Hasta La Creative!

Today we learned that TechCrunch blogger Kyle Russell doubles as an advertising critic. More specifically, he criticizes the websites of ad agencies.

There’s a reason he was interested in this one: it’s West, the San Francisco shop founded by former Apple marketing chief Allison Johnson and top Facebook PR Brandee Barker with a bit of capital from Twitter originator Jack Dorsey.

About a year ago, we posted on West in response to tipsters’ claims that all the real ad people hired to staff the agency were leaving. West’s web presence doesn’t help clarify that matter, because it provides absolutely no information about the organization itself.

Still, Russell lingered on the page long enough to call it “a new champion in the endless battle to have the most pretentious startup website.”

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W+K Portland got Richard Sherman to star in its new spot “Never Finished” for Nike, following on the heels of Sherman’s recent appearances for Neff earlier this month and Campbell’s in August.

The new spot deals with the hype train surrounding Sherman, as he is constantly bombarded with media discussions of whether or not he is “the best.” “Never Finished” does a good job at finding humor in the situation, aided by a believably exasperated Sherman. The highlight is probably the made for TV biopic, starring Damon Wayans Jr.

Sherman’s roles in ads so far have mostly seen the Seahawks star not taking himself seriously and playing with his public persona. That definitely continues with “Never Finished,” but the schtick is much less over the top than some of his past roles, and the more nuanced characterization fits Sherman well as the spot, more than anything, mocks the media hype that surrounds star players. It makes for an entertaining ad, and Sherman’s most enjoyable performance by far.

The campaign, which runs until October 9th, also includes five additional videos, with special cameos from Johnny Manziel, Victor Cruz, Ndamukong Suh and Ken Griffey Jr.
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Toronto agency john st.’s latest campaign for World Wildlife Fund Canada is based around the insight that people are lazy. Or, as Stephen Jurisic, co-ECD at john st. puts it, “This idea comes from the rather depressing truth that most people will only do things that help the environment if it’s really, really easy to do…So rather than try to change that behavior, we thought let’s just embrace it and show that it takes next to no effort to help our oceans and the sea life in it.”

In a 60-second spot, the agency promotes buying seafood with the MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) label on it to help protect our oceans by supporting sustainable fishing practices. The spot likens buying MSC-certified seafood with recycling (“Because it’s next to the trash.”) and buying organic, things that are “easy and practically unavoidable.” It’s an interesting change of approach from the usual call-to-arms, making the implication that there’s really no excuse not to buy MSC seafood, since it’s so easy.The campaign also includes two shorter how-to videos and a series of overtly simply online quizzes. (more…)

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Vita Coco, a leader in the rapidly growing coconut water market, has selected Saatchi & Saatchi, New York as its lead creative agency.

Arthur Gallego, the brand’s director of corporate and consumer communications told AdAge the hiring is “really part of an ongoing global growth strategy,” adding, “In the past, when the brand has advertised, we’ve typically worked with smaller shops. So this is the first time that we’ve worked with a truly global agency.”

Two months ago, Vita Coco announced plans to expand into China, via a deal selling a 25% stake in the company to Reignwood Group, parent company to Red Bull China. While Saatchi & Saatchi’s creative duties will be limited to North America, Gallego noted that “there is brand architecture [that] informs everything we do globally.”

Saatchi & Saatchi, New York will work on a new campaign expected to launch in the spring. While the brand has used Rihanna in past advertising, Gallego emphasized that Vita Coco was looking for more of a “brand centric” approach going forward. According to Euromonitor International, Vita Coco had sales of $267.5 million last year, with the brand estimating it controls 60 percent of the “premium coconut water market.”

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Grey New York has a new campaign for DirecTV, utilizing the services of Rob Lowe.

Lowe plays himself and “Creepy Rob Lowe” in the 30-second spot “Creepy.” Regular Lowe has DirecTV, while “Creepy Rob Lowe” has cable, which causes him to do creepy things like watch people swim at the rec center when his cable is out. While it’s a bit of a logical stretch, the character (complete with creepy facial hair) is kind of funny and a welcome change for the brand.

“Less Attractive” features a similarly-minded character, the schlubby, balding “Less Attractive Rob Lowe.” While not as funny as “Creepy” and even more nonsensical, it’s still entertaining to see Rob Lowe dressed up as a balding, paunchy version of himself. The format for the ads leaves itself open to plenty of possibilities with other celebrities in the future, so this could be a long-running campaign if it catches on. (more…)

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W+K New York enlisted the voice acting services of Donald Sutherland in their latest effort for Delta Airline’s “Keep Climbing” campaign.

Cleverly titled “No Bag Left Behind,” the spot derives from the insight that Delta flies more people than any other airline. Positioning this insight in an emotional context, the 60-second broadcast spot breaks from the more rational, documentary-style tone “Keep Climbing” has taken in the past, also employing the use of color for the first time in the campaign.

