And now, a little shout out to the number crunchers. We’ve received confirmation that as of yesterday, Greg Corso has assumed the role of EVP, director of data/analytics for MRM’s New York and Princeton operations. From what we gather, Corso essentially replaces David Hohman, who served as SVP/data & analytics at MRM. As for Corso, the new EVP arrives from “customer science” company dunnhumbyUSA, where he served as VP/media solutions. During his career, Corso also spent three years at R/GA, last serving as director of analytics/CRM and has also worked at the likes of what was formerly Rapp Collins.
In his new role, Corso will Greg will be responsible for overseeing MRM’s Performance practice in the East – “providing segmentation, predictive modeling, data analysis, campaign tracking and database marketing operations support for our clients.”
For the first time, Burt’s Bees is promoting its seven mainstay, “classic” products as a group. These “classics” include Beeswax Lip Balm, Coconut Foot Cream, Shea Butter Hand Repair Cream, Hand Salve, Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream, Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Cream and Res-Q Ointment. To promote their classic lineup, Burt’s Bees is reinterpreting a few classics in a new format. Burt’s Bees and agency Baldwin& are using 6-second stop motion animated Vines interpreting seven classics of literature: Little Women, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Gulliver’s Travels, Metamorphosis, Moby Dick, The Scarlet Letter, and Julius Caesar.
The humorous Vines highlight the time-tested nature of Burt’s Bees products, suggesting they will last as long as the classic literature they pay homage to. Of course, Burt’s Bees products are actually featured in the Vines, such as the lip balm in “Little Women” who declare “We really are quite little. And each of us women.” These classic vines are staged by Vine animator Jethro Ames of San Francisco, using in-camera stop-motion shooting for each Vine. The process takes about four hours to complete, with no post-production possible.
The first two “Classic Vines” to roll out are Little Women (featured above) and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (featured after the jump).” In a small, prequel campaign that marries the new and the classic in a different way, founder Burt Shavitz will post about his backwoods Maine life on Instagram. This “Classic Burts” campaign contrasts a classic, traditional lifestyle with the hustle and bustle of modern social media, such as a photo of Burt splitting logs with the caption “Innovative home heating system.” This campaign from Baldwin& is refreshingly non self-serious and makes sense for a company whose selling point is that they make a no-frills, quality product out of classic materials. We’re guessing it didn’t exactly break the bank either. continued…
Following a review of multiple agencies on both the advertising and media side, Nashville-based steakhouse chain Logan’s Roadhouse has appointed SapientNitro and Zimmerman as its new agency partners. The former will handle all general, digital, social and creative efforts along with website design and restaurant merchandising for Logan’s, which operates well over 200 restaurants in 23 states (can’t say we’ve been to one, but we’re down). Ft. Lauderdale-based Zimmerman, meanwhile, will take on media buying/planning.
Regarding his company’s decision, Logan’s CMO Todd Townsend says, “Both SapientNitro and Zimmerman Advertising demonstrated an understanding of the Logan’s Roadhouse guest, our brand and the opportunities in our marketplace. As opportunities for expanding guest relationships and dialogue increases and the need for precise marketing and media targeting continues to grow, we are evolving our marketing mix to build even more dynamic relationships with our guests across all opportunities.”
Logan’s previously worked with Dallas-based Loomis on media efforts while advertising was handled internally. Meanwhile, SapientNitro and Zimmerman’s work for the chain has already begun.
72andSunny pays homage to sci-fi and television history in their new campaign for Samsung Galaxy Gear.
The spot “Evolution” traces the evolution of wristwatch communication, from Dick Tracy and Star Trek to Inspector Gadget and even Predator. The spot ends with the text “After All These Years It’s Finally Real” before introducing Samsung’s latest product. It’s a fun way to highlight the evolution of modern technology and say “The future is now” while making Galaxy Gear seem pretty cool.
A second spot, “A Long Time Coming” pays similar homage, showing characters talking into their wrist pieces in rapid succession. It’s not quite as strong as “Evolution” and perhaps more than a touch too similar to the iPhone’s “Hello” spot, even if it does touch some similar bases.
