Martin Williams Rebrands Mall of America

Minneapolis-based agency Martin Williams recently completed a rebranding effort for Mall of America, the nation’s largest retail complex in Bloomington, Minnesota.

“Mall of America is in the process of expanding and rebranding itself to reflect its vast and unique experience,” explained Tom Moudry, CEO and chief creative officer, Martin Williams. “We’re really excited to have been chosen to be part of this effort.”

The new television campaign focuses on the excitement possible from the array of experiences found at Mall of America, crafting two separate “best day ever” type narratives from the perspectives of visitors, while avoiding the use of the word “mall” — which we’re guessing is a key component of the rebranding campaign. Both spots are created to show a dizzying whirlwind of different experiences at Mall of America, with a short-attention span let’s cram everything in series of events that’s exhausting just to watch. The narrator has to talk really fast to even keep up. “A tiring day spending hundreds of dollars (at least) at Mall of America could get you laid” seems to be the message behind “Couple,” which ends with the line, “Who needs date night when there’s date day?” Okay, so that may be reducing things a bit, but there’s definitely the suggestion that a day at the mall cramming in countless shopping and dining experiences can spark some romance. Positioning a mall as romantic is a hard sell, to say the least, but Martin Williams does a passable job with that premise.

“Girls” meanwhile, shows Mall of America as the perfect place for a girls day out, which makes a bit more sense, although the execution comes off as a bit stereotypical. What do girls do at the mall? Get a crush on a bag; try on jeans, jeans, jeans; find some guys, ditch some guys; eat something and don’t remember what it’s called. (At times things get a bit insulting.) At least they ride the rollercoaster a couple of times for good measure. Both of the 30-second spots end with the “Always new” tagline, emphasizing the ever-evolving nature of the 4.2 million square-feet complex housing over 520 stores. Check out “Girls” below and stick around for some behind-the-scenes footage, along with credits, after the jump.
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Y&R Reveals Car Fox Den

If you’ve watched Car Fax’s spots featuring their Car Fox mascot and wondered where exactly he lives and how he gets his information (who are you?), Y&R’s new Car Fax spot will leave you one very satisfied, strange individual by answering both of these questions.

Y&R’s new 30 second spot, “Mole” introduces the Car Fox den, which acts as the center of the Car Fox’s elaborate operation (and presumably also his home). It also introduces another animal working in conjunction with the Car Fox and his team to “dig up” accident reports (I think you can guess this one). The spot builds on a character people immediately associate with brand (thanks, puns) to promote its selling points, which makes it easier to overlook its cheesiness. Also, I’m pretty sure fox dens aren’t 100 feet underground, but whatever. Credits after the jump. continued…

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The Results of Y&R’s ‘Brand Madness’ May Surprise You

Brand MadnessIn honor of the NCAA March Madness tournament, Y&R created their own “Brand Madness” tournament using their proprietary BrandAsset Valuator database, and there are quite a few upsets.

To create the brackets, brands were seeded 1 through 16 in their respective divisions using their BrandAsset score — “their overall performance as a brand,” based on their performance in the categories of differentiation, relevance, esteem and knowledge. Once seeded, brands competed against each other one on one based on differentiation, “the leading indicator of future growth.”
Some may find the brackets’ champion a bit of a head scratcher: New Orleans (who narrowly defeated Facebook for the title). Y&R had this to say about the results: “Adults surveyed find NOLA very authentic, daring, dynamic, and energetic — attributes highly correlated with Differntiation. Facebook is strong on these metrics too, but that fractional edge put New Orleans over the top. Does that mean Americans are quitting Facebook to move to New Orleans? Probably not. But perhaps we’ll see a rise in selfies taken on Bourbon Street.”
For the full results, head on over to Y&R’s “Brand Madness” site.

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Entrinsic Debuts ‘The Mortgage’ Film Trailers for RBC

Digital agency Entrinsic created a new campaign for RBC targeting first-time home buyers called “The Mortgage,” in which they imagine the home buying experience in three different Hollywood-genre style trailers.

