Hasta La Creative!

EVB and Victors & Spoils give “The Gift of Giving” in a holiday campaign for JCPenney which asks shoppers to give a gift to a complete stranger.

Filmed last month in JCPenney stores in Illinois and Indiana the video follows as customers are told to find someone in the store to give a gift to. That person then travels with them around the store and together they pick out a gift, with JC Penney picking up the tab. The gifts range from jeans and a jacket to a sofa and even an engagement ring as participants engage in tearful signs of appreciation and hugs. It’s designed to be a heartwarming affirmation that giving is better than receiving; in other words, the polar opposite of Harvey Nichols’ cynical “Could I Be Any Clearer?” spot from adam&eveDDB.

“The idea of having to give something to a complete stranger can be very scary,” JCPenney CMO Debra Berman told Adweek. “And it’s that vulnerability that made this experiment so real and interesting. It brought out emotions in both the giver and the receiver.”

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W+K finds a unique and amusing way to call for entries to the 2015 Andy Award in a new campaign featuring a a member of a bomb squad, neurosurgeon and firefighter all discussing a career that takes real courage: advertising. Each spot ends with the tagline, “Where only the bravest get rewarded.”

In “Neurosurgeon” the discussion happens during brain surgery, as the surgeon in question asks, “How do you know when you sell an idea to a client that the idea is actually going to work?” He asks for the scalpel and then continues, “It’s like its one big conceptual umbrella and then what do you do with that?” He goes on with his hypothetical scenario, in which the client kills the idea in favor of a brand manifesto with “hard hitting VO,” he sighs. “And then wait ’til AgencySpy gets it,” the surgeon ads. “It’s brutal.”

In the other spots a firefighter marvels at the difficulty of balancing TV, digital and social, and the bomb squad member trembles at the thought of having to “come up with a groundbreaking social media campaign in a week.” Obviously the point of the ads is to point out that advertisers aren’t doing anything as courageous or important as saving lives, knocking down the self-importance of award shows a peg or two in the process. The videos are supported by display and social media ads depicting big name creatives like Gerry Graf, Susan Hoffman, Jeff Benjamin and Dan Wieden being congratulated by firefighters, astronauts, surgeons and the like. Stick around for “Hurt Locker” and “Firefighter” after the jump. (more…)

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Deutsch LA announces Verizon’s latest price offering in the new 30-second broadcast spot, “Cut Your Plan in Half.”

In the spot, Sprint promises customers who bring in an old Verizon or AT&T bill and turn in their phone that Sprint will cut their rate in half. It’s an ambitious (and/or desperate) offering from the struggling company, and Deutsch LA keeps the message simple and focused, while also following through on President/CEO Maurcelo Claure‘s promise that the company would be “more aggressive” in its advertising by directly calling out its competitors. Customers talk about their troublesome bills with AT&T and Verizon before announcing they’re switching to Sprint and (literally) cutting their old bills in half. The spot debuted this past Friday on national networks and cable during primetime, and will be supported by a Spanish-language spot and print ads.

Despite the launch of this spot by Deutsch LA, the agency’s preceding ad for the brand, and heavy rumors that Deutsch has already won the account, Sprint maintains that the creative review is still in progress, according to AdAge. Sprint spokesman Dave Mellin told that publication, “Deutsch L.A. did the creative work on this campaign.They are doing some work for us on a project basis.”

Sprint’s review was initially announced back in September, with the field narrowing to five agencies a month later. According to some sources, it then came down to a race between Deutsch LA and Arnold. Despite claims that Deutsch has been awarded the account, including a linked internal memo from Arnold  (which we reported on last month), Sprint continues to avoid making an official decision.

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Union Made Creative recently launched an inspirational ad for Lego targeted at young girls and for many the reaction will be: “It’s about time.”

Despite its roots of mostly gender-neutral marketing (which makes sense, given that there’s no real reason to attach a gender to building blocks), Lego has come under fire from many, including feminist critic Anita Sarkeesian, who devoted two segments of her “Feminist Frequency” series to the subject, for its overt marketing towards boys in recent decades. The “together” in the brand’s “Let’s Build Together” campaign, for example, was limited to fathers and sons. In 2012, the brand reacted by releasing its Lego Friends line, marketed towards girls, but the extension was viewed by many as an after-thought at best and by its more vocal critics, as Sarkeesian put it, a “a pastel-colored gender-stereotyped suburban wasteland.” That Lego Friends is “for girls” only reinforces the problematic notion that the rest of Lego’s products are intended for boys. The majority of sets in the line feature stereotypically feminine constructions like beauty salons and bakeries, and are dominated by soft pastel colored blocks.

