H/L Shines at the 2023 Marcom Awards with Four Wins

H/L has picked up two Platinum wins for Toyota’s partnership with Olympian Jonny Moseley and Palisades Tahoe at the 2023 Marcom Awards.

For years, Toyota has proudly partnered with the iconic Palisades Tahoe Ski Resort and Olympic Gold Medalist, Jonny Moseley. H/L's most recent work from this collaboration has been recognised with two Platinum Marcom Awards for the Advertising Campaign and Integrated Marketing categories.

The two 30-second spots, 'Adventure' and 'Mountain is Family', shot on location at Palisades Tahoe, highlight Toyota’s incredible line up of TRD trucks and SUVs against the stunning backdrop of Palisades Tahoe. The two spots, set in stark, black-and-white snowy landscapes, beautifully combine dynamic driving footage of the eye-popping, full-color TRD line up with cinematic shots of Jonny Moseley, and his son Jack, skiing the legendary mountain.

“The vehicles are the stars of the show, and getting those shots is an operation in itself, but I love that they let me get involved from the beginning and help blend my expertise with the magic of showing off these vehicles,” Olympian, Jonny Moseley, said of the campaign, “H/L’s commitment and effort show in the final product, and I am proud of the partnership.”

Some of the H/Lers behind the Jonny Moseley and Palisades collaboration

Gold for Toyota multicultural advertising

A core brand value for H/L is to Practice Perspective—and central to that promise is ensuring they're producing work for their clients that is empathetic and representative of many cultures. In fact, H/L has offered a dedicated multicultural marketing strategy practice for nearly 20 years—a rarity for an independent. H/L’s “It Takes a Village” spot won a Gold Marcom Award for the Advertising Campaign—Multicultural category.

“Toyota is a brand that understands the importance of embracing the unique cultural perspectives of many different audiences in Northern California,” said Maribel Orozco, VP and director of Multicultural marketing at H/L. “Doing so helps to foster the next generation of Toyota drivers and enthusiasts,” she added.

Gold for H/L’s own recent branding refresh

H/L were also recognised with a Gold Marcom Award for Strategic Communications Branding Refresh for its own agency brand work. It’s rare that an agency has the opportunity to thoughtfully reconsider its own brand with months of research, positioning development, and visual identity exploration. The result is a simplified and contemporized brand, centred around the simple philosophy to Make Momentum.™

“H/L is a special agency with a mission of making momentum—not just for our client partners, but also in the careers of our own people, and within the communities we call home,” said David Morrissey, VP and director of brand strategy. “Our new brand helps encapsulate and express this promise in new ways—and it demonstrates the many things setting H/L apart from other agencies, including our collective optimism and courage.”

Since 1985, H/L has been fiercely independent and making Momentum. The company’s strengths include local and national media activations, creative development, insights and analytics, full-scale digital and video production, multicultural marketing and PR. H/L is headquartered in Oakland, California, with people in 20 states, and offices in Atlanta, Miami, Phoenix and St. Louis. H/L has also been recently recognised by DigiDay’s Worklife 50 awards and by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of its Best Places to Work. What unites H/Lers across the country is a common drive—to pioneer new ways to push clients’ businesses forward and serve its communities.