Hasta La Creative!

Red Lobster has named Publicis Kaplan Thaler as its lead creative agency, reports AdAge.

The appointment follows a review, which Red Lobster started in April, after Darden decided to sell off the brand. Grey had been the brand’s creative agency after winning agency of record duties from The Richards Group back in 2010. According to AdAge, Grey did not participate in the review process, but retains creative duties for Darden brands Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse. They also report that Olson, Barkley, and Interpublic’s Martin Agency were the other finalists in the review process, which was overseen by Pile & Co.

Mark Gilley, senior vice president, marketing at Red Lobster told AdAge that “the chain chose Publicis Kaplan Thaler because of its creative pitches, its existing work and digital and social strategy, the last of which is [a] particularly important element for Red Lobster as it moves more marketing dollars into digital,” adding that he admired how the agency’s recent work for Wendy’s “‘broke conventions’ in the fast-food category.”

Publicis Kaplan Thaler’s first campaign for Red Lobster, which spent around $156 million on measured media in 2013, is expected in the first half of 2015.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Wieden+Kennedy have a clever new spot for U.K.-based mobile provider Three, in which the company makes a timely apology.

The 60-second spot sees Three apologize for the rash of “holiday spam” resulting from the company allowing users to utilize their phone in 16 worldwide destinations without any extra cost for calls. texts or data. Three “thought this was a good thing,” but “failed to consider the consequences: the holiday spam,” says a contrite Three representative. It’s a clever approach, employing dry British humor to let Three brag about their coverage while leveraging a cultural phenomenon anyone can relate to. “Holiday Spam” also manages to be memorable without spending much money (it’s basically just one actor and a series of backgrounds). At the conclusion of the spot, viewers are prompted to visit the campaign landing site at stopholidayspam.com, which includes a heat map of spam levels in various locations. The campaign is also supported by the #holidayspam hashtag, a pretty seamless social integration.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Agency Johnny Fearless teamed up with Aardman Animations (the creators of Wallace & Gromit) to create the above 90-second spot promoting Imperial War Museum London’s First World War Galleries, entitled “Flight of the Stories.”

The First World War Galleries will re-open on July 19th, which marks the start of the Centenary commemorations. “Flight of the Stories” imagines “the journey of personal stories and letters written by those who never left the fields of Northern France during the First World War.” These stories and letters are depicted as a series of quotations, traveling across France and over the English Channel to find their home at the Imperial War Museum London, while accompanied by lines read “from letters and diaries entrusted to the museum by relatives during and at the end of the First World War.” The effect is striking, with Aardman drawing inspiration from the art of the period and combining 2D illustrations with 3D CGI animation.

“We wanted to bring people to IWM London to see and hear the words of those who lived and died through the war for themselves and encourage them to reappraise the First World War in a way, which is different to the stereotypical mud and blood imagery,” explained Paul Domenet, executive creative director, Johnny Fearless.

“Flight of the Stories” will run online and in cinemas as part of a multimedia campaign including posters, press and radio. Stick around for credits and a “making of” feature after the jump. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

CHI & Partners latest for Lexus’ “Amazing in Motion” campaign is a visually stunning look at performers in LED suits exploring the Kuala Lumpur skyline.

The LED suits were created by costume designer Vin Burnham and technical director Adam Wright, with inspiration from Lexus’ “iconic spindle grille and LED headlights.” Director Adam Berg and his team then utilized a “purpose built computer system and complex DMX software” (which, we imagine, stops, drops, and opens up shop), “created to wirelessly trigger the suits to strobe on demand” and captured a group of stunt men and acrobatic performers as they made the Kuala Lumpur skyline their playground. It’s a simple concept, but it makes for a visually intriguing 60 seconds, even if viewers are left wondering what they’re watching an ad for until right before the “Amazing in Motion” tagline. Since it’s so hard to take your eyes off of, that might not even be a problem. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

With summer movie season approaching, BSSP created a cinematic preview spot for Greyhound featuring the fictional heavy metal band MüttonGüt.

The 60-second spot sees the tour manager for MüttonGüt (who bear more than a passing resemblance to Spinal Tap) booking the band for Greyhound’s dollar fares rather than their usual tour bus. Initially reluctant, the band soon appreciates Greyhound’s amenities while also enjoying interacting with other passengers. The drummer, for example, teaches his seatmate how to apply eye liner to get “that smoldering effect.” While not the most original approach, its lighthearted tone fits the brand and the summer blockbuster placement.

“When we can communicate a product benefit in a relevant and rewarding way for the consumer, we’ve succeeded,” said Creative Director Steve Mapp. “Who better to experience the expanded service and onboard amenities of Greyhound than a hard-working, continually touring metal band, like MüttonGüt? Besides, they’re really big in Japan.”

The spot will run nationally in cinemas starting tomorrow, and continue through the summer blockbuster season, and a “cinema poster touting the service and band will also run in over 90 theaters in top Greyhound markets starting in October.” A 30-second version of the spot will air online on channels including ESPN, YouTube, Xbox, Vevo and Hulu.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Elizabeth Hurley gets vulgar in the latest addition to Droga5?s “If We Won” campaign for Newcastle, which imagines how much better America would be if Great Britain had won the Revolutionary War.

