Hasta La Creative!

RKCR/Y&R cast real British families in their latest campaign for Vodafone.

The series of 60-second spots promotes Vodafone’s new Red+ plan allowing multiple people to share one simple data allowance and aims to show how this helps bring families closer together. Casting for the campaign was done “through a combination of focus groups, postings on Mumsnet and street castings.” While the approach might come across a little dry at times, the real-life families lend it an air of authenticity.

“We know that mobile technology plays a big role in family life, but we also know that families worry about keeping data usage under control,” explains Daryl Fielding, Vodafone director of brand marketing. “Red+…allows families to share their data allowance and data caps under one shared and simple bill so they can share freely without worrying.”

You can check out the first spot, “Sunday Lunch” above, and stick around for credits after the jump.  (more…)

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Wongdoody taps Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in a new spot for Alaska Airlines.

In the 60-second spot, Chief Football Officer Wilson puts the Alaska Airlines crew through training camp, remarking, “Alaska Airlines and I are basically one and the same: we’re always prepared. The separation’s in the preparation.” Wilson runs snackuracy and teddy bear tossing drills, and quizzes the team on routes and seat switching strategy. The airline training camp schtick is not a bad idea, and it is timely, but the full-length spot stretches the idea a little thin. It is much better served by the 30-second version, which we’ve included, along with credits, after the jump. (more…)

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Leo Burnett has a new campaign for Delta Faucets introducing the portmanteau “HappiMess” to describe the joy of using Delta’s products to wash away fun messes.

The 30-second anthem ad features a variety of messy situations highlighting Delta’s different faucets. A woman clears a collection of dirty dishes at a dinner party and washes them in her Delta kitchen faucet; children play in a garden and are then ushered inside for a bath; a father and daughter enjoy a muddy hike and then the father washes his hands with a motion sensor faucet; a woman gets blasted with colored powders on a color run and returns to take a shower. “When Delta bath, toilet, shower and faucet innovations make getting clean just as beautiful as getting dirty, that’s HappiMess,” the voiceover intones. As The New York Times points out, the tagline is similar to children’s bath bubble brand Mr. Bubble’s, “Makes getting clean almost as much fun as getting dirty!” Only Leo Burnett aims to translate the idea for adults.

“When you think back to when you were a kid, getting messy in the garden, or baking and getting flour all over you were always considered to be a great things,” Leo Burnett Creative Director Jo Shoesmith told The New York Times. “But for adults, getting sweaty going for a run, or going on a mud run or a color run — those also are moments in life that people love and Delta plays a role in that, because where there’s a mess you need to be cleaned up.”

The campaign, which also features print and digital components, also marks the first time the brand is advertising the whole brand rather than a single product, according to Catherine Roper, director of brand marketing for Delta Faucet. It aims to celebrate the product innovations — such as the detachable shower head with temperature indicator, and motion sensor touch-free faucet — but these can be easy to miss over the course of the ad. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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JWT has launched the new “Forever Faster” brand platform for Puma, starting with the new anthem ad “Calling All Troublemakers.”

With the stated mission “to become the Fastest Sport Brand in the World,” Puma tapped the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, and a host of other star athletes for a global multimedia campaign. Alongside Bolt in the 60-second “Calling All Troublemakers” are soccer icons Mario Balotelli, Sergio Agüero, Marta Vieira da Silva; golfers Rickie Fowler and Lexi Thompson; and the Scuderia Ferrari Formula One team. The athletes were chosen for their individuality in “both performance and personality,” and the spot does have a bit of a mischievous streak to it. But Puma sees “Forever Faster” as more than a campaign tagline — it’s also a company motto representing the desire to “quickly identify product designs and innovation, trends and style and bring them into the marketplace in a more dynamic manner.”

“Forever Faster is about Puma making a statement as a brand and reminding people that we are and will continue to be the fastest sports brand in the world,” explains Adam Petrick, global marketing director at Puma. “We’ve always been known as a brand that takes risks and that’s not going to change, Forever Faster clearly represents that. This is going to change the way we approach product design and innovation as well as how we market our brand.” Stick around for limited credits after the jump. (more…)

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Patrón is looking for a new agency to handle creative and media duties and has issued a review, Adweek reported yesterday.