Directed by Jeremiah S. Chechick (best known for National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation), each trailer promotes a fictional film of a couple shopping for their first house, with roughly the same formula channeled into three different genres: romantic comedy, drama and horror. The results are cheesy, but not unwatchable. They certainly have the tone of the Hollywood trailer nailed. The best of the bunch is probably the horror one (featured above), which squeezes in some jokes riffing on popular horror movie tropes. It works a lot better than the drama trailer, which feels a bit forced attempting to fit home buying into a Hollywood drama style narrative.

“Analytics are always behind everything we do at Entrinsic,” said Eli Singer, founder and president of Entrinsic. “We call it ‘creative by the numbers.’ Based on the data we gather we’ll be able to augment the campaign, making it increasingly connected so that it drives strong results for the client, just like we did with RBC’s successful students initiative.”

At the end of each of the trailers, viewers can click through to RBC’s digital properties for first-time homebuyers. In addition to the three spots, the campaign also has a social media element with events on Twitter, as well as a contest giving entrants the opportunity to win $25,000 towards a mortgage downpayment. The campaign will also be supported by “integrated offline content including full page movie poster-style ads in newspapers, mock “coming soon” posts promoting the movie trailers on relevant websites and blogs, in-branch advertising, wild postings, in-cinema advertising, interactive banner ads and social content and influencer outreach.” It will run throughout the key spring homebuying season. Stick around for credits and “Romantic Comedy” after the jump. continued…

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W+K NY Navigates SportsCenter Office with Bubba Watson

In anticipation of the impending Master’s Tournament, W+K New York has launched two new spots in their long-running “This Is SportsCenter” series, starring 2012 Master’s champion Bubba Watson.

In the first spot, Watson, whose “miracle” shot to get out of a difficult lie helped him win the Master’s, finds himself in another tricky situation in ESPN’s Bristol, Connecticut office, with the Stanford Cardinal mascot blocking their way. Watson and caddy Ted Scott try to decide how to proceed, when SportsCenter anchor Kevin Negandhi shows them the way without really thinking about it. The spot delivers the kind of fun goofiness we’ve come to expect from the “This Is SportsCenter” series and shouldn’t disappoint, especially for fans of Watson.

The 15-second “Pencils” is a little more straightforward, but no less fun, with Watson’s incessant sharpening of scorecard pencils posing a distraction for anchor Jay Harris. First and second round play of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club will be televised on ESPN from 3-7:30 on Thursday and Friday, April 10-11. Stick around to view “Pencils” and credits after the jump. continued…

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Johnson & Sekin Tap the Powers of ‘Son of Conan’


This week, Conan O’Brien has been doing shows at Dallas’ Majestic Theater in anticipation of the NCAA Final Four. Although O’Brien may not have acknowledged it, the “Son of Conan” was there, too.

Conan O’Brien look-alike Greg Keating was in Dallas, ostensibly to “reconnect” with Conan O’Brien, but with a few ulterior motives up his sleeve. In a slick move, Johnson & Sekin approached Keating with the opportunity to promote American Airlines, Omni, DART mass transit, Dallas Comedy House and Raising Cane’s while O’Brien was in Dallas. Although it meant taking a few days off from school, the Temple advertising major and aspiring copywriter jumped at the opportunity to further his “pursuit of dad” while diving headfirst into the ad world and gaining exposure. He can be seen in the above clip, slyly promoting Raising Cane’s while on a Dallas morning news program where he explains he first realized he looked like O’Brien in third grade when a basketball coach referred to him as “Conan.”

“Johnson & Sekin was great because it was crazy fast and they had it all organized,” Keating said, adding “I’m not just saying that because I’ll be looking for an ad job.”

