Hasta La Creative!

Tis been some time since we’ve received a memo from Grey, but the agency’s New York CEO Michael Houston has sent out one regarding the brand’s new relationship with coffee staple, Folgers, this week. As a result of taking on assignments for the aforementioned brand as well as continuing efforts with J.M. Smuckers and Millstone, Grey has brought on ad vet Marnie Kain to lead the work. Anyhow, why steal Mr. Houston’s thunder any further. See below:

“You’ll see today that we are introducing a new coffee, Folgers, in our kitchens.  It is to celebrate our newest brand assignments from the J.M. Smucker Company, Folgers and Millstone coffees.

This is an outstanding win from our longstanding partner and a tremendous vote of confidence in Grey’s work for Smucker.  They have our deepest thanks as we start this exciting new chapter together.

Speaking of new beginnings, we are delighted to welcome Marnie Kain as our newest EVP on these coffee brands, that she led with distinction at Saatchi & Saatchi.

Marnie spent 17 years at Saatchi, rising to the post of EVP, Managing Director, Head of Marketing and Business Development.  Along the way, she oversaw brand management for such blue-chip clients as JPMorgan/Chase, Wendy’s, JC Penney, P&G’s Dawn and Fixodent, Sunny Delight and earlier, Carnival Cruise Lines, all textbook examples of marketing innovation in her capable hands.

Most recently, Marnie was President and Founder of her own advertising and marketing solutions company, Kain & Co.  An accomplished speaker on advertising and branding, she has served on the board of directors of the Advertising Club of New York and President of the Advertising Federation of Miami.  And she’s found to time to give back, serving on the board of Step Up Women’s Network, a non-profit dedicated to helping deserving teens go to college and become career ready.

Please give her a warm welcome and stop by for coffee.

Michael”

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Kentucky-based agency Cornett IMS (who you may remember from Beardvertising or “Kentucky Kicks Ass“) has created the world’s longest hashtag to promote the release of A&W’s new chicken tender sandwich.

While most brands see the hashtag as something that fans will hopefully share on social media, Cornett chose to create a hashtag so long that the chance of it being used are pretty damn low. The extra-big hashtag is, presumably, meant to coincide with the extra-big nature of A&W’s Hand-Breaded Chicken Tender Texas Toast Sandwich. Like that sandwich, the hashtag is quite the mouthful. As Cornett’s Whit Hiler puts it, they were going for a “hashtag so long, our consumers would say ‘man that’s a really long hashtag, that Hand-Breaded Chicken Tender Texas Toast Sandwich must be freaking delicious.’” You can view the TV spot introducing the hashtag above. That hashtag, by the way, is: #supertastylargeandinchargetexastoasttwohand-wichmadewithdeliciousonehundredpercentwhitemeathandbreadedchickentendersandyourchoiceofclassicorspicypapasauceeitherwayyoucan’tgowrongwowthatsoundsgoodyouneedtotryoneit’sonlyavailableforalimitedtimeI’mgoingtohavetogogetonemyselfareyoustillreadingthisseeyouatAandW. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Zurich Insurance is launching “Gator Golf,” an online video tutorial series, created by McCann Worldgroup, instructing golfers on how to deal with playing in close proximity to alligators.

The series was created to build buzz around the upcoming PGA Tour, Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where an alligator famously wandered onto the course during last year’s games. While not everyone finds alligators on the golf course a laughing matter, the series is tied to the larger “For Those Who Truly Love” brand platform, the idea being that those who truly love golf won’t let an alligator on the course stand in their way.  The “Gator Golf” series features “golfing and alligator expert” Jim Shanks offering up absurd solutions to gator-filled golf course problems. In the above video, for example, he recommends turning around and driving left-handed so that the gator behind you is “out of sight, out of mind,” while adding that if you’re attacked you should follow course etiquette and “die quietly.”

Gator Golf” is the social component of a larger integrated campaign including TV, print, online advertising and a microsite, and will appear on YouTube and on saud microsite in the lead up to the tournament, which takes place April 24 – 27.

Of course, when we read “Gator Golf,” we can’t help but think of this…

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Caviar director Ruben Fleischer joined forces with cover girl Emma Stone, who recently starred in his film Gangster Squad, for a new original short for Vogue.

The spot sees Fleischer and Stone playing themselves, discussing Stone’s latest role. Fleischer, who wrote and directed the short, plays the stright man. Stone, meanwhile, has some unusual ideas to prepare for her role as a nun, all of which involve magic. As you may have guessed, things get a little bit silly, but the humor never quite connects and the premise feels a bit forced — even if “Everyone loves magic, even nuns.”

Stick around for credits after the jump.  continued…

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Just in time for the playoffs, Sid Lee has launched a new spot for the Toronto Raptors which the Starks could totally get behind (there’s even a wolf). The new spot stokes fans’ anticipation of the upcoming games and northern pride with the tagline, “#WeTheNorth.”