Incumbent agency Cramer-Krasselt was invited to defend in the review, but declined, a Patrón representative told Adweek. Patrón Global Chief Marketing Officer Lee Applbaum, who joined the company from Target in November, is reportedly the “key decision maker in the search.”

“We’re looking for a highly strategic and creative agency partner,” Applbaum said in a statement. “Our selected partner will possess a track record of success in marketing luxury brands.”

The review, which is being managed by Santa Monica-based consultancy Select Resources International, is expected to conclude in November. Patrón spent around $42 million in measured media last year.

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StrawberryFrog has a new campaign for Wasa, which launches with the debut spot “Staying Fit the Swedish Way.”

Filmed in Stockholm, the 90-second spot follows the story of an American architect named Clarissa on a business trip in Sweden. She attends a yoga class, where she encounters some of the ways Sweden differs from the U.S., and is impressed with the healthy Swedish lifestyle, and especially Wasa crispbread. It’s not a bad setup to promote the healthy snack, but something about the copious utterances of the word “Sweden” and the way Clarissa speaks directly to the camera is a little off-putting. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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BBDO New York taps Houston Rockets star James Harden and retired NBA greats Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen for a funny new spot entitled “Short Memory,” which promises to be the first in a series.

When Harden asks Barkley for advice on starting the new season fresh, Barkley explains that all the greats have short memories. Harden asks if that means Barkley forgot about it if he had a bad game, to which Barkley replies that he never had a bad game. Harden persists with a series of questions, until Barkley cuts him off, seeing that he doesn’t get it, and turns to Scottie Pippen for help. Pippen perfectly encapsulates Barkley’s point, declaring himself the greatest Chicago Bull ever — which would be true with a parenthetical “(available for selection in NBA Jam).”

It’s a clever spot, making good use of Barkley’s comedic potential, even if Harden comes across a bit stiff in comparison. Pippen’s tongue-in-cheek boast alone gives “Shot Memory” viral potential, which the spot already seems to be fulfilling. It has racked up almost 600,000 views since being posted yesterday. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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PetSmart sent out a request for proposals for its creative business to agencies with responses due this week, sources told Adweek.

Mercer Island Group is conducting the search for PetSmart, which spends around $90 million annually on measured media. Back in April, PetSmart handed over media buying and planning duties to OMD Chicago, following the bankruptcy of incumbent KSL Media. There is no word on whether incumbent agency Bernstein-Rein, which also assumed media buying and planning duties during the interim between OMD Chicago and KSL Media, will defend in the review. Mercer Island, PetSmart and Bernstein-Rein all declined to comment to Adweek.

Bernstein-Rein’s most recent campaign for PetSmart is featured above.

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As 9To5Mac reported yesterday, Apple just gave its social media marketing department a big boost with the addition of Musa Tariq as its new head digital marketing director.

Tariq arrives at Apple from Nike, where he served as global senior director of social media and community since October, 2012. Before that, he was global director of social media, digital marketing, at Burberry — a position he held for about one year before jumping to Nike.

The hire follows Apple’s recent addition of a pair of Nike FuelBand engineers to work on its own wearable technology and continues Apple CEO Tim Cook’s penchant for poaching talent from Nike. Tariq also reported directly to Apple retail and online stores chief Angela Ahrendts while they were both at Burberry, where “he was instrumental in working with Ahrendts on growing Burberry’s global brand,” according to 9To5Mac.

Of course, this move also follows Apple’s recent decision to take more of its production work in-house. Some might see it as yet another step in the brand’s plan to take greater control over its own identity.

(more…)

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BWM, Melbourne tapped Arnold Schwarzenegger in their latest campaign for Realestate.com.au.

In the spot, Arnold decides to move back to Austria, mistaking Australia’s .au for his birth country. His assistant tries to inform him of his error, but Arnold is too excited over the possibilities he’s found on the site and tells his assistant to book him some inspections while leaving the filming of his current movie to his “double.” While its humor doesn’t quite hit its mark, it’s refreshing to see Arnold still willing to play on his persona, and make himself seem ridiculous in the process. And Arnold’s star power should certainly get people’s attention. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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