Hasta La Creative!

Fizzie, a character in the upcoming game Sunset Overdrive from developer Insomniac Games, made an appearance at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo in the form of a large, interactive balloon flying in the lobby at the Los Angeles Convention Center from June 10th – June 12th.

Brought to life by Xbox and twofifteenmccann, Fizzie takes questions from the E3 crowd, offering up invariably sarcastic answers. In Sunset Overdrive, Fizzie “is a talking balloon that hovers over Sunset City and is the cheery face of the Fizzco Corporation while acting as the perfect corporate shill.” So what better place for Fizzie to make an appearance than the largest trade show in the video game industry, rife with event marketers attempting to woo customers and media alike. If you’re not lucky enough to make it to E3 this year, you can still keep up with Fizzie’s antics on Twitter via the hashtag #FizzieSays. For footage of Fizzie in action, check out the video above, and stick around after the jump for credits. continued…

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Released this Monday in anticipation for father’s day, Dove’s new digital spot for their Men+Care line, entitled “Calls for Dad” celebrates all that father’s do in an attempt to backlash outdated ideas of fathers as hands-off parents.

Adweek reports that Dove “hired Edelman Berland to interview 1,000 fathers ages 25-54” as research for the campaign. “Three-quarters of dads say they are responsible for their child’s emotional well-being,” said Rob Candelino, marketing vice president and general manager, Unilever’s skin care. “But only 20 percent see that in media.”

The spot aims to strike an emotional chord with fathers everywhere, as children of various ages in various situations call for dad. “For all the times they’ve answered our call…isn’t it time we celebrate dads?” the spot asks, undoubtedly leading to a few choked up fathers. Adweek reports that “Mindshare and Davie Brown Entertainment are the media buying and creative agencies, respectively, behind the initiative,” which has scored over 500,000 views on YouTube since its debut yesterday. We’ve reached out for credits and will update if/when we receive them. continued…

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Conil has a new broadcast spot for 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil sponsor T-Mobile featuring Shakira.

Entitled “Goal,” the spot imagines what it would be like if soccer had the same kind of crazy restrictions some wireless carriers have. She of the honest hips performs in celebration of a goal when the festivities are interrupted by a referee. “Unlimited headers while abroad are not included in your contract,” says the ref. “No goal.” The spot concludes with the message: “T-Mobile is changing the rules of the game,” before informing viewers they now offer “Unlimited global data and text” for “no extra charge.” It’s a bit goofy, but it’s a simple way to communicate T-Mobile’s offer, and with Shakira’s star power behind it the spot is sure to get people’s attention.

“Goal” will debut on ESPN tomorrow during the T-Mobile sponsored “Countdown to Brazil” program, with a Spanish-language version appearing on Univision and Fútbol de Primera. T-Mobile will also be offering unique FIFA mobile content to customers, including “mini feature video packages calling out the highlights of the day including ‘Goal of the Day,’ ‘Save of the Day,’ and ‘Team Spirit of the Day.'” Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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New York-based design agency HUSH wrote, directed and produced the above brand video for Lyve, a “highly-anticipated personal content solution.”

In the video, a father is seen unpacking moving boxes and discovers an old photo album. The mother, meanwhile, uses Lyve to synchronize photos and video in one location — the LyveHome. It’s a demonstration of how we used to collect and store memories, and how it has evolved with technology. In the process, Hush also demonstrates “the full range of capabilities for Lyve’s apps and the LyveHome, as the mother…utilizes Lyve to consolidate photos from various devices and cameras and effortlessly scrolls through them on all her devices, including a television.”

“Building a brand story around a scary proposition like losing cherished digital memories would have been an easy road to take – but Lyve is about so much more,” writes HUSH in a press release. “Instead, we worked with Lyve’s team to celebrate the way we capture, store and rediscover our personal digital content and to leverage the emotional impact of every photo, every video – every memory.” Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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McKinney New York just launched a new campaign for Samsung Home Appliances, the largest integrated marketing campaign for the brand to date.

At the center of the campaign are two spots, directed by Andrew Douglas, celebrating the “Chef Collection” as an extension of the passionate home cook. The above 30-second spot, for example, highlights Samsung’s range that offers the innovation of being able to cook at two temperatures at once. In “Crock,” it is the “revolutionary Water Wall technology” in Samsung’s dishwasher that gets the spotlight. Just in case you weren’t sure that the “Chef Collection” is for serious home cooks, the voiceover is done by a man with a heavy French accent, so it must legit. In addition to the television spots, the campaign is supported by “three full-page print executions with more than 50 insertions.” We’ve got credits and “Crock” after the jump. continued…

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GSD&M has a new campaign for Pacifico, entitled “Yellow Caps,” set to roll out this summer.

