Hasta La Creative!

Three guys walk into a bar with The Hangover‘s Ken Jeong. That’s all you need, because Jeong will take care of the rest with his ridiculous facial expressions. No punchlines necessary. Give him a pig and a cabana, and he’ll deliver the goods. Even though Miller Lite makes terrible beer, their new campaign from Saatchi & Saatchi, which also features Roots/Late Night with Jimmy Fallon drummer Questlove and UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell, provides a blueprint for integrating celebrities into advertisements. It’s easy and boring to let John Krasinski do voice-over work for a Coke commercial, but with a little thought and some strong writing, you can get Ken Jeong into a cowboy costume.

Liddell may be irrelevant to the public at this point in his career, but Jeong and Questlove are recognizable and likable. Most guys would love to have either celebrity in their crew, even if it meant using the word “crew” and having to drink Miller Lite. And in some twisted way, that will probably sell more Miller Lite. But now that celebs want to hang out with regular guys, can we get James Harden to trade his friend D for Ken Jeong, setting up possibly the greatest commercial of all time? Now, that would be Miller Time.

“Questlove” and credits after the jump.

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Ah, the 80s music video. Always open to parody. So moody and serious that the bands may have been secretly parodying themselves without telling anyone (Duran Duran), which is why it’s not even that strange when an anthromorphic unicorn finds its way into Fiat’s new spoof/commercial, “The Fatherhood,” directed by Matt Golding of Rubber Republic.

The spot may not go platinum, but its predecessor, a rap parody called “The Motherhood,” has close to 4 million views on YouTube. Apparently, people really eat up the parental-commiseration genre.

In “The Fatherhood,” a pale Gabriel Macht lookalike sings about his lack of sleep to a synth-pop beat. He spends his nights driving around in his comfortable Fiat 500L as his two babies cry in the backseat. I can’t tell you why a unicorn appears midway through the video, but I can tell you that it feels totally appropriate for the song. These Fiat spots can strike the corny nerve from time to time, but they’re salvaged by some risky humor and solid writing (“the one fun act that got me here/I don’t get that anymore.”) There’s even a subtle allusion to “The Motherhood,” which makes me think the creatives at krow communications actually had fun making this campaign.

And is it just me, or is the song catchy? I’d listen to it on the radio–it has better production value than half the songs the stations repeat anyway.

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What about the trucker who just had to sit there while a waitress poured fake coffee into an overflowing mug? Or the egg on top of a diner table? The guy swimming with sharks? The wind-up brain toy? The geeky guy playing with a giant ball of yarn? Aloe vera tissues? Yes, all of these things are in the same “Retrain Your Brain” Virgin Mobile commercial, created by Mother NY. The spot is certainly unique, but that doesn’t mean it will get customers to switch from other carriers to Virgin Mobile.

“Retrain Your Brain” was birthed out of focus group findings that suggested customers wouldn’t switch mobile companies even if they were specifically told how much money they could save. So, Mother and Virgin Mobile decided to go with Brazilian triplets, Colonel Meow, and The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne.

Could it be that most customers just aren’t suited for short-term pay-as-you-go phone plans? (Shh, don’t tell Virgin Mobile). Regardless, the spot looks like a surrealist drug sequence from a bad student film. If you’re going to include Brazilian triplets, you might as well use them. Credits after the jump.

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With the new “MY ASICS” training app, runners can log workout times, post motivational content to Facebook, and create a comprehensive exercise diary. There are digital timelines and unlockable articles, videos, pictures, and all this is great for athletes who are in need of a capable app. However, in 2013, this type of technology isn’t new. Although the design may be slicker than similar apps, “MY ASICS” could struggle to have an impact in a field where RunKeeper and MapMyRun have already been go-to social exercise platforms for the past few years.

The app is the latest addition to the “Journey of Improvement” campaign, and if it catches on, you’ll be able to scroll through your newsfeed and ridicule all the people sharing their running times and making you hate yourself for watching The Big Bang Theory instead of improving your cardiovascular health. Maybe, just maybe, it will force you to go for a jog and buy ASICS sneakers. Then, you can continue the cycle by downloading the app and posting your own workouts to Facebook. Then someone else can secretly despise you and start jogging. People helping people, it’s a beautiful thing.

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You can say it’s been an even-steven sort of 2013 for Philly-based Red Tettemer + Partners, which abruptly lost the Maaco business earlier this year but has now gained a new client in Rekya, the Icelandic vodka brand developed by William Grant & Sons. From what we’ve been told, there was a review, but the other participants have not been disclosed as of yet. Anyhow, RT+P will now handle global creative duties for Reyka, which in the past has worked with shops such as Brooklyn-based Dead As We Kn0w It, though we’re hearing there wasn’t an incumbent in this specific review cycle.

In a statement, Gemma Adams, global brand manager for Reyka, which is also involved in music-themed efforts like this, says, “Our goal is to bring our inventive spirit and great tasting Reyka Vodka to people around the world. We are working with RT+P on creative strategies and activations that will highlight the unique Icelandic spirit of the brand. We’re excited that RT+P have the right chemistry to work with WG&S & the talent to ignite this inventive brand around the world.”

First RT+P efforts for Reyka will launch across trade and consumer touch points this spring. Along with its new vodka client, the agency also works with the likes of Under Armour, Planet Fitness, Right Guard and Century 21.

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Consumers are bombarded with more commercial messaging than ever before from countless sources, but it’s also easier than ever to tune ads out. People fast-forward past multimillion-dollar commercials or subscribe to web-based, commercial-free TV platforms like Netflix. They view more content on the web than ever, but online ads have become virtually invisible to them.