The Samsung Galaxy Gear is available now for the futuristic price of $299. Knight Rider not included. Check out the second spot and “Evolution” credits after the jump.
And now, some quick people news to break things up a bit. It looks like Goodby alums Hunter Hindman and Rick Condos have been ramping up the creative department at their fellow San Francisco-based operation, Argonaut, as of late. Just weeks after welcoming former Deutsch LA EVP/group digital CD David Kim aboard, Argonaut has brought on CP+B alum Chean Wei Law as their newest creative director. Wei Law, aka undoboy, spent the last three-plus years at CP+B, serving as interactive design director and working on notable projects including the nifty outdoor Jell-O Mood Meter while also helping lead design departments for other agency clients including Domino’s, Coke Zero and Old Navy. Prior to CP+B, Wei Law spent a few years as an art director at both W+K Portland and JWT New York.
Now at Argonaut, the CD will work directly with head of creative technology and production Robbie Whiting while reporting to Hindman and Condos.
Hungry Boys’ new campaign for insurance company Alfa Strakhovanie, “Crush The Speed,” uses strategically-placed totaled cars to curtail speeding in Moscow — which has one of the highest rates of road fatalities in the world. Vlad Stinikov, Creative Director at Hungry Boys hopes the project will “raise awareness of the unfathomable loss of life Moscow residents suffer as a result of excessive speeding” and cause drivers who observe the wrecks to consider their own driving safety.
But Hungry Boys doesn’t just decide where to place the wrecked vehicles themselves, they allow people to decide which locations are in most need of the warnings. Visitors to the “Crush The Speed’ campaign site can vote on the locations of the seven cars used in the campaign using Google Maps. The location of the cars is changed every week, causing responsible driving and/or rubber-necking in a brand new area.
Svetlana Beri, director of marketing communications at Alfa Strakhovanie cited reported incidents of hit-and-run caused by speeding as a major concern, saying “If we can help save one life, this campaign can be hailed a success.”
But in the words of Homer Simpson: “Sure it’ll save a few lives, but millions will be late!” Credits after the jump.
The angrily-slammed door is an all too familiar sight (and/or sound) to many parents raising teens. Toronto-based agency UNION uses this to draw attention to the fact that youth mental illness often goes untreated, leading suicide to be the number two cause of death among teens in their new spot for Partners for Mental Health, a national, charitable organization aimed at transforming how Canadians think about and support mental illness.
The poignant spot, part of the “Right By You” campaign, begins with a series of door slams, followed by the text, “Living with a teen is hard.” We then see the mother of the first girl slam the door to her daughter’s room and break down in tears. The text, “Living without one is harder” fills in the (really fucking depressing) context. The spot then informs the viewer that “Suicide is the #1 cause of non-accidental death among youth” before calling on viewers to sign a petition encouraging governments to change the way they support and fund youth mental health.
To me, the most effective PSAs are simple, yet direct: they don’t hit you over the head with statistics or over-dramatized reenactments of tragic events. This spot certainly fits the bill. They wait until the end to mention that suicide is the number one cause of non-accidental death among youth, and it’s all the more affecting for having been tied to our emotions. It also manages to warn parents that seemingly normal youth angst can be a sign of an underlying issue without being preachy or overly alarmist about it. It’s easy to ignore issues like this, because they’re so hard to think about, but without changes they’re never going to improve. Kudos to UNION for a well thought out strategy to bring this often-overlooked issue to light.
If you’ve ever had a nightmare boss in advertising, Zulu Alpha Kilo’s latest spot for NABS Vintage Intern Auction should appeal to you.
The NABS Vintage Intern Auction auctions off “twelve notable executives and thought leaders,” to be used as interns for a day, for the Canadian charitable group NABS, who provide assistance for people in communications and related industries who need help due to illness, injury, unemployment or financial difficulties. Winning bidders can assign their interns to do anything from giving a speech or holding a seminar to cleaning up the kitchen or getting coffee.