We’d be surprised if Keating doesn’t land himself a copywriting gig at an agency somewhere in the near future (I mean, who wouldn’t hire this guy?). But hey, if advertising doesn’t work out, he always has a future as a Conan impersonator.

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DDB New Zealand to Bring Down King Joffrey for SKY TV

Bring Down The KingTo stoke viewers’ (already feverish) anticipation for season 4 of international hit Game of Thrones, DDB New Zealand has crafted a unique social media/experiential event for SKY Television’s premium entertainment channel SoHo, entitled “Bring Down The King.”

With help from production company Finch, DDB has erected a seven meter statue of the show’s much hated King Joffrey in Aotea Square, one of the largest public squares in Auckland. A rope is positioned around the statue’s neck, attached to a winch, and fans are challenged to topple the statue using the hashtag #bringdowntheking on Twitter. For every tweet using the hashtag, the statue will be one step closer to toppling, but it will take one million such tweets to bring down Joffrey.

Game of Thrones is a worldwide phenomenon and King Joffrey is quite possibly the most hated fictional television character of all time,” explained SKY’s director of programming, Travis Dunbar. “It’s exciting to give fans an opportunity they are dying for; to assist in the demise of the King of the Iron Throne.”

DDB executive creative director Shane Bradnick was equally enthused, saying, “It’s great to be working with clients that want to create ideas that bring the fictional, digital and real worlds together. Let’s bring the bastard down!”

You can keep up with the campaign at bringdowntheking.com. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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Gary Busey Talks to Things for Amazon Fire

When an ad starts with Gary Busey saying “If you’re like me, you like talking to things,” you know you’re in for a weird ride, and the 60 second Amazon Fire spot from Wongdoody certainly lives up to that expectation.

Busey initiates conversations with a lamp, his pants, and a bell, as well as thanking the fish in the ocean for being there. He also yells angrily at Roku to “Find Gary Busey!” — obviously the spot is designed to highlight Amazon Fire TV’s voice recognition feature, which Roku lacks. If you’re easily made uncomfortable, you may want to skip this one. But then you probably already knew that. This is Gary Busey we’re talking about here.

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Spider-Man Delivers Package for Universal McCann, USPS


Universal McCann teamed up with Sony Picures, and DNA directors Marc Webb (The Amazing Spider-Man, 500 Days of Summer) and Rich Lee to create “Amazing Delivery,” a new Spider-Man themed spot for USPS designed as a tie-in promoting the May 2nd release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

The 30-second spot features Spider-Man slinging himself through New York City to deliver a package for a distressed Hollywood director. “Amazing Delivery” follows Spider-Man’s path through the city leading to the package’s delivery to Stan Lee at the premiere of The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The cinematic spot’s charming ending really ties everything together, and it’s evident that everyone involved was excited to work with Spider-Man’s creator, a fact corroborated by director Rich Lee, who said, “Everyone wanted Stan Lee to sign their prepro books and get a photo with Spider-Man…it was actually really sweet and fun to see everyone get so excited around those two. You could see the childlike glints in everyone’s eyes. It was awesome.”

Webb and Lee, who have collaborated in the past, based the spot on the idea that, like Spider-Man, USPS is “speedy, efficient, and there when you need it the most,” drawing on this link to expand upon the creative brief and bring the spot to life. “One of the interesting things about both Spidey and the USPS is that they are both iconic, public servants,” said Rich Lee. “They’re for the people, helping them in their own way. So there is a nice synergy there.”

Stay tuned for credits after the jump. continued…

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Tierney Shares ‘Human Truths’ for TD Bank

Philadelphia-based agency Tierney just launched the follow-up to their “Bank Human” campaign for TD Bank,  with “Human Truths.”

“Human Truths” follows much the same vein as “Bank Human,” with four new, 30-second spots each pointing out a flaw with the inhumanity of most banks, and then positioning TD as the alternative. If you caught any of the “Bank Human” spots you know what to expect: someone enters a bland, generic looking bank with a problem and instead of helping to solve it the bank just gives the customer a logistical headache. It’s a straightforward, no-frills approach that speaks directly to TD Bank’s image as a customer-centric bank. The new spots tackle issues such as hold music, getting a new debit card (“Almost Magic,” featured above), running late, and maintenance fees.

