TDA Boulder Seeks to Inspire for FirstBank

TDA Boulder shifts approach with its latest campaign for FirstBank, seeking to inspire local businesses.

The campaign launches with the 30-second spot “Legacy,” which emphasizes the distinction between modern Internet “fame” and a real legacy. In the spots first 15 seconds viewers are barraged with viral Internet “fails” such as a balance beam gymnast landing on his crotch and a man cannonballing onto an iced-over pool. “Since when did ‘leaving a legacy’ mean ‘going viral?’” the voiceover asks. At the spot’s midpoint the text “Let’s Grow Business” appears onscreen, accompanied by voiceover, as its shifts to a focus on what a true legacy is, accompanied by images of business and commerce. The way in which the spot seamlessly incorporates humor (via the Internet-culled clips) into its message marks a step forward from previous efforts such as the recent Amish-themed campaign and the creepy “Bargain Dummy” spot.

The spot will run during live sports and new programming on major networks, as well as twenty cable channels, including ESPN, USA, and The History Channel. Other media for the campaign will follow in the coming weeks and months. (more…)

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TDA Gets Creepy for Firstbank

TDA Boulder has a new ad for Firstbank highlighting the bank’s free checking entitled “Bargain Dummy.” If ventriloquism freaks you out, stay clear of this one.

In the spot, Firstbank’s free checking is contrasted with a less promising free giveaway. A man at a yard sale holds up a ventriloquist dummy and asks, “How much is this?”

“Oh, that’s free” replies the seller. When the man inquires what’s wrong with it, the woman replies, unconvincingly, “Nothing.” As the man walks away with the dummy on his shoulder, the dummy’s eyes shift and look around. “Free isn’t always a good thing,” says a voiceover, accompanied by eerie music, “except when it comes to free checking at Firstbank.”

The creepy 30-second spot is aimed at the 16-39 audience and will run on all broadcast networks, with an emphasis on sports and primetime, as well as more than 20 cable channels, including AMC, ESPN, Comedy Centeral, and USA Network. “Bargain Dummy” will also live online on sites such as EPSN, Pandora, Hulu, Yahoo, and Tremor, where it is sure to creep out unsuspecting site visitors. The geo-targeted online buy includes Colorado, Pheonix, Arizona, and Palm Springs, Califronia. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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CP+B, Xbox One Take Different Approach with ‘Lost’

Last October/November, CP+B helped launch Xbox One with a series of TV spots designed to show off how with the next-gen system “games and entertainment are no longer separated.” Well, following a series of Playstation 4 ads that positioned that system as the one “For the Players,” CP+B and Xbox One return serve with a new television spot reminding viewers that, oh yeah, “first and foremost, Xbox One is a gaming console.”

The new effort, entitled “Lost,” focuses on the realism of Xbox One’s graphics, imagining them as so realistic that a young man playing Ryse: Son of Rome actually believes he’s sustaining injuries. That, or the dude is just tripping balls, in which case he should probably play something a little less intense. The spot concludes with the somehow familiar sounding tagline, “If it was any more real, it would be real.”

As mentioned, “Lost” does feel like a direct response to the PS4 ads that position it as the system for gamers, which makes a lot of sense for Microsoft. The Redmond, WA giant may have overestimated the appeal of the whole “gaming and entertainment in one” selling point, and now it seems they can’t let Sony claim the “For the Players” crown without a fight. It will be interesting to see how the advertising battles for the two systems play out as both fight to win the next-gen console war. With the systems selling at a pretty close rate, it doesn’t look like things will let up any time soon. and perhaps that’s a good thing. Credits after the jump. continued…

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New CP+B Spots for Xbox One Tackle Retirement, Relationship Issues


With the Xbox One’s November 22nd launch date looming ever nearer, CP+B’s marketing blitz for Microsoft’s next-gen system continues with two new spots. Coming on the heels of the “Invitation” spot released late last month, the two new short spots highlight the system’s diverse capabilities while otherwise taking different approaches.

The first spot, “Retirement Home,” features recently retired NFL linebackers Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher. Urlacher asks Lewis if he’s having any trouble adjusting to retirement as both watch football and play Madden 25 at the same time. Lewis claims not to be having any adjustment issues, but his actions say otherwise. It’s a funny little spot that will appeal to the (sizable) segment of the Xbox crowd who have always wished they could play Madden while watching the NFL.

The second spot, “His and Hers” addresses the apparent sexism of the “Invitation” spot (in which the only female featured uses the system only to watch movies, not play games). It highlights the voice recognition system by showing a woman command the Xbox One using her voice after arriving home to find her boyfriend watching soccer. She tells the system “Xbox go to Dead Rising 3″ and begins to play. Then she starts similarly commanding her boyfriend in a similar matter, telling him to get her a beer. It’s a bit over the top, but a welcome reversal of the gender stereotypes displayed in CP+B’s “Invitation” spot.

Credits and “His & Hers” after the jump.  continued…

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Microsoft, CP+B Send Xbox One ‘Invitation’

I may be something of a Sony loyalist, but I’ve got to admit CP+B’s new spot “Invitation” makes the Xbox One shine. Even some of Sony’s biggest fanboys might concede it looks a lot better than the recent PS4 spot.

Directed by Hungry Man’s Bryan Buckley, the commercial vet who recently helmed the R&B-inflected DirecTV spot starring the Manning bros (and who earned an Emmy nod for Grey Poupon’s “The Chase,” also from CP+B),  “Invitation” features users invited into the world of several different games, and one movie. The spot opens with a giant robot warrior crashing a business meeting and making a “come here” gesture to a man giving a presentation. Then we see soccer player Steven Gerrard inviting a fan down from the stands. Spock invites a girl along for some sci-fi adventures. A sports car parks itself in front of some dude’s car and opens its door for him. (This is the automotive equivalent of “come here” apparently.) A zombie attempts to cajole a student in a library to join him, loses an arm, and then tells him to come along with the other arm.

Emphasizing the immersive nature of the next-gen platform, the spot announces, “This is an invitation to a new generation: where your games and entertainment are no longer separated, but together, in one.” Showing Xbox One users utilizing the system’s voice activation to launch games like TitanfallDead Rising 3, and the movie Star Trek: Enter Darkness gives fans an idea of what they can expect on launch day. The spot also shows users making use of the motion sensitive Kinect. You know, the camera that might be spying on you.

Mixing live action with just the right amount of actual gameplay, “Invitation” is slickly produced and should have Xbox fanboys chomping at the bit for the console’s Nov. 22 release date. My biggest problem with the spot is that the one woman featured uses the Xbox One not for gaming, but to watch a movie. Aside from this perpetuation of the gaming industry’s prevailing sexism (which most people won’t even notice), it’s a really solid ad. The whole “invitation” approach works to emphasize both the immersive nature of the system and the all-in-one entertainment value it offers. The $499 starting price, however, is less inviting. Credits after the jump.  continued…

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