We Hear: Sprint Narrows Its Creative Agency Review

sprint-ripoff

Just over a month after Sprint announced its search for a new creative agency and a few weeks after the death of the “framily” became official, the company’s creative review appears to be moving along.

At EOD Friday, sources told Adweek that five shops remained:

  • CP+B
  • Arnold
  • Deutsch LA
  • KBS+
  • Saatchi & Saatchi

This morning a tipster provided us with an (unsubstantiated) update.

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TBWA Employs Star Voices for Conservation International

TBWA Media Arts Lab has launched a star-studded campaign for Conservation International, entitled “Nature is Speaking,” which employs celebrities as elements of nature delivering the message that environmental reform is an immediate concern.

Star voices include Julia Roberts as Mother Nature, Harrison Ford as The Ocean, Kevin Spacey as The Rainforest, Edward Norton as The Soil, Penelope Cruz as Water and Robert Redford as The Redwood. The campaign debuted at SXSW Eco and rolled out yesterday on YouTube, with the Mother Nature film highlighted on www.conservation.org. That nearly two-minute video functions as the campaign’s center point and introduction. Roberts, as Mother Nature, casts aside the notion that nature is something separate from people to be used. “I don’t really need people, but people need me,” Roberts intones over footage of natural marvels (bonus points for time-lapse footage of oyster mushrooms growing). She goes on to point out how the fate of humans is linked to nature. “When I thrive, you thrive,” she says. “When I falter, you falter — or worse.” She concludes, “One way or another, your actions will determine your fate. Not mine…I am prepared to evolve, are you?” It’s a powerful message, hammering home the immediacy of the issue with emotion.

It also functions as something of a rebranding for the environmental movement. As Dr. M. Sanjayan, Conservation International’s executive vice president and senior scientist points out in a press release, “The environmental movement has missed the mark when talking about nature because it tends to present nature as something that is separate from people. By making it clear that people need nature to survive, we are turning the conversation around and making the movement relevant to entirely new audiences.”

As the campaign continues, Conservation Internation will highlight a different film each week on www.conservation.org, with an accompanying post on its Human Nature blog. Next week will focus on The Ocean (voiced by Vice Chairman of Conservation International Harrison Ford), followed by The Rainforest (voiced by Spacey) and The Soil (Norton). We’ve included Ford and Spacey’s contributions after the jump. The campaign also includes a social extension, with HP promising to donate one dollar to Conservation International, up to one million, for every use of the #NatureIsSpeaking hashtag. (more…)

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Another Subway Ad Blows a Woman's Hair Around as Trains Arrive, but There's a Twist

A Swedish subway ad got a lot of attention earlier this year by showing a woman’s hair blowing beautifully in the wind whenever a train arrived. And now it has inspired another attention-grabbing display.

Since there’s not much to it beyond the reveal of this new digital ad, also from Sweden, I’ll spare you any spoilers. Credits are below the video.

Via Ads of the World.

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CREDITS
Agency: Garbergs, Stockholm, Sweden
Creative Director: Petter Ödéen
Art Director: Sebastian Smedberg
Copywriter: Sedir Ajeenah
Photographer: Daniel Griffel
Account Manager: Ida Tenggren
Digital Director: Micke Ring



AMV BBDO Brings Back Mr. Bean for Snickers

AMV BBDO has a new series of ads for Snickers’ ongoing “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” campaign, resurrecting Rowan Atkinson‘s Mr. Bean character.

In the longest of the three broadcast spots, Atkinson’s character finds himself jumping over rooftops with a group of ninjas, in a parody of kung fu movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Only, while his colleagues glide gracefully from rooftop to rooftop, Mr. Bean has a bit more trouble and eventually finds himself crashing through the roof to an angry group of warriors below. At this point, one of his fellow ninjas tosses him a Snickers, saying “…you can’t concentrate when you’re hungry, eat a Snickers” and he’s back to his old self.

The character is a perfect fit for the popular “You’re Not You When You’re Hungry” approach, and the spots are all pretty entertaining. In the remaining pair (featured after the jump), Atkinson’s character practices nunchucks and kata, with less than stellar results. Atkinson’s character is such a good fit — he’s certainly one of the best celebrities featured in the ongoing campaign — that you almost wonder why he hasn’t been featured before. (more…)

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Fire Station Agency Goes ‘Crazy Healthy’ for POM

Fire Station Agency is bringing POM back to TV for the first time in three years, with a new campaign entitled “Crazy Healthy.”