“Yellow Caps” is a term “coined by bartenders and refers to Pacifico’s bright yellow bottle caps, which are easily identifiable in crowded beer coolers.” For GSD&M’s latest campaign they have utilized the iconic caps, with the underside used to engage consumers with printed GPS coordinates marking one of 21 incredible spots throughout Baja, mainland Mexico and on the Pacific coast of the U.S. Each cap also encourages consumers to visit the newly-designed DiscoverPacifico.com, where visitors can enter their GPS coordinates to “drop in to a unique locale and activity like spearfishing in Santa Maria Bay, surfing in Scorpion Bay or camping on Playa el Requesón.”

The initiative is designed as a tie-in to the agency’s new broadcast spots, which attempt to appeal to Pacifico drinkers’ sense of adventure. In “Spearfishing” (featured above), for example, a group of friends set out in a boat, drinking Pacifico and spearfishing. While you might question whether drinking and spearfishing are  the best combination, GSD&M make it appear fun. Nobody gets stabbed and the friends grill up the fish on the beach following their catch.

“Pacifico’s popularity has expanded significantly in the last five years; it is now available in all 50 states,” said Jim Sabia, chief marketing officer for Constellation Brands Beer Division, Pacifico’s exclusive U.S. importer. “This new campaign gives every Pacifico drinker the opportunity to  experience the Baja lifestyle that shapes the brand’s boundless spirit.” Credits after the jump. continued…

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BLT Communications, Hollywood has a new broadcast campaign for Zynga’s Farmville 2, entitled “Anytime is Farmville Time.”

The series of television spots all feature players enjoying Farmville 2 at different locations, with crops and animals from the game leaping to life off the screen and disturbing those around them. These range from the everyday — “Living Room” and “Office” — to “Spa” and “Airplane.” Each spot ends with the message that the game is “Available now, anytime, anywhere.”

“The challenge was to make it look as realistic as possible while staying true to the design and characters of the FarmVille game,” explained director Roderick Fenske. To achieve this, Fenske and his team used a combination of in-camera effects using models of the crops, and CG animation elements augmenting the scenes. “By blurring the worlds of CG and real practical effects, we’re keeping the audience guessing and hopefully amazed as to how we pulled it off,” said Fenske. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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Seattle full-service creative studio World Famous recently produced “Looking Forward,” the debut spot in Volvo’s “Wonder of Summer” campaign.

30 and 60-second versions of the spot, directed by Jesse Harris, are airing now across the U.S. The spot aims to capture “the brand’s comfortable nostalgia, resonating with millennials and adults who fondly remember sitting in the reverse third row of a Volvo wagon.” Our protagonist fondly remember seeing the world in reverse from the back of her mother’s Volvo wagon. Around the mid-way point of the spot, the tone changes from fond nostalgia to “looking forward,” which she decides is better than looking back, as World Famous attempts to convince viewers that the same company that made the station wagons of their youth now makes a vehicle that makes the summer something to look forward to.

Director Jesse Harris‘ relationship with Volvo dates back to when Harris launched the Seattle-based National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) in 2007, when he was still an up-and-coming film and commercial director. That festival has grown to attract over 12,000 attendees, with Volvo remaining a leading sponsor since its inception.

“Working with Volvo throughout the years I’ve really gotten to know the brand on a deep level,” explains Harris. “I’m also a Volvo owner myself and Volvos are so popular here in Seattle, so I see that brand loyalty firsthand. I wanted to do something that truly came from the heart and would strike a chord with anyone who’s ever been in one of those ubiquitous station wagons. It was really a passion project, and my colleagues at World Famous were instrumental from concept to finish in helping me bring this story to life.” Credits after the jump. continued…

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In what appears to be a clandestine RFI process, Starbucks has announced a changing of the guard in its media agency relationship.
Following only the first phase in review, the java giant has decided to cut ties with Omnicom PHD and hire Publicis Groupe’s Spark. Prior to the RFI and decision after the initial review, PHD was Starbucks’ media agency for the past six years.
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Breathe Right decided to capitalize on all the attention surrounding potential Triple Crown winner California Chrome’s nasal strip, handing out 50,000 of their own nasal strips (for human use) to those attending Belmont Stakes on Saturday, and also tapping Grey New York for a new broadcast spot.

Grey New York had a very limited amount of time to put that spot together. Written last Wednesday, the spot was awarded production on Thursday, cast Friday, underwent pre-production on Sunday, was shot Monday, and edited Tuesday. The 30-second spot, entitled “The Bedtime Stakes,” will air on NBC Saturday during the race. “The Bedtime Stakes” shows a congested jockey getting ready for bed with a Breathe Right nasal strip. An announcer calls the action as he goes “into the first stretch,” “tucks back into bedpost position,” and goes in “for the final turn.” Sure, it’s more than a little cheesy, and the rushed production may show a little, but leveraging the California Chrome nasal strip controversy is a smart strategy, and, coupled with the Belmont giveaway, should at least get the brand some attention. Credits after the jump. continued…

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