The spot highlights the revenge aspect of the auction, with bidders attempting to win the right to boss around a truly awful Chief Creative Officer. At the center of the spot is the eventual winning bidder, a man with an eye patch who the CCO told, “If you can work from home, you can work from Intensive Care.” He outbids the woman the CCO called “Sarah in bed and then said ‘I’m so sorry, Diane,’ which isn’t [her] name either.” I don’t know what kind of work he has for the CCO, but it won’t be pretty. Perhaps cleaning the bathroom floor with a toothbrush?
As you can tell from the synopsis, Zulu Alpha Kilo isn’t afraid to push the boundaries a little bit with some risque humor, and the result is a spot that is actually funny. We’re guessing that since it’s for a good cause, no one will be offended. No CCOs were harmed in the making of this video. At least not any that didn’t deserve it.
Here’s the full list of the “interns” up for bids, in case your boss from hell is one of them:
Claude Carrier – President, DentsuBos
Mary Maddever – VP & Editorial Director, Brunico Publishing
Robin Williams once said cocaine was God’s way of saying you make too much money. Something tells me he’d say the same about ad agencies’ current fascination with turning even the smallest task into a gigantic group project.
You’d think in these days of tight budgets, rapidly changing media and constant connectivity, agencies would not only be doing things faster but with fewer people. Especially after all the crazy mergers, consolidation and downsizing. Sadly though, in today’s ad world there’s just no project too small to involve way too many people.
Notice I used the word involve. That’s important because the number of people actually doing the work hasn’t really changed. Just the number of people involved. For example, if we were talking about a crew of city utility workers, these would be the six guys standing around the edge of the hole doing nothing but watching the two guys who are actually down in the hole digging. (And if they were agency-types, they’d be constantly emailing the poor saps while they dug.)
Naturally, these peripheral peeps insist their Too-Many-Meetings process be given a new name, so as to sound less stupid and more innovative I guess. Scrum seems to be the latest moniker they’ve latched onto, a surprisingly apt descriptor given the way workplace overthink can invade your personal space. As buzzwords go, scrum may soon prove to be the next crowdsourcing. And no wonder, considering it has a much better ring to it than the other name they were considering, Opening The Oven Door Every Other Minute To See If The Cookies Are Done.
I may be getting out of my element here, but I always thought one of the easiest ways for an agency to make money was to do more with less. Considering that people are an agency’s greatest expense, the fewer people you pay per task, the more money you have left over, no? Especially if your revenue comes from a fixed monthly fee.
Yet it seems like the goal in most agencies today is to require more people than ever to hold as many meetings as possible to accomplish what could just as easily happen in about half the time with 1/3 of the manpower. (With that 1/3 feeling much happier and vital and empowered and other stuff the Human Resources Dept. says we should care about along the way, too.)
Of course, I can hear the scrum-mers now: It’s all about collaboration! The wisdom of the crowd! The hive! Great ideas can come from anywhere, etc, etc.
Fine, great ideas are everywhere. So is gold and oil technically, but it doesn’t take a genius to realize we’re not all equally adept at finding it. And sure, collaboration is important, but at a certain point we’re simply getting in each others’ way.
So what say we all pick up our Scrum Participation Trophies then go back to our desks and spend some of this precious meeting time actually thinking instead?
Who knows, maybe some of us will actually get some work done.
(Thanks to Brian Morrissey @bmorrissey for pointing out the rise of scrum. So many buzzwords, so little time.)
Prediction: the big agency buzzword of 2014 will be 'scrum.'
Independent creative agency Red Tettemer O’Connell & Partners announced a new agency initiative today searching for imaginative interactive talent.
This initiative from the Philly-based agency comes with the announcement of a tongue-in-cheek paper website that visitors can print out or request to be delivered via mail in 6-8 weeks. How’s that for a selling point?
The paper website is housed at Create Cool Shit, offering “a wide analog collection of information about the agency and its interactive department including a paper demonstration of responsive design, a print out of the agency’s Twitter feed, obligatory parallax and more.” We don’t expect to see the paper website schtick replicated anywhere, because why would it be? Repeat: This is your chance to have a paper website mailed to you. Don’t blow it.