New advertising concepts like native monetization are revitalizing online advertising. Connections between brands and potential customers are more effectively fostered when they add value to the user experience, rather than distract or interrupt. While traditional contextual targeting looks at the entire page (an increasingly noisy signal), native monetization can be relevant to the micro-context: the section, the paragraph, even the sentence. This is native monetization at its most effective – and often it’s just a humble link.

At the level of micro-context, even the most jaded ad viewers tend to register the message. This means that as a content publisher, you have an incredible amount of influence – and it’s growing daily. By publishing content people voluntarily access, you can create commercial intent, which is a highly valuable asset. So how can you monetize that value?

There are a number of approaches you could take. Some publishers develop direct relationships with e-commerce merchants and negotiate a commission for clicks and sales. Others get more elaborate, creating full-blown partnerships with e-tailers or even acquiring e-commerce operations to jointly brand and market products in a model that combines the publishing and sales functions in a single venture.

This is a creative strategy, and the exploits of venerable publishing companies and trendy tastemakers as they graft complex e-commerce operations onto their businesses will probably be studied by MBA students for years to come. But is that really the best way to monetize the value of the commercial intent you generate as a content publisher?

Before making that leap, consider the potential downsides: One-off agreements with e-commerce partners must be individually negotiated and tracked. Partnering with an e-tailer or acquiring an e-commerce operation poses its own challenges, including the need to align the content with a single partner and take on the headaches of managing inventory and distribution. This approach can also compromise your editorial objectivity since it necessarily features close ties to a single product or service source.

For most publishers, the easiest solution is to focus on what they do best – generating strong content that creates commercial intent – and leave the monetization to a third party that specializes in delivering commissions from multiple retailers under a single agreement. With such an approach, publishers can leverage the humble hyperlink to convert commercial intent into sales and transform sales into commissions. This strategy eliminates the need to negotiate multiple agreements and deal with supply chains, warehouses and inventory. It also preserves the publisher’s objectivity. Sometimes, the easiest approach really is the best.

This guest post was written by Oliver Roup, founder and CEO of VigLink, an automated affiliate marketing company that works with merchants to maximize content publisher revenue via links.

Sources familiar with the matter confirm that San Francisco agency Venables Bell & Partners had to let go of 11 staffers across departments late last week. Why? Well, mainly because its client, eBay, has decided to cut spending on brand advertising this year. From what we’re hearing from spies, eBay’s decision had more to do with ROI concerns than it did with VB&P’s actual work for the brand, which includes the recent “Pony” holiday effort below.

You can check out VB&P’s first work for eBay after taking on lead creative agency duties for “the world’s largest online marketplace” here. We’ve been told that following the cuts, which spies affected some senior-level staffers as well, staff count at VB&P is approximately 200. The agency, of course, works with other notable clients including Audi and Intel.

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Michael Bolton also told me to tell you that, hey, you’re not the only one enraptured with the pop crooner due to his handsome face and sweet, sultry voice. Michael Bolton’s not going to just drop everything and dedicate his entire day to a phone conversation with you. Why would he? He’s rich, single, and famous. Michael Bolton has more important things to do than talk to one of his many fans about their boring lives. Just, don’t call him, okay? Seriously, back off. Consider this a fair warning.

From Mother NY comes a new campaign for Optimum, the phone, Internet and cable provider that changed their logo last year but reminded you that they weren’t in the logo business because they think you’re stupid. This time around, they’re asking you to call them. Not Michael Bolton. Get it? Because dialing the phone is hard. They think you’ve gotten stupider since your last encounter.

Another new spot from Optimum (above) reminds you that for an optimal TV viewing experience, you should move on your chair or other reclining device in front of the TV. Oh, and I would recommend calling Michael Bolton’s number even though Optimum told you not to. There’s a surprise on the other line. Credits for both spots after the jump.

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Ryan Lochte may wear that clueless grin in the new Nissan spot created by TBWA, but he’s still laughing to the bank on the heels of his impressive, yet imperfect 2012 Olympics. Ryan Lochte’s “Office Burn” shows car customers (remember, this is for Nissan) how to stay fit at the office: conference call calisthenics, coffee curls, and synergy sit-ups are just a few of the drills Lochte powers through in a buttoned sport coat. Nissan’s Innovation for Endurance might make sense, say, if we actually saw more cars in the commercial. But–like most Ryan Lochte moments–things don’t always make sense.

For those interested in a funnier example of Lochte’s senselessness, watch this Funny or Die video. There’s no product placement, and you get to hear an Olympic gold medalist say, “The pool is the biggest and most expensive toilet. And it’s all mine.”

If only these office exercises could’ve helped Lochte win more gold medals than Michael Phelps. There’s always 2016. A ridiculously long list of credits after the jump.

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50,328 dominoes, to be exact. How’d they do it? With seven Domino Experts (cool, yet random), 1 protege (not as cool, more random), and “top secret domino stackers.” Can we just stop for a second and talk about the Domino Experts? They all look like older versions of kids from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid trilogy, and I’ve never even seen those movies.

Putting together this appreciative gesture took 120 hours of labor. However–I hate to do this–there’s a grammatical error. The “We Like You Too” should actually read, “We Like You, Too.” They never said the Domino Experts were Punctuation Masters.

No word yet on what Domino’s will do for their 163,000 Twitter followers, but let’s hope the protege becomes the eighth Domino Master whenever that time comes. CP+B credits after the jump.

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