The campaign imagine the antioxidants in POM as various types of warriors, from archers and samurai, to cyclops and dragons. This approach emphasizes the free-radical fighting nature of the antioxidants in pomegranate juice, a key health benefit of the the product. It comes across as an effort to make the brand seem more fun and youthful, while still emphasizing its health benefits. To create the campaign, Fire Station teamed up with director Tarsem Singh and VFX studio Framestore, who helped bring the anti-oxidant fighting warriors to life. (more…)

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Yahoo Reaches Out to Agencies for Consumer Brand Campaign

yahoonewlogo1

Sources familiar with the matter have said that Yahoo has reached out to agencies for the creation of a new consumer brand campaign, AdAge reports. Yahoo declined to comment to that publication.

The search is being conducted without a consultant, with Yahoo reaching out to a number of agencies and inviting some to pitch ideas later this month. While there is no word on which agencies are involved, Yahoo has worked with Ogilvy and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, its agency of record from 2009-2011, in the past. According to AdAge‘s sources, the company, formerly a large TV spender, is considering all media for the new campaign. (more…)

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BBDO NY Pits Harden Against the Internet in Game of Horse for Foot Locker

BBDO New York has a new spot for Foot Locker that pits James Harden against the Internet in a best of three game of Horse.

It’s a really fun idea, in a “Why hasn’t anyone though of this before?” kind of way. Fans sent in their best shots to challenge Harden, and Harden attempts to recreate the shots. When he can make them, the Internet gets a letter, when he can’t Harden gets the letter. It makes for some compelling viewing for NBA fans, and fans of Harden in particular, and is a good way for the brand to offer original content to fans in what could easily be turned into a recurring series. Check out the video above to see how it panned out. (more…)

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Droga5 Trots Out Slow-Motion Horse for Strongbow Cider

Droga5 has a new campaign for Strongbow Cider that takes a tongue-in-cheek approach not unlike the agency’s work for fellow Heineken-owned brand Newcastle.

In a new spot for Strongbow, released in the heart of cider season, the brand pokes fun at a longtime alcohol advertising cliche, the slow-motion horse. As Adweek points out, this trope has been around since a 1982 ad for Budweiser Light (the brand’s first) employing a slow-motion Clydesdale. In the new Strongbow ad, however, the horse moves in slow motion while a couple walks down the beach at normal speed, continually stopping to wait for the horse to re-enter the frame. The spot emphasizes that Strongbow is best over ice, with a line of logic that “Apples are good, Strongbow Hard Cider is better, but Strongbow over ice is the best.” Enjoying it with your own slow-motion horse, however, is “the bestest.” The joke really works best in the 30-second format, as it feels a bit stretched at 60 seconds, but it’s a good dig at category cliches that hopefully means the end of brands attempting to use the slow-motion horse seriously. (more…)

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Goodby Attempts to Scare Young People into Voting for Rock the Vote

With Halloween coming up at the end of the month, Goodby Silverstein & Partners has a new campaign for Rock the Vote that attempts to scare young people into voting, entitled “#CareLikeCrazy.”

In the above 30-second spot, a right-wing lunatic espouses his (scary) views on women’s rights, preceding his rant by letting you know he never forgets to vote. He says women, who “think they want equal pay” are just having their minds poisoned by feminism and its the responsibility of men to protect them from themselves. His psychotic rant is followed by the a horror movie scream and the message “He votes. Do you?”

Since, unfortunately, there really are people like this out there, this is a clever approach. For those who don’t think there’s reason to vote, it’s a reminder that sane, rational people are needed to cancel out the votes of people like this guy. Similarly minded spots take on other topics (with other crazies) like war, the environment and voting rights. (more…)

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We Hear: DOJO San Francisco Closing Shop

DOJO agency

We’ve received several tips over the past week or so about San Francisco agency DOJO.

First, we heard that former GS&P account lead Marty Wenzell, who joined DOJO  in July 2012 and most recently held the president/MD title, was out. Then we heard that the agency — founded in 2009 by veterans of SF shop Fancy — would cease to exist at the end of this month.

Way back in January, we did confirm that Chris Masse, the DOJO art director turned creative director, had departed.

We didn’t hear much more from the shop until last week, when we got our first tips about Wenzell. We reached out to the agency’s contact email but received no response — and yesterday the listed phone number stopped working.

(more…)

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Droga5 Takes Diet Coke to the Car Wash

Droga5 has a new ad for Diet Coke taking the beverage to a somewhat unusual setting: the car wash.