“TD Bank’s focus is to create a very human and convenient banking experience,” explained Vinoo Vijay, chief marketing officer, TD Bank. “These new commercial spots speak to the pain points consumers too often face with their banks. They also highlight how TD’s approach to banking is different. This includes our unparalleled service and convenience, as well as our customer-first culture.”

The “Human Truths” campaign kicked off yesterday and will run through mid-August, with a strong presence on the four major networks in all scheduled markets. In addition to broadcast, the campaign will contain additional elements across digital, social media and PR. Stick around for “Maintenance Guy” and credits after the jump. continued…

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Real Ronald McDonalds Agree: Taco Bell’s New Breakfasts Taste Good

Taco Bell encouraged real men with a famous name to testify! “I am Ronald McDonald and I love Taco Bell’s new breakfasts,” several real Ronalds repeat into the camera.

 

This new campaign from Deutsch LA is not exactly brilliant, but it may breakthrough. And breakthrough is what it is going take to loosen McDonald’s grip on the morning hours—McD’s currently dominates with 31 percent of sales. Egg McMuffin ain’t no joke.

Ad Age’s reading of NPD data indicates that breakfast in 2013 logged its fourth consecutive year of growth for restaurants, while lunch and dinner continue to decline. Fast food, which accounts for 80% of total restaurant morning meals, showed the strongest growth, with a 4% increase over the prior year. And the forecast looks good: NPD estimates that fast-food breakfast will grow a cumulative 9% over the next nine years.

According to Nation’s Restaurant News, the hot item on Taco bell’s breakfast menu is expected to be the waffle taco—a waffle that cradles scrambled eggs and a sausage patty and is served with a packet of syrup for $1.79.

An Instagram post by a customer who stumbled across the waffle taco went viral, sparking about 4 million impressions.

UPDATE: The Ronald has responded on Facebook in a visually stimulating way.

lil buddy of mig mac

Previously on AdPulp: A Smothering Jewish Mother Smothers Son With Taco Bell, Son Eats It Up

The post Real Ronald McDonalds Agree: Taco Bell’s New Breakfasts Taste Good appeared first on AdPulp.

Berlin Cameron Steals Dress for Gilt

Berlin Cameron United’s new campaign for Gilt features a chase scene and some unusual disrobing.

Upon sighting a model in a sleek yellow dress, a woman decides she can’t live without the outfit and chases after her. The model frantically runs away, because that’s what you do when you’re pursued by a woman with a crazy look in her eye. Appropriately set to the song “Suit” by Boom! Bap! Pow!, which features lyrics like “You’re so cute, I want to wear you like a suit. I think you’d look pretty good on me,” the chase concludes with the woman accessing Gilt’s site on her smartphone. This causes the dress to seamlessly slide off the model and on to the chaser, leaving the model in her underwear. While a tad on the ridiculous side, the spot shows off the instant gratification of shopping on the designer fashion site in a fun way. The 30-second ad, which went up on YouTube today, will spread to television on Monday, reports Adweek. Credits after the jump. continued…

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REVOLT Offers Free Breakfast to Agencies in 3 Cities

REVOLT Truck

This coming Monday, March 31st, breakfast is on Diddy.

To promote The Breakfast Club, “the #1 radio program in the nation” REVOLT is presenting The Breakfast Club Food Truck. The food truck will be pulling up to locations in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles to serve a complimentary breakfast to advertising agencies in those cities. Designed to “let fans and passersby know that the number one name in music and the number one name in radio are teaming up to make your day, every morning,” The Breakfast Club Food Truck will visit all three cities on the 31st, with an engagement spanning the work week in New York. Continue after the jump for a full promotional schedule and head to REVOLT’s press site for more details. continued…

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Rokkan Takes to Tumblr for TAG Heuer

New York digital agency Rokkan has launched “Owners Circle,” described as “a Tumblr dedicated to haute horology lovers” for luxury watch brand TAG Heuer.

