Hasta La Creative!

BBH introduces the likeable Sofa Bear in a new ad for Virgin Media, plugging its “Big Kahuna Movies Bundle.”

The 60-second spot opens on the bear, sprawled out on the couch watching The Wolf of Wall Street. “That’s Ed,” intones a nature documentary-esque narrator, “He’s a sofa bear, obviously.” He goes on to explain that, since sofa bears can hibernate for entire weekends, they go for Virgin Media, “so they can access an immense library of movies and box sets.” It’s a fun character, and one that fits in with the advertised service. If there’s a complaint with the ad, it’s that the music at the end for the explanation of the “Big Kahuna Movies Bundle” is a bit invasive, but aside from that it’s a clear winner. Let’s hope BBH can find a way to utilize Sofa Bear in other Virgin campaigns in the future.

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Dutch agency Skipintro celebrates the relaunch of the famed Rijksmuseum in a new campaign that puts Dutch music center stage.

The campaign includes a 30-second broadcast version, and 60 and 90-second online versions, of an ad showcasing the Rijksmuseum as a place to appreciate all forms of Dutch culture. Instead of tacking on music at the end of the production process, director Mattias Schut brought creative production outfit The Ambassadors on board at the start of the process to compose a piece of music that was then performed by a group of Dutch musicians in the museum’s main public walkway as visitors appreciate the art of the Rijksmuseum and the music simultaneously.

“From a musical point of view, being involved from the start of the creative process enables you to lift the production in a way that would be impossible to create in such fine detail without having a close relationship with the director,” said Sebastiaan Roestenburg, founder and sound designer/composer, The Ambassadors. “It was vital to start by researching the required feel of the music, so that we could create something that would truly work as the starting point of the whole production.” (more…)

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BETC recently launched a new campaign for ibis hotels focusing on the chain’s communal spaces with a musically-themed broadcast spot.

In the spot, entitled “Room to Play,” a group enjoy spending time in one ibis’ communal spaces. Each move a guest makes elicits a specific sound, until the entire room is playing in unison to Caribou song “Crayon.” It’s a fun approach, a welcome departure from the typical fare in the category which helps ibis stand out.

“The musical execution dramatises ibis’ unique design and guest offering, proving that it’s a desirable destination for everyone – whether you’re a business traveller, couple on a city break or young family on holiday,” explains BETC London Creative Director Rosie Bardales.

The ad, which is being broadcast in both 30 and 60 second versions, debuted last Friday across Channel 4 owned and partner channels, and will also run during the new season of Homeland beginning on October 24th. “Room to Play” will be supported by in-hotel activations which use  “sound to bring a further surprising, interactive experience to hotel guests in ibis shared spaces.” (more…)

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Starworks Group enlisted the aid of Lil Jon, Whoopi Goldberg, Lena Dunham, Fred Armisen and a host of other celebrities for a Rock the Vote spot set to a reworking of Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What” as “Turn Out for What.”

The spot opens with Lil Jon informing Goldberg that he’s turning out for the midterm elections. At the polling center he meets a big fan and runs into Lena Dunham, who won’t reveal Girls spoilers to the rapper, much to his dismay. Around the video’s midpoint, celebrities start mentioning the causes they are turning out to vote for over “Turn Out for What.” (Surprise: Lil Jon is turning out for marijuana legalization.) Say what you will about the ad’s over-the-top approach, but it’s certainly received its share of attention, racking up almost 600,00 YouTube views since being posted earlier in the week. (more…)

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Goodby Silverstein & Partners is launching the first ever global campaign for eBay, entitled “Shop the World.”

As you may remember, eBay began searching for an agency to help revamp its image earlier this year, settling on Goodby Silverstein & Partners to handle creative and WPP’s MediaCom for media in July. This campaign, which launches on October 13th, timed to coincide with a revamped homepage, is based on an idea the agency pitched during the review.

A 60-second television spot (featured above) will launch Monday, with social components rolling out just prior to that. The spot entices viewers to “shop the world,” reminding them that, through eBay, anything they see from women’s running shoes to guitars is “instantly shopable” by zooming in on purchasable items with a white box. Items featured in the ad will also run as part of the revamped homepage’s curated “Collections” section.

“We’ve never gone out to the customer with one single message at the same time. All of the creative across markets is the same creative concept, the same key message,” eBay CMO Richelle Parham told AdAge. “This is the tightest connection [we’ve had] from marketing efforts to the product experience.”