A kind of tipping point came early this year when a letter from a 7-year-old girl went viral and put renewed pressure on Lego to better serve its female fans. The company showed that they might finally be getting the message this summer when they released the Lego Research Institute, developed by Swedish geochemist Ellen Kooijman through the fan-sourced Ideas platform, which features three female scientists. The limited-edition set sold out within days, delivering a clear message to the company that there’s a demand for such products.

All of which brings us to “Inspire Imagination and Keep Building” from Union Made Creative, which (finally) addresses many of the sexist tendencies in Lego’s advertising. “I don’t always want you to help me,” says a girl narrator at the beginning of the ad, “Do you know why? I want to figure it out on my own.” While the ad shows the girl playing with figures from Lego’s Friends set, it shows her using those pieces in creative ways, and she doesn’t play with them exclusively. She also makes a hospital bed and plays doctor, creates a helicopter and a maze for a hamster. In short, it explores the wonder and imagination at the core of the brand. “Because you taught me how to think and how to dream,” the narrator says at the conclusion of the spot, “I’m about to make something that I know will make you proud.”

The ad is very well crafted and would be emotionally powerful even without the background of the brand’s gender-biased marketing, but is all the more so because of it. At the very least it is a big step in the right direction for Lego, as they hopefully continue to move toward making all of their fans feel equally welcome, regardless of gender. (more…)

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BBDO Toronto examines the idea of “progress” and what it really means in a new spot promoting Prince Edward County, entitled “Progress Redefined.”

“It was progress that put a hole in our ozone” begins the voiceover in the spot, going on to question what the word really means in what appears to be audio captured at some kind of speech. The audio is juxtaposed with footage of the scenic county, captured by director by Chris Muir of Someplace Nice. This footage seems to present an alternative to the hustle and bustle of modern life hinted at in the description of progress, which converges when the speaker finally decides that progress “has given us a chance to redefine it.”

“We wanted to capture the essence of The County,’ explained Carlos Moreno, SVP, executive creative director, BBDO Toronto. “The County is holding progress at bay, embracing artisanal crafts and an authentic way of doing things.”

The approach makes sense, given that many of Prince Edward County’s offerings — local wineries, its farm-to-table dining establishments and “rustic-chic aesthetics,” to name a few — are reflective of the kind of values hinted at in “Progress Redefined.” Prince Edward County was pleased with the results. Neil Carbone, director of community development said, “We are thrilled with the result and eager to promote the idea of ‘real progress’ in marketing The County.” (more…)

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Constellation Brands Beer Division announced a new partnership with Ogilvy Chicago on its Corona Light and Modelo Especial brands today, with Ogilvy being tasked with assisting “in the development and execution of marketing strategies to increase brand awareness, stimulate product trials, and accelerate sales for these two brands,” effective January 1st. Coronoa Extra was not part of the review, and will remain with Cramer-Krasselt.

Just last month we reported that Constellation had put portions of its Corona and Modelo brands up for review after Constellation and GS&P “mutually agreed to end their relationship” — although it was unclear at the time exactly which portions of the brands were up for grabs. Corona Light is the number one imported light beer in America, and fifth imported beer overall. Modelo Especial, meanwhile, has seen tremendous growth in recent years — with Constellation reporting “sales growth in the high double-digits over the past several years” — leading some to question if the brand is the “next Corona.” Modelo Especial’s growth has come without traditional ad support (the brand has yet to see a national broadcast campaign, for example) so it could be that Ogilvy Chicago will be tasked with bringing the brand to a larger stage. (more…)

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180 LA crafted a holiday effort for Expedia entitled “Santa Flies Coach,” where Kris Kringle ditches the sleigh and travels around the world via more conventional means.