The launch is timed to kick off the brand’s presence at Basel World, the world’s largest luxury watch and jewelry show. Drawn by the visual nature of Tumblr, TAG Heuer is one of the first luxury brands to explore the possibilities of the platform. “Owner’s Circle” features photos and GIFs “to inspire fans to share, collect and learn more about each model,” as well as “videos [see above] that weave in stories of precision craftsmanship and history, immersing viewers in the brand’s rich heritage.” TAG Heuer is hoping their foray into relatively new social territory (only 31% of the Interbrand Top 100 Brands have created Tumblr accounts) helps them to engage their audience in new ways and wins them a few converts.

TAG Heuer Tumblr

 

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Ronald McDonald Touts Taco Bell’s New Breakfast Menu

ronald_mcdonald_taco_bell.jpg

In a unique bit brand warfare which really isn’t brand warfare at all, Taco Bell is out with a Deutsch LA-created campaign that features Ronald McDonald. No, not that Ronald McDonald but 25 actual people whose names are Ronald McDonald and who are more than willing to profess their love for Taco Bell’s new breakfast menu.

The 25 Ronalds in “Wake Up, Live Más” are real people, found by talent agencies that specialize in non-actors for things like reality shows. The agencies combed through social media, including Facebook and LinkedIn, to find our stars. Some of the Ronalds, who’ve been teased about their names their whole lives, thought it was a prank call.

It’s a unique approach. One that allows Taco Bell to directly, yet indirectly, use a competing brand to tout its own offerings.

Of the approach, Deutsch LA CEO Mike Sheldon said,”The advertising had to have a scale that befitted the challenge of launching an entirely new day-part for Taco Bell. Something that had food and price wasn’t enough. It had to be something that caused a cultural conversation about what we eat for breakfast.”

RKCR/Y&R Appointed Lead Strategic, Creative Partner for GREAT Britain Campaign

GREAT BritainThe cabinet office has named RKCR/Y&R as lead strategic and creative partner for the GREAT Britain campaign, which “unites government departments in promoting Britain oversees.”

Last summer RKCR/Y&R won a GREAT tourism initiative working with Visit Britain, developing the “Sounds of GREAT Britain” campaign. Apparently the campaign impressed the Cabinet Office, and now the agency will partner with central GREAT Cabinet Office “to grow the brand, develop increased and deeper relationships with supporting brand partners and to evolve the GREAT campaign.” RKCR/Y&R will be tasked with creating an extended multi-disciplinary team to deliver brand and digital strategy, develop and manage partnerships, secure talent and drive PR.

“We are honoured to be supporting the GREAT team in developing this fantastic and ambitious brand and be able to reinforce our commitment to marketing  British brands here and overseas,” said Vicky Jacobs, managing sirector, RKCR/Y&R.

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Deutsch L.A., Ronald McDonald Love Taco Bell Breakfast

Deutsch L.A. teamed up with production company Moxie Pictures for a new broadcast campaign promoting Taco Bell’s new breakfast menu, coming on the heels of the brand’s digital campaign from Digitas.

Directed by Errol Morris, with editing from Rock Paper Scissors, the spots collect a group of individuals all named Ronald McDonald to share their thoughts on the new Taco Bell breakfast items. The Ronald McDonalds saying they love Taco Bell approach is used across the three spots in the campaign, and necessitates a “These Ronald McDonalds are not affiliated with McDonald’s corporation and were individually selected as paid endorsers of Taco Bell Breakfast, but man, they sure did love it.” disclaimer. That’s pretty much the entire campaign, the Ronald McDonald idea, but it’s a clever one and doesn’t feel especially stretched over the course of the three 30-second spots. It probably doesn’t have all that much more life in it, though, so hopefully it’s just Deutsch’s launch idea. Stick around for the “Waffle Taco” spot and credits after the jump. continued…

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Maxus Partnerships, Factory Media Target Extreme Sports Fans for Jeep

Maxus Partnerships has teamed up with Factory Media and their creative agency Prime & Fire for “Original Freedom,” a new campaign targeting extreme sports fans for Jeep Wrangler.