A girl pops open a bottle of Diet Coke while going through a car wash. Instantly, the car wash is transformed, as a choreographed scene unfolds in front of her eyes. Dancers in yellow outfits similar to car wash scrubbers mingle with others in white bubble dresses, while everyone drinks Diet Coke (obviously) in a lavish, hallucinatory party scene. This enjoyable eye candy is followed by the nonsensical line, “What if life tasted as good as Diet Coke?” as the girl returns to reality, followed by the new “Get a Taste” tagline. The new ad, the latest in the “Get a Taste” campaign, will run tonight during Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy (a 15-second version will debut next week). Another broadcast spot featuring Taylor Swift will launch later this month. (more…)

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Pollinate Names Simeon Roane Executive Creative Director

0ae10d2Portland, Oregon-based agency Pollinate today announced the appointment of Simeon Roane as executive creative director tasked with leading innovation, creative and design.

Roane most recently served as group creative director at Razorfish, where he led work on the Netflix account and was also selected onto the judging panel for the 2014 American Advertising Awards. Prior to Razorfish, Roane spent around a year as a freelance writer/creative director, working with brands such as Microsoft, AT&T, Embassy Suites, Dollar Tree and Kia Motors. That followed an almost six year stint as executive vice president, executive creative director at Publicis New York, where he worked with brands including Coca-Cola, BMW, Heineken, T-Mobile, Nestlé, Lens Crafters and TGI Friday’s. Roane first joined Publicis all the way back in 2003 as a group creative director, following four years as an associate creative director at 180 Amsterdam. (more…)

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5 Takes on Facebook’s New Ad Platform

The Zuck

One of the biggest announcements at this year’s Advertising Week concerned Facebook and the “relaunch” of its advertising platform, Atlas.

Whether we want to admit it or not, Facebook plays a huge role in determining which ads audiences see — and this move is its attempt to knock Google off the online ad throne. The idea is that Facebook can more effectively show the ads you make and place to people who actually want to watch them…but you knew that already.

We asked five contacts in the ad/marketing industries for their takes on this development.

First, two voices from the (digital) agency world.

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Y&R Launches ‘Long Live New York’ for New York Organ Donor Network

Y&R has a new campaign encouraging New Yorkers to become organ donors on behalf of the New York Organ Donor Network.

In an animated 90-second spot, parts of buildings begin to fall off as the city is portrayed in dire health. A group collects the pieces, however, and assembles them into a heart which powers the city back up, as the Statue of Liberty breathes a sigh of relief, followed by the tagline “Keep New York Alive” and a message urging New Yorkers to become organ donors. The campaign is needed because as a state New York is well behind the curve in terms of registered organ donors.

“Next-to-last place—we are ranked 49th in terms of the percentage of state residents registered as organ donors—is not good enough for New York,”Glen Jacobs, executive creative director at Y&R, told Adweek. “We need to move the needle, so organ donors can save lives. Period.”

For the spot, Y&R teamed up with Laurent Witz, the director behind Oscar-winning animated short Mr. Hublot. Witz and company employed lifelike 3D animation to deliver the message in a way that can grab people’s attention. While it’s not immediately apparent why the city is falling apart, the message is clear by the end of the 90 seconds, and the initial mystery serves to draw in the viewer.

Still, Jacobs says that Y&R’s work for the cause is far from over. “If this campaign helps raise awareness for the cause, that’s great,” he told Adweek. “But we have a long way to go. So, our aim is to keep finding bigger and better ways to get the message out.” (more…)

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Havas Wants You to ‘Win the Right Way’ for Chivas

Havas Worldwide, London teamed up with AnalogFolk for a new campaign promoting luxury whiskey brand Chivas’ “The Venture,” a one million dollar fund to support up-and-coming social entrepreneurs.

The campaign, entitled “Win the Right Way,” celebrates those social entrepreneurs who run their businesses in a way that benefits society, not just shareholders, and is the latest installment in the brand’s “Live With Chivalry” campaign. Havas called on the talents of actors Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave) and Liao Fan for three different ads slated for different markets, all directed by Daniel Wolfe. Isaac stars in the 60-second spot for the US market (featured above), pacing around a boxing ring while celebrating those business owners who care enough to worry about something other than profits. The campaign rolled out yesterday, with the ads, short documentaries about social entrepreneurs and a website created by AnalogFolk.

“We have always valued entrepreneurship, and generosity is at the heart of Chivas, so supporting those who use their success to create value for others feels like a natural fit,” said Richard Black, global brand director, Chivas Regal. “We are committing significant resources through The Venture to find and support the most inspiring social entrepreneurs around the world, and hope that each of those businesses will inspire other entrepreneurs to use business as a force for good, creating a growing movement with real momentum behind it.” (more…)

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BBDO NY Gets Right to the Point for Viagra

Both women and the word “erection” have been conspicuously absent from Viagra’s advertising — until BBDO’s most recent ad for Pfizer’s erectile dysfunction medication, that is.

