- David Gianatasio

Darling Agency in New York has been chosen by Best Cheese Corp. as the first lead shop on the Mt. Kisco, N.Y.-based client's estimated $1 million ad account following a review.

Initial work will break next month, targeting fans of fine foods. Darling will use a mix of online advertising, radio and social-media outreach.

The client markets 20 cheese brands, including Coach Farm, Farm Gouda and Parrano.

Best Cheese brought aboard a dedicated agency owing to the explosion in home cooking's popularity, according to Steve Margarites, client president.

Darling founder and CEO Jeroen Bours added: "Fifteen years ago, wine used to be, 'white for fish and red for meat.' People today are more educated. We thought, why can't we bring that education to cheese, and go beyond the omelette and macaroni? We have here a 900-year Dutch cheese tradition that needs to be told and shared in all kinds of ways."

Bours is a seasoned creative director known for his work at large agencies like Hill, Holliday, DDB, McCann Erickson and Ogilvy & Mather. His highest-profile recent effort was probably Hill, Holliday's "Responsibility. What's your policy" campaign for Liberty Mutual. In the mid-1990s at McCann, he helped craft the iconic "Priceless" ads for MasterCard.