The campaign launches today with a road trip and mountain biking video (featured above), hosted on Factory Media’s digital action sports network MPORA. In addition to mountain biking, the campaign will also focus on snowboarding and surfing, “utilising major sporting athletes from these fields, including seasoned mountain bikers James Hughes and James McKnight.” Two more video edits will be released over the course of the campaign, which runs until the end of the year, via MPORA’s specialist sports brand social platforms. The campaign also includes three competitions to be hosted on the Jeep Wrangler website, giving visitors the chance to win snowboarding, surfing, and mountain biking equipment.

“Our target audience is made up of young adventure-seekers who are looking for a vehicle that can tackle tough terrain,” explained Damien Dally, head of brand at Jeep Wrangler, Fiat Group. “Maxus Partnerships offered a different, integrated solution for communicating the freedom of adventure message of the Wrangler. The agency has also added value by helping the brand move into territories which create great content that communicates to a younger audience and which can be pulled through-the-line.”

 

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Neighbor Agency Showcases New CD with ‘Slow and Steady Wins the Taste’


Full-service integrated marketing agency Neighbor Agency recently launched a campaign for Tillamook’s new line of Greek yogurt, Farmstyle Greek, which was led by the agency’s new creative director, Jodi Pierce, who began work with Neighbor Agency late last year.

The campaign, entitled “Slow and Steady Wins the Taste,” is “a digital-centric campaign that also includes out-of-home billboards, radio and experiential engagement through a sampling tour.” But Neighbor’s involvement began long before that, with the agency collaborating on “product development, ingredients, flavor profiles all the way to creative conception and execution of the campaign.”

Video vignettes introduce viewers to Tillamook’s Farmstyle Greek yogurt by showing simple recipes, rooted in the brand’s “slow and steady” philosophy, that complement the yogurt, like homemade granola and blueberry jam. It’s an interesting approach, one that emphasizes Tillamook as a lifestyle brand while providing viewers with information to better enjoy the product.

“We’re proud to debut the work that our creative team, and new Creative Director developed for Tillamook’s Farmstyle Greek Yogurt,” said Chad Seymour, CEO of Neighbor Agency. “The hire of Jodi is one that we took very seriously, and didn’t fill the position until we found the perfect fit for our agency, and our clients.”

For more information on the campaign, head to the brand’s Farmstyle Greek website.

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Enso Explains How Google Responds to Search Warrants

Google, which recently published a report on government requests for user information following last year’s FISA lawsuit, wants its users to know that they’re doing everything they can to protect their privacy while still complying with government programs. So they tapped California-based agency Enso to create a stop-motion animation explaining how Google responds to U.S. search warrants.

The 3:24 video explains in detail Google’s standard response to U.S. search warrants for user information; from upholding the fourth amendment upon information requests; to a screener, who sorts and prioritizes search warrants; to the producer, who examines warrants and determines what info to provide; to the custodian of records representing Google in court. Enso depicts the whole process as a game board, with individuals involved as game pieces, as a way to go about simplifying what can seem like a very complex process. They do a good job at showing Google going through great lengths to protect user privacy whenever possible, while still complying with government demands when those demands are reasonable and constitutional, positioning the company on the right side of users’ outrage over the U.S. governments’ invasion of Internet privacy. It’s a bit of tightrope walk, as Google wants to appear to serve its users privacy interests without risking coming across as an impediment to legitimate inquiries, but, luckily for Google, Enso is up to the task.

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