The 60-second, Stark-approved spot starts with the line “We the north: In many ways we’re in a league of our own; one step removed; just beyond the boundaries…” and uses the Raptors’ distance from other NBA teams as a point of pride, a rallying call. “If that makes us outsiders, we’re in,” concludes the voiceover before a “Let’s go Raptors” chant emerges from the background. “#WeTheNorth,” which just launched yesterday, is part of a larger rebranding effort for the Raptors. If fans weren’t already excited for the Raptors’ bid in the NBA playoffs (starting tomorrow, against the Nets), the well-produced spot, which mixes game footage with stylized shots of a snowy Canada, should do its part to psyche them up. Credits after the jump.  continued…

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Stockholm-based creative agency House of Radon is taking Electrolux‘s food-based Tumblr, “Now We’re Cooking,” live this April 22-24th for its over one million followers.

The agency will be live-streaming 15 different recipes from an early breakfast to a bedtime snack. It will have the “same look and feel” the site normally maintains, but with the difference that everything is being done live, with creatives grading everything in real time. This is no small venture, as “Over 1,000 props will be used to style all dishes and approximately 100 different “Now You’re Cooking” posters will be used in the live-stream.” Check out the teaser above for a glimpse of the campaign, and head on over to “Now We’re Cooking” on April 22nd to see how House of Radon pulls it off. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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Victors & Spoils eschews crowdsourcing or digital aspects for their new campaign for Bank Midwest.

Centered around a few television spots,  the campaign emphasizes the human side of Bank Midwest.  The above spot “Listening” focuses on a bank worker on the phone with a client, saying things like “okay” and “uh-huh” before the word “Listening” comes on the screen, accompanied by triumphant music. It’s meant to show that in today’s environment, an actual human listening to you at a bank seems revolutionary. Clearly, this campaign is targeted at an older audience than Victors & Spoils typical work, which explains the more traditional approach. The spots “Knowing Your Name” and “Answering The Phone” follow a similar approach. The campaign, which started running in Colorado and Kansas this week, also includes billboards with simple messages, such as “Listening!” and “Mortgage Experts Who Listen.”

“In a time when so many businesses have stopped focusing on consumers, it’s really exciting that we get to help celebrate the fact that our client, NBH Bank, N.A., still treats people like people. This makes for some pretty revolutionary work,” explained Victor & Spoils Creative Director Chris Cima.

For a campaign described as “revolutionary,” though, the strategy sure calls to mind Tierney’s work for TD Bank in their “Human Truths” and “Bank Human” campaigns. Stick around for “Knowing Your Name” and “Answering The Phone” after the jump. continued…

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Team One has launched a new digital scrapbooking app for JW Marriott called CUR8.

CUR8 is described as “an experience-oriented app that allows guests to share their favorite travel moments through digital videos on their social media networks.” Simply download the app at the Apple store, upload photos and videos, choose a few of JW Marriott’s property images and the app will automatically create a sharable digital video of your vacation. Users of the app also have the option of customizing their videos with music and added text and can then share the video on social media networks using the hashtag #CUR8byJWM. CUR8 is currently available free of charge at 65 locations. Check out the video above to learn more and stick around for credits after the jump. continued…

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In a world with Starbucks at every corner and small, fancy artisinal coffee shops sprouting up everywhere, it would be counterproductive for an instant coffee brand to try to compete. So W+K starts a different conversation for Maxwell House, asking, “Whatever happened to good?”

The new “Say Good Morning to a Good Day” campaign features a series of broadcast and web spots centering around an affable, middle-aged everyman (everydad?) who laments that with all the attention on phrases like “Awesome,” “Amazing,” and “That’s epic, bro!” people have forgotten about “good.” In the 30-second spot, he goes on to explain that good is “Swinging to get on base” or “choosing not to overshoot the moon, but instead to land right on it.” This all makes “good” seem pretty appealing, with the spot ending with the resurrected “Good to the Last Drop” tagline.

While some may question the choice of admitting your product isn’t “amazing,” the strategy makes sense for Maxwell House, whose coffee is, at best, “good enough,” and whose best bet is to convince the older generation that all the fuss over fancy coffee just isn’t worth it. W+K pull off the execution really well, making the “good” approach about as persuasive as it can be. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Having watched a couple of horror films on the cable channel FEARnet (currently on FiOS at least) over the weekend, figured why the hell not ride the blood-soaked waves and mention this little promo from the network, which to be honest offers a great slate of old-school, cult and slasher films mixed with a total bevy of garbage. Still, us horror fans can’t play choosers in this and so we support whatever medium the genre gets exposed. Above is a brief promo as part of a new TV image campaign for FEARnet from L.A.-based Stun Creative’s graphics/animation division, Buster, which tries to offer a quick manual on the do’s and dont’s of horror films. Think Jamie Kennedy‘s character Randy in the first couple of Scream films and there you have it. Don’t worry, as long as idiots still won’t listen, the genre will be very much alive and kicking. Credits after the jump.

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