RTO+P — whose clients include Under Armour, Fox Networks, Planet Fitness and Ripken Baseball — are looking for talent in their Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and Venice, CA offices. Interested programmers and interactive designers can apply here. As RTO+P puts it, “Shitheads need not apply.” A class action discrimination suit, filed by shitheads, is forthcoming.
In case you haven’t read, Newell Rubbermaid, which has previously worked with Minneapolis-based Carmichael Lynch and Definition 6, has shifted its business to BBH and PHD as lead creative and media agency, respectively. BBH, which also works with leading brands including Johnnie Walker, British Airways, KFC, Audi, Barclays Bank, Westin Hotels & Resorts, and Axe, will support work by the global agency network including offices in London, Sao Paulo and Shanghai.
In a statement, Richard Davies, chief marketing/insights officer of Newell Rubbermaid, says, “For the first time, we are aligning all our brands and categories behind one set of agency partners to drive big ideas that create a strong point of difference for consumers. BBH and PHD are the best in the business at what they do. With their partnership, we now have the power to achieve much greater scale, reach and impact as we invest behind growing our brands worldwide.”
The new agency relationship has started two days ago and will go into full effect in early 2014.
Ogilvy Chicago’s latest spot in their “People Who Get It” campaign for CDW features Charles Barkley, Doug Flutie, and a technologically advanced stadium without a team.
In the spot, Jim Gordon takes you on a tour of Gordon and Taylor stadium, a domed football stadium he touts as “the most technologically advanced stadium in the world,” thanks to CDW. Features include “3,000 screens, stadium-wide wi-fi, seamless POS systems and a cloud infrastructure solution.” The funniest moment of the spot comes right after this list of features. “Do I know what those are? Not exactly,” Gordon admits. “But they sound impressive.” This should hit home with a lot of people who fall a good deal short of IT expert, myself included.
Over the course of the spot it’s revealed that Gordon has the perfect stadium, a half-time show, cheerleaders, a mascot, Charles Barkley and Doug Flutie on board — basically everything he needs, except a team. He seems to get more and more panicked about this as the spot goes on. Looks like Flutie may have to QB himself. The spot is fun and lighthearted, although I wish Barkley had more lines as he has a good comic presence. I wouldn’t be too surprised to see a follow-up spot
Last year, Geox took their line of Amphibiox waterproof shoes to the rainiest place on earth: Cherrapunjee, India — which has an annual rainfall of around 12,000 mm. This year, Norwegian agency SMFB found an even more extreme way to test Geox’s Amphibiox technology.
SMFB enlisted one brave volunteer, named Tom, who they proceeded to torture with a barrage of seven days of nonstop precipitation on the streets of Barceleona. To accomplish this, SMFB had to make it rain, developing “three highly advanced artificial clouds” for the experiment. “We reproduced the conditions required for the test, creating relentless rain and constant humidity in the middle of a sunny city. The poor man had to live under his own, private rain cloud for seven days straight,” said Kristian Kristiansen at SMFB, who proceeded to laugh maniacally.
Each of these rainy days was laid out to simulate everyday urban activities, like walking the streets as a tourist, working a day job, or going out on a date. The rain cloud even followed the poor torture victim into a cab.
MediaMonks, who handled the campaign’s film and digital production, made clever use of technology as well. They developed a “shoe cam” that “captured the shoes with super slow-motion macro Phantom shots,” says Rogier Schalken of MediaMonks films. MediaMonks documented video footage of all seven of Tom’s rainy days, in addition to the highlights video featured above.
Throughout the seven day precipitation onslaught, the Geox Amphibiox shoes remained dry. Tom wasn’t so lucky. He died of pneumonia (Okay, not really, but the psychological scars may never heal). Credits and additional video after the jump. continued…
Now Honda and RPA have extended their “spokescrumbs” campaign to Honda’s Twitter page, engaging a bunch of other brands in the process. The gist of the campaign extension is Honda tweeting popular snack companies and other brands, letting them know their crumbs will soon be vanquished by the Odyssey’s built-in vacuum cleaner. They dubbed the campaign “Odyssey’s Day of Reckoning.” Eighteen brands engaged in conversation, including Popsecret, Red Vines, Taco Bell, Eat24, Oreoe, Chips Ahoy, Lay’s and others. The engagement with Taco Bell was the highlight, featuring a fake mini-feud. Honda’s followers seemed to enjoy the banter, with some suggesting brands that Honda then reached out to. Several brands also engaged Honda without prompt, certainly a sign that they were doing something right.