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Havas Worldwide, Helsinki crafted an emotional alcohol awareness PSA for Finnish charity Fragile Childhood, in collaboration with production companies Sauna International and Studio Arkadena, entitled “Orphanage.”

The beautifully-shot spot imagines a kind of reverse orphanage, where children choose their parents. Two children look through glass displays at different parents who present typical moments in their lives, such as at the dinner table or in the back yard. “Orphanage” does a great job of drawing in the viewer and fleshing out its strange little world, as the children visit differnt pairs of parents. As the boy takes a fancy to a certain father, a woman takes him by the hand and leads the children to a drunken, quarreling couple — their parents. As they leave with the couple, the message “Children can’t choose their parents. What if they could?” appears, followed by an invitation for viewers to share their thoughts on alcohol abuse. It’s a sad ending, and while it’s not initially apparent what issue the ad is addressing, that should make the ending all the more of a shock to any parents struggling with alcoholism.

“It is still not widely understood how much harm drinking problems at home cause to children,” Fragile Childhood told Adweek. “For example, previous research has shown that every fourth Finnish child has suffered some harm because of parent’s alcohol usage. Research carried out among Finnish teenagers aged 12-18 years shows that children think their parents ought not to drink at home and that they are much nicer when sober.”

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FCB Toronto recently launched a campaign for the 2015 Pan Am Games on behalf of The Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation, centered around a 60-second broadcast spot called “Invade.”

Appropriately enough, the ad imagines Toronto invaded by hordes of athletes, who take to the city to the tune of a cover of the Delphonics “Ready or Not.” It starts innocently enough, with a lone gymnast on a rooftop. But soon a swarm of kayakers is rowing toward the city, followed by equestrian riders storming through neighborhoods, soccer players running through woods and various other groups of athletes. The spot concludes with the message “41 countries, 51 sports,” followed by the tagline “Epic is on.” The spot fits the tagline pretty perfectly, encapsulating the scope of the event in a well-shot, jam-packed 60-seconds that gets more and  more frantic leading up to its conclusion.  (more…)

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mcgarrybowen has a new campaign for Courtyard by Marriott entitled “Make Room for a Little Fun,” which launched last week.

Aimed at millenials, the campaign is based on the insight that the demographic loves to travel (as opposed to those who see travel as a necessity for work). The strategy is readily apparent in the spot “Cattle Drive) (above). In it, an excited young man rides up and approaches a cattle driver who seems to be slogging through his day, offering him a caffeinated pick-me-up and noting the “sweet” free wi-fi. Other spots in the campaign take the humorous approach to the Yukon, an antiquated carriage, and a Viking ship. Each spot delivers the message “Some people have to travel for work. Some people get to travel for work,” followed by the “Make Room for a Little Fun” tagline.

Each spot was captured on-location in Norway, making use of the country’s varying landscapes. The campaign marks a shift in approach for the brand, as its humor is a stark contrast from past campaigns, which targeted a different demographic. Stick around for “Vikings” and “Yukon” after the jump. (more…)

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180 LA has a new campaign entitled “Lost Iguana” which features the story of a precocious young boy who uses the power of HP technology to help find his lost iguana Ralph.

In a 60-second broadcast spot the boy uses HP laptops and printers to print out search flyers, and assembles a search team from around the neighborhood. By the end of the spot the self-assured boy says “And her comes the knock,” and sure enough his iguana is returned. It’s a cute approach, showing the integration of HP products, but unfortunately timed following the news that HP will split off into separate PC and printer divisions. The broadcast spot is linked to interactive campaign elements utilzizing the hashtag #FindRalph on YouTube, Vine and other channels, as well as a campaign microsite. (more…)

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BBH London has a new campaign for Audi, taking aim at upper-level executives with a minimalist approach.

The spot opens on a gramophone on a desk playing a stuffy record entitled “Presence: How to Obtain It.” A speaker on the record describes antiquated notions of what leads to presence: “an unyielding handshake never fails,” “Don’t ask, tell,” etc. Then the Audi A7 Sportback backs up and lifts its sportback, tipping over the gramophone, leading into the tagline “Presence. Redefined.”

The simple, straightforward approach is a welcome change of pace from the typical, lavish luxury car advertising, often involving celebrity endorsements (see Jaguar), letting the vehicle speak for itself. It is supported online by a digital partnership with The Economist, which includes an online hub hosting branded content. Should the ad prove effective, it could mean a more scaled-back approach for the brand (at least with this particular vehicle) in the future. (more…)

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