A new spot features a woman with a British accent giving men an idea of what erectile dysfunction is like from the partner’s point of view. “It’s just you and your honey, the setting is perfect,” she begins, with beach scenery in the background. “You know what, plenty of guys have this issue, not just getting an erection but keeping it,” she goes on, sounding a bit like a partner reassuring a man having troubled in the bedroom. She goes on to offer Viagra as the solution (and says “erection” again), while touting it as something you only take when you need it. “If ED is stopping what you started, ask your doctor about Viagra,” she concludes, before the list of health risks is accompanied by a barrage of ridiculous phallic imagery, including flag poles, a ship’s mast off in the distance, a long pier extending into the ocean, etc.

It’s definitely a change in approach for Viagra, whose advertising previously avoided discussing erectile dysfunction directly (and explicitly the word “erection”). Perhaps the new approach is a sign that people are ready for more direct discussions about the issue, rather than the insinuations of past ads. Still, despite the new direction, the spot still comes across as somewhat awkward in tone and the phallic imagery at its conclusion seems a bit overkill. Then again, this isn’t a category that has seen any non-awkward advertising, so maybe we should just be thankful that there aren’t his and her bathtubs.

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The Martin Agency Wins Ritz Creative Duties

RitzLogoBox-764041The Martin Agency will be producing creative work for Ritz Crackers starting in 2015, a Mondelez spokeswoman confirmed to AdAge yesterday. Ritz spent an estimated $16.6 million on measured media in 2013, according to Kantar Media.

The agency will take over for Havas Worldwide, which has handled creative duties on Ritz since 2007. Mondelez made the decision without any review, but The Martin Agency already handles creative duties on Mondelez brands Oreo and Chips Ahoy (and has since 2012).

“Havas Worldwide New York and Mondelez International are parting ways after a seven and a half year partnership,” said the Mondelez spokeswoman in a statement. “We experienced great success together, most evident in the Ritz ‘Open for Fun’ campaign, which earned multiple awards including a Bronze Effie and two One Show Design Silver Pencils. The campaign also contributed to Ritz being named ‘America’s favorite snack’ brand two years in a row and helped grow the business upward of 35%. We wish them continued success.” (more…)

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Tribal Worldwide Creates Robotripping, Puking Robot App

Tribal Worldwide has a new campaign discouraging teen cough syrup abuse on behalf of the Consumer Healthcare Products Association and the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids.

Rather than take a typical scare-tactic approach, Tribal Worldwide instead decided to make a fun game. The game, entitled “DXM Labworks” lets players get a robot all messed up on DXM (the psychoactive ingredient, dextromethorphan, in some cough syrups) and see what the effects are like (spoiler alert: the robot pukes a lot). Billing the app as “your chance to see the effects of abusing DXM without trying it yourself,” the idea is that teens will try out the game and see an unglamorous portrayal of the effects of the drug.

“It’s not a sexy drug –- there’s loss of motor control, slurred speech and, of course, the uncontrollable puking,” Kinney Edwards, executive creative director at Tribal, explained to Mashable. “Social disapproval really matters to teens, and they can see first-hand how embarrassing and not cool this is.”

The campaign is mostly aimed at “on the fence” teens, those who are considering experimenting with the drug and perhaps researching its effects online. By presenting them with a game that simulates the effects of the drug, Tribal hopes the teens will make the judgement that DXM’s negative effects are not something they want to experience. The agency decided that teens easily dismiss PSAs but that they might be more receptive to a fun, mobile game. And what’s not fun about a robot puking?

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Brand Activation Is A Global Movement

Once upon a time, I lived in Chicago and I spent some time freelancing for Frankel. Bud Frankel was a pioneer in sales promotion, and I thought it was pretty cool to see him walking the halls as Chairman of the firm he founded, led and eventually sold. The sales price in 2000 was estimated […]

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Cossette Celebrates Togetherness for Cheerios

Toronto agency Cossette has a new Canadian campaign for Cheerios celebrating togetherness.

The campaign is built around a 15-second broadcast spot, exploring the phenomenon of stray Cheerios attracting each other in the bowl. Cossette likens the phenomenon to “our need to connect,” ending with the lines “We all love to connect. That’s the Cheerios effect.” The emotional approach is extended online, via a series of heartstring-tugging videos telling the stories of connected individuals, such as cousins who are more like sisters, a married couple and a woman and her dog. We’ve included a couple of these, along with credits, after the jump. (more…)

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