It got a little cheesy and repetitive at times, but “Odyssey’s Day of Reckoning” made a lot of sense for a social campaign extension, one that succeeded in engaging fans and other brands. It solidifies the built-in vacuum cleaner as the selling point of the Odyssey, the only strong point of the weak “spokescrumbs” TV spots. Maybe Honda can follow up and make the reckoning last for more than one day. There are certainly more brands out there that would fit the concept.
There are no layoffs to be had as a result, but we’ve received confirmation that Havas’s project work for Wingstop is over. Just two months ago, Charlie Morrison, CEO of the hot wings-focus national chain, talked bringing Havas (specifically the Chicago office) on board to Dallas Business Journal, saying this:”The company has not had an advertising agency for its entire tenure of 20 years, so this is something very new for us. What’s interesting about them is they’re an agency that caters to the millennial. They understand how to do digital marketing very well and social media, which we think is best for the brand beyond radio and TV. It’ll be a change in our approach, but we think it’s going to be a smarter way to market.”
As for Havas, we’ve been told that the agency has “grown” the Citi business, won digital duties for Dish and won another piece of business that will be announced soon. We’ll keep you posted if and when we find out what this piece is.
Today CP+B is launching “Noodle Reunion,” the latest in its “You know you love it” campaign for Kraft. If you happen to have the right last name, it could mean free preservative-drenched mac and cheese for you.
“Noodle Reunion” operates under the premise that Kraft Macaroni and Cheese “has always been the kind of meal that brings families together.” Each day for the next two weeks, Kraft will choose a last name at random. If you happen to hold that last name, you’re entitled to a free box of gooey noodles and cheese-like-product. Today’s name, for example, is Berry. So if you happen to be a Berry, simply verify with Kraft, wait 4-6 weeks, and then redeem your coupon for a free Kraft Macaroni and Cheese product valued at $1.65 or less! Have fun splitting that amongst your family!
Since they’re already using Facebook to verify, you have to wonder why they’d need to mail the coupon. Can’t they just make a printable version and send that to recipients of the prize? Wouldn’t they avoid postage costs that way, while also making the prize seem more exciting due to its immediacy? Isn’t it a little anti-climactic to find you “won” something, to know your (less than two-dollar value) prize will come in the mail sometime next month?
Maybe I’m being a little cynical here, but since there’s also a limit of one coupon request per household how is this supposed to “bring families together?” I have a hard time not picturing siblings reaching over the table to fight over the last remaining serving of mac and cheese while their parents yell at them to sit down or cry into their bowls, cursing Kraft for their paltry giveaway. Credits after the jump.
Young Glory Season 3 is upon us, with a twist. While previous iterations have included only Advertising briefs, this season kicks off with a separate Design category. More categories, more opportunities to win points, and more points is good for just about everything except golf and driving records. However, and I’ll inform you upfront, points from the Advertising category cannot combine with points from the Design category. When you enter, whether student or professional, choose wisely.
This month’s judges are R/GA Regional ECD David Brown (Advertising) and Collins New York Partner and ECD Leland Maschmeyer (Design). Brown’s ad brief focuses on wearable technology: “we are turning the table a little and asking you to think from “what” to “what if?” In the same realm as Nike Fuel, Google Glass, etc., Brown is asking for fashion and function. On the Design end, Maschmeyer’s brief deals with improving America’s healthcare system (don’t worry about issues such the healthcare lobby, Congressional gridlock, or Republican hostage-taking). From the brief: “Design can help in one key area: the customer’s relationship with their health insurance provider.” Sreamline, simplify, convenience. Do whatever you have to do to earn those points. Everyone is eligible.