Santa visits Honolulu, Tokyo, Dubai, Paris and Dublin en route to his final destination. Everywhere he goes people are, of course, delighted to see the jolly, white-bearded symbol of Christmas, but viewers may be wondering by now why exactly Santa has ditched his sleigh. The spot takes a heartwarming turn with that reveal as Santa arrives at his final destination: “For one week Santa flew around the world, because now the points we earn traveling can be donated to St. Jude Children’s Hospital” appears onscreen as Santa visits patients at the hospital. It’s a heartwarming message, made all the more so by its unexpectedness in the wake of the cheery beginning of the ad. And the reveal, rather than feeling cheap, offers a satisfactory explanation furthering our understanding of what preceded it. A lot of holiday efforts shoot for this kind of feeling, but few attempt to actually motivate viewers toward specific charitable action, which makes “Santa Flies Coach” all the more admirable. (more…)

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Swedish agency Le Bureau teamed up with Seattle-based animation studio The Academy’s Swedish collective known as Brikk to create a two minute PSA for Red Cross Sweden.

The ad tries to convince Swedes to give Red Cross parcels to those in need for Christmas, rather than buying something they won’t even remember next year. Or, as Brikk puts it, “We together with Red Cross think that a food package to Syria is a better Christmas gift than a fitness band, and that’s what we are trying to communicate in the animation.”

To accomplish this, the animation highlights just how many gifts are forgotten, or even sold secondhand online after the holiday season. “Don’t buy thoughtless presents for the ones you care for, buy something special that shows they mean more,” says the spot’s rhyming narrator, positing Red Cross gifts as the answer. Near the end of the PSA he gets a little more direct, saying, “…this year don’t buy shit, make an active choice.” The candidness is refreshing, and should get more people to share what otherwise could have been a very dry message. (more…)

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Droga5 enlisted New York rapper Nas in its latest spot for Hennessy, entitled “The Ride..”

Nas‘ association with the brand dates back to his classic 1994 debut Illmatic, where the brand is mentioned on the very first track. He signed a deal with the company at the beginning of last year to appear in the latest iteration of its “Wild Rabbit” campaign, which finally comes to life with “The Ride.”

The 60-second spot channels Nas‘ own past with a re-worked version of the song “New York State of Mind” from his debut. Over Nas‘ recitation of the re-imagined lyrics he steps on a subway car and is seemingly transported back in time to the 80s, with time progressing over the course of the ad so that when he emerges from the car later, he is back in the present day. A newspaper headline reading “Panic on Wall Street” at one point signifies a transition to the modern era. It’s all very slick and stylish, with plenty of attention to detail lavished on the concept. The spot ends with Nas walking toward a stage after uttering the line “It was only right that I was born to use mics,” and the text “I tell the stories that need to be told” appearing onscreen, followed by the “What’s your Wild Rabbit?” tagline. (more…)

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R/GA London rolled out a digital holiday campaign for Bailey’s, an extension of the brand’s global “Here’s To Us” campaign targeting millenial women, created by BBH London.

The digital extension celebrates getting together with friends — whether it’s going out and trying new places, as in “Here’s To Getting Together” (above), or staying in and hanging out, as in “Here’s To Staying In” (after the jump). Both videos, which launched in the UK last month and are now rolling out across Europe, feature montages of quick shots which together tell the story of a night with friends. In “Here’s To Getting Together” it’s “trying new places,” “catching up… on everything,” waiting for that one friend who’s always late and having just one more side dish. Each spot ends with the group of women toasting with a glass or shot of Bailey’s, implying the brand is part of the perfect evening.

In addition to the online spots there is also a campaign Tumblr page functioning as part of “a unique influencer campaign featuring women such as Daisy Lowe and blogger Eleanora Carisi.” The influencer campaign will include editorial interviews, Instagram content creation, and cocktails created by Daisy Lowe (UK), Jessica Weiss (Germany, of Journelles Blog) and Eleanora Carisi (Italy, of JouJou Villeroy blog) alongside “London Mixology icon” Missy Flynn.

“Our ambition is to create unique online content that captures the magic you feel when you’re with your best girlfriends and inspires women to raise a toast to each other with,” explains Dawn Allison, global digital marketing manager, Baileys, in a press release, adding that the campaign “marks a critical phase in our journey to re-ignite performance by putting consumer behaviour – serve and occasion – at the heart of every brand execution.” (more…)

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