 5,000 deliverables, building an employee comms team focused on elevating employee stories across the enterprise and saving Delta millions by bringing external work in-house.
When Delta announced its partnership with Someone Somewhere, introducing artisan-made amenity kits to reduce plastic use by 90,000 pounds annually, the in-house agency seized the opportunity to tell the story. Though shooting in Mexico mid-COVID came with a host of challenges, the final spot was one of Delta’s most well-received of the year.
When Delta announced its sponsorship as the official airline of Team USA, Window Seat was chosen to design the Beijing Olympics’ “Look of the Games.” From producing multiple videos to custom designing a plane livery and OOH assets, the in-house creative studio proved once again that it had graduated from a scrappy group of creatives to a high-performing agency team.
Leaning on each other during times of uncertainty can be risky, though it’s what propelled Window Seat to scale peaks beyond their dreams. While proud of their accomplishments, what motivates this team, even more, is that they are just getting started!
Finalists
Comcast
Comcast’s in-house agency, Good Kid (GK), was formed to produce award-winning, industry-recognized creative work that generates demand for the Xfinity business. And 2021 was a banner year.
With a flexible, collaborative work culture, 50+ “Kids” were recruited, forming a geographically-diverse staff that spans over fifty cities and a dozen states. The team’s success delivering creative and strategic excellence helped Comcast increase Xfinity’s year-over-year revenue, boost Broadband as a service, and add over one million new residential customers. GK also offset significant external agency fees, enabling Comcast to achieve 112% of its savings goal while doubling its annual creative output, with no compromise in quality.
And the numbers don’t stop there. GK delivered results-driven campaigns including Xfinity’s first Rewards Program, which contributed to over two million signups in five months. They also earned a Silver Addy and a Gold Telly for their Definitely Not Watching Basketball spots, highlighted in Ad Age's best of March Madness and written about in Sports Illustrated.
This is only the beginning for Good Kid, as they continue expanding, producing breakthrough work for Xfinity, and taking the brand to the next level.
CVS Health
The way people access health care has changed dramatically. For CVS Health, these changes opened the door to significant opportunities, but only if CVS could quickly, clearly convey the depth and breadth of its offerings.
To do this, three separate creative organizations serving CVS Pharmacy, Aetna and CVS Caremark needed to come together—that’s three independent teams with different cultures, capabilities, tools, processes and leadership models. What’s more, the ongoing pandemic meant each team was managing more work than ever. It was imperative that integration happen with no disruption to the business.
A transition team was formed, organized around five workstreams: People, Process, Portfolio, Performance and Communications. The vision for the new group was summed in a single statement: To turn creativity into a competitive advantage for CVS Health. From there, a new name, logo and identity were conceived—and Heart Haus was introduced.
Heart Haus made an immediate impact on CVS Health’s business. Their first integrated campaign drove 3.7 million incremental COVID vaccinations. Their CarePass TV spot delivered one of the highest ROIs in company history. And their Delivering Hope video won an Emmy. All this and more helped CVS Pharmacy jump to the top spot in Morning Consult’s trusted-retailer poll.