The campaign kicked off last week, with a humorous spot featuring Stephen Merchant. Hurley’s spot borrows a bit from that one, as it devotes quite a bit of time to how many great curse words we’d have at our disposal had we remained British, something Merchant touched on in the original “If We Won.” Still, we suppose the subject doesn’t hurt from further exploration, and the video has over 300,000 views since being uploaded earlier today as people seem to be amused by seeing Hurley stringing together British expletives. Hurley’s 39-second video is just part of the wealth of material put out by Droga5 for the campaign, which also includes Zachary Quinto in a pair of spots and a second appearance from Merchant, who explains how his British accent helps him appear intelligent and get laid. If you’re wondering what American actor Zachary Quinto is doing in this campaign, you’ll just have to watch the video, along with the second Merchant spot, after the jump. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Production company Great Guns mixes molotov cocktails and soccer in their filmtrack for Santigold’s “Kicking Down Doors,” part of Pepsi’s Beats of the Beautiful Game visual album.

For Santigold’s filmtrack, director Andy Morahan was inspired by “The Christmas Truce,” a soccer-fueled temporary peace that took place between English and German forces on Christmas Day, 1915. “The English and German soldiers put down their guns and played some football in No Man’s Land,” explains Morahan. “I was thinking of a way to try and tell that story in a modern light. Obviously I didn’t have the budget for a war scene, but a riot was more reasonable as a severe stand-off between people. It’s showing football, and sport by extension, as this beacon for humanity.”

In the film, a riot breaks out, with molotov cocktail wielding forces squaring off against riot police. A group of boys falls asleep at the edge of the scene. When one of their balls makes its way into the heart of action, both sides throw down their arms and beginning playing an impromptu pickup game. It’s not a bad idea for a World Cup spot, but seems a bit stretched out as an over four minute music video — although you may feel differently if you actually enjoy the song.

Morahan filmed the scene in Kiev, which has seen its share of rioting in recent history, although he insists the location was chosen purely out of convenience. “I was in Prague and wanted to shoot it there but the budget wouldn’t fit, so we were only an hour flight from Kiev and I’d worked there before so knew some people there who could help me out,” he explains. “Really, it was just close by and it fit the budget.” Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Since 1927, Wheaties has been known as “The Breakfast of Champions.” The man behind the iconic tagline was Knox Reeves, a Minnesota advertising executive who created his own agency that would be bought by Bozell in 1975 (Good Jeopardy trivia there).

Reeves needed to a slogan to go on a billboard for Wheaties, then a fledgling cereal brand that sponsored the radio broadcasts of the Minneapolis Millers, a minor league baseball team. That inspired Reeves to sketch on a Wheaties box: “Wheaties-The Breakfast of Champions“.

A brand was born then. Today, according to the New York Times, General Mills is looking to appeal to a younger demographic.

(more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Full-service brand response agency Hawthorne Direct has launched a new campaign rebranding entalPlans, “the largest dental savings plan marketplace.”

The result of “an intensive creative and customer insight research process performed by entalPlans over the past year,” the campaign includes a television spot and branded videos, as well as a new logo, tagline, and iconography. Their approach is perhaps a little too shaped by the insight research, as the video stretches well beyond the two minute mark in an attempt to squeeze in information. That the video is a bit on the dry side to begin with makes the extended duration a bit of an ordeal to sit through, although you may be glad you came across it if you are in fact in the market for a dental plan.

“The challenge of helping a company communicate their offerings while driving response is one that our team at Hawthorne excels at,” said John Pucci, chief creative officer at Hawthorne Direct. “This endeavor was made much more rewarding by the willingness of the entalPlans team to work closely with us as an active, engaged partner. Our goal here was to develop a contemporary TV campaign that would bring new life to the entalPlans brand. The commercials were created to be simple and uplifting. The look, feel and tone of the new brand are translated across all of the commercials and videos that Hawthorne created.” Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Infiniti Motor Co. will meet (or has already met) with seven agencies before selecting finalists to pitch for its global creative account, Adweek reports.

The meetings took place this week, and leave Infiniti “on track to complete its search by August,” according to Adweek. Infiniti’s initial request for proposal reported that the brand spends approximately $450 million annually. Among the agencies in the running are Publicis, FCB, Havas Worldwide (pitching with sister shop Arnold), Bartle Bogle Hegarty, M&C Saatchi and Crispin Porter + Bogusky, according to Adweek‘s sources. Interestingly, also pitching is Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, partnering with incumbent Omnicom agency TBWA. After the initial meetings, Infiniti will narrow the field to three or four agencies, a cut that “could come as soon as next week.” Infiniti’s RFP noted that “alternative approaches are paramount as Infiniti cannot outspend its competitors in broadcast,” and identified the U.S., China and Hong Kong as priority markets.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.