If you’ve been paying attention to education in this country, you probably know that U.S. students aren’t stacking up so great against students around the world. They’re currently ranked 25th globally in what educators have taken to calling STEM: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
In an attempt to get more students to pursue careers in science and technology (other than meth manufacturing), the U.S. Air Force teamed up with agency GSD&M to create a project called the Air Force Collaboratory, described as “an online educational platform that pairs students with Air Force experts to tackle three unclassified military projects.” The projects include a prototype technology to rescue people trapped in collapsed structures, determining where to launch the newest GPS satellite, and designing the next generation of unmanned aerial vehicles.
GSD&M partnered with interactive design consultancy Welikesmall to create video content from three Air Force bases, including Air Force Space Command — one of the most restricted-access areas in the country. Using video, including shots captured by crawling through debris in simulated earthquake conditions, GSD&M and Welikesmall created an informative and engaging video. They make science and technology seem kind of cool, not always an easy feat. The video was lacking one crucial piece though: Bill Nye.
Welikesmall also created a social media network that allows the Air Force to constantly update the site with new content, projects and notifications. They even turn the project into something of a game, with users able to see how their ideas rank against their peers. It will be interesting to see what new ideas emerge from this endeavor. Credits after the jump. continued…
Pearl Media’s interactive billboard at Columbus Circle attempts to spook passing subway riders with a large screen ad that responds to their movements.
The gesture-activated, multimedia billboard has been promoting Witches of East End since September 13th. As Pearl Media CEO Josh Cohen puts it, “The video walls are designed to get busy Upper West Side commuters to put down their small screens and spend time with cool content on a really big screen so that they’ll tune in to their medium-sized TV screens when the series premieres on October 6.” Phew. I think Louis C.K. would probably have something to say about that one.
At any rate, the billboard features two nine square-foot walls, comprised of nine screens each. An extreme close up of a woman’s green iris appears to follow commuters as they walk by, masses of crows fly out of her pupil as the scene changes to trees slowly being consumed by fire. The more movement from those passing by, the more the scene changes. Music and sound are also integrated into the interactive billboard.
The billboard didn’t seem to actually scare anybody (nor, I think, will Witches of East End), but it did stop some people in their tracks and get them to interact with the billboard. Some of them seemed to be having fun. Whether that will get anyone to actually tune into Lifetime is another story.
Justin Tucker is one impressive dude, even if his flow is kind of weak.
Code and Theory’s “/1 One of a Kind” campaign for Dr. Pepper spotlights real die-hard Dr. Pepper fans with unique talents. One of those fans happens to be Justin Tucker, the undrafted, rookie, free-agent who helped the Ravens clinch the 2012 Super Bowl and bring some much-needed positivity to Charm City.
What you probably didn’t know about Justin Tucker is that he’s an opera aficionado, and a pretty passable opera singer at that. (Says someone who knows next to nothing about opera.) In the spot he can be seen belting out Mozart’s Don Giovanni at Baltimore’s historic Hippodrome Theatre. He also kicks a really nice field goal into the upper level seats. According to the spot, he can sing opera in seven different languages. Pretty impressive stuff.
Tucker also experiments with making beats — although we don’t actually hear any in the spot — and freestyle raps about Dr. Pepper in his car. His flow is kind of weak sauce, but still probably among the best for NFL kickers. The spot begins to drag a bit toward the end when Tucker explains himself how being a “beat-making, opera-signing, pro athlete” makes him one of a kind. I get that the one of a kind thing is what the campaign is all about, we just didn’t need to hear it from Tucker himself.
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And now, a little shout out to the number crunchers. We’ve received confirmation that as of yesterday, Greg Corso has assumed the role of EVP, director of data/analytics for MRM’s New York and Princeton operations. From what we gather, Corso essentially replaces David Hohman, who served as SVP/data & analytics at MRM. As for Corso, the new EVP arrives from “customer science” company dunnhumbyUSA, where he served as VP/media solutions. During his career, Corso also spent three years at R/GA, last serving as director of analytics/CRM and has also worked at the likes of what was formerly Rapp Collins.
And now, some quick people news to break things up a bit. It looks like Goodby alums 