Directed by Noam Murro, the ad follows the bear-shaped bag of a small girl as it is cared for by Delta employees ensuring its safe delivery. Sutherland’s voice provides the perfect calm cadence to narrate the spot, concluding with the line, “…but when you’ve got an entire company who knows that the fewest cancellations and the most on-time flights are nothing if we can’t get your things there too, it’s no wonder more people choose Delta than any other airline,” delivered as the very relieved girl picks up her bag. The spot, which launched yesterday, will run until the end of November. (more…)

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Momentum Wordlwide revealed one of the cuter safe drinking PSAs you’re likely to see for Budweiser last Friday, timed to coincide with Global Be(er) Responsible Day.

The ad continues Budweiser’s affiliation with cute dogs (as seen in Anomaly’s “Puppy Love” Super Bowl spot). In “Friends Are Waiting” we are introduced to a man and his companion, a yellow lab, through a montage of the dog growing from a puppy to an adult. We then see the man leave with a group of friends, six pack of Budweiser in hand, telling the dog he’ll see him later. The lab waits patiently all night, accompanied by the text, “For some the wait never ended. But we can change that.” Then the man returns home to a very excited dog, explaining that he spent the night at a friend’s house, followed by the message, “Make a plan to make it home. Your friends are counting on you.”

It’s a pretty adorable approach to the overly familiar safe-drinking PSA, and sure to have dog owners of all stripes teary-eyed. By taking a different angle on the subject, and appealing to people’s natural love of their pets, it just may be memorable to make an impression and get dog owners to make safer drinking choices. Momentum is supporting the spot with the #friendsarewaiting hashtag, in an effort to help spread the message.

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SapientNitro has launched a new brand campaign for Lycra, its first since becoming AOR for the brand.

The global campaign, entitled “Move You,” kicked off with a broadcast spot — which has 60, 30, and 15-second variations — that broke last night in Brazil. Loosely inspired by Victorian-era photographic pioneer Eadweard Muybridge, and directed by Philippe André, the spot shows a woman in different environments encompassing a typical day. She bursts into sudden dance-like movement, with a time-lapse effect creating a trail showing the freedom of movement made possible by Lycra products. It makes for a visually compelling ad which fits with the brand’s message, even if it takes a second to pick up on when first viewing.

The print campaign, shot by acclaimed photographer Rankin, employs a similar approach. Additional aspects of the campaign include “a trade-targeted website and point of sale, followed in 2015 by consumer digital, social and innovative in-store activity.” (more…)

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twofifteenmccann have created a new campaign for online radio service Pandora, entitled “#ThumbMoments.”

Users of the service typically give a song a thumbs up to favorite a song, and a thumbs down to not hear the song on their station again. But on September 5th, twofifteenmccann and Pandora made the thumbs up much more meaningful. Fans who favorited a song by Lindsey Sterling, the song was interrupted by a live message from the star, followed by a one-on-one concert for the fan. Over the course of three hours, Sterling performed seven of these concerts for Pandora listeners. Their reactions form the backbone of the new online campaign, which debuted today.

The emphasis on the thumbs up emphasizes one of the service’s more recognizable features, and allows for Pandora to surprise fans of other artists with similar concerts in the future. Indeed, The New York Times reports that future “commercials will follow the same format, but Pandora declined to name participating musicians.” Additionally, hitting thumbs up for certain (unspecified) artists in the future will result in fans receiving “thumb gifts,” such as signed instruments.

“It was very emotional for listeners, and very emotional for Lindsey, too, because she could see them one-to-one in a way that she doesn’t even get to in a concert,” James Robinson, chief creative officer of twofifteenmccann, told The New York Times of the campaign. “She could see what her music meant to these people.”

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Overland Park, Kansas agency JNA Advertising teamed up with Superlounge directing duo Jacob/Slade in a new campaign for Kansas Lottery aggressively telling viewers to “Dream Big.”

In the spot, “Big TV,” a man tells his wife he’s dreaming of a bigger TV. This causes her to morph into a drill sergeant (“Dream Sergeant”) who admonishes him to “Start dreaming like a man” and “Dream big or dream somewhere else.” The slightly bizarre character will reappear over the course of the campaign, in a handful of 30 and 15-second ads.

“The JNA team had such a great concept and a great character with the Dream Sergeant, so the question for us was ‘How can we underscore the notion that people may be imagining the Dream Sergeant, as well as serve the weird funniness of it all?’” said Kristina Slade.

“Kristina and I have been together for twelve years, so we have a long history of exchanges, a give and take that informs our ideas and work relationship,” added Enno Jacobsen. “Kristina is more strategically-minded and I’m more experienced in technique, but the shooting process is spontaneous and fluid, rather than a division of labor.”

This campaign marks the German-born duo’s first campaign in the US, following the duo’s recent work for adhesive brand Tesa. (more…)

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