Hasta La Creative!

Last Thursday saw soccer star Lionel Messi become the world’s “first life-size, living avatar” dubbed Lifesize Messi, to promote EA Sports’ FIFA 14 for PS4 and Xbox One. W+K Amsterdam have just rolled out the follow-up TV campaign, “Messimorphosis.”

W+K chose to show a gamer morphing into Lifesize Messi as a metaphor for “how the game now feels more alive” than ever. The execution comes across something like an Aphex Twin music video. In other words, quite unsettling.

The spot opens with our gamer sitting on his couch, loading up his Xbox One. As he presses a button, he looks at his hand to see it changing before his eyes. Soon, his entire body is morphing into the Messi avatar, and it’s pretty damned creepy. There’s a shot of the kid’s unnerving smile, and a really freaky one of his face melting into Messi’s. This is pretty strange stuff. The close-up of his feet turning into cleats is just plain gross. We don’t see any gameplay (which looks pretty good, but not mind-blowing) until the final few seconds of the spot, with most of the 58 second ad devoted to the Lionel Messi metamorphosis. Clearly, W+K is banking on Messi’s star power and the lifesize avatar schtick — and presumably not factoring in that the morphing stunt will weird some people out. One thing you can say about “Messimorphosis” is that it’s certainly memorable.

If you’re easily disturbed or grossed out, avoid this one at all costs. If, on the other hand, you’re a big fan of FIFA, Lionel Messi, or are under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs, then this one’s for you. Credits after the jump. continued…

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People like crunchy cereal. Oatmeal Crisp is a cereal that is crunchy. Cossette took this idea and handed it to a bunch of deranged copy writers who escaped from a mental institution. The result is their batshit crazy new campaign, “Competition Crunch.”

The four spots that comprise the campaign all feature varying degrees of absurd, random humor. Think of recent Old Spice campaigns for a point of reference, though that only gives you the basic idea. For whatever reason, Oatmeal Crisp’s spokesman is a Scottish dude in a kilt, who introduces “Competition Crunch.” Each spot features a new opponent for Oatmeal Crisp — a hungry tortoise, a ginger wedding, an elitist marionette, and romantic robots. That should give you some idea of the kind of crazy we’re talking about. This is filed in our “What The…?” category for a reason.

The spot featured above (my favorite), “Hungry Tortoise Vs. Oatmeal Crisp” presents a hungry tortoise, for absolutely no apparent reason on a Japanese game show, eating a crunchy head of lettuce. Our Scottish spokesman admits that the hungry tortoise eating a head of lettuce is very crunchy, but it’s no match for Oatmeal Crisp. Believe it or not, this is on the less crazy side of the campaign. Out of all the spots, it comes the closest to making sense.The only tamer spot might be the “Romantic Robot” spot, in which two romantically inclined robots make a toast and break their glasses.

On the crazier side, we have “Elitist Marionette” and “Ginger Wedding.” What can even be said about these? “Elitist Marionette” centers around — you guessed it — an elitist marionette who flaunts his “100% Egyptian cotton” strings, and his overall superiority to a second marionette. Then the puppeteer controlling him loses his cool and repeatedly stomps on him. Yes, it’s as crazy as it sounds. “Ginger Wedding” almost matches its mishigas, when a wedding of gingerbread people is interrupted by the Aflack duck, who massacres the congregation. If you’ve ever wanted to hear a church full of screaming gingerbread people, this is probably your only opportunity.

These spots are worth a chuckle and/or befuddled stare, but I’m not sure what they’ll do to sell Oatmeal Crisp. Check out “Ginger Wedding” below, and “Elitist Marionette” (along with credits) after the jump.
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Last month, “#4ThePlayers Since 1995″ had us feeling all kinds of nostalgia for Playstation memories from bygone eras. Now, 180 Amsterdam looks toward the future with their “For The Players” international PS4 campaign targeting the Christmas gift market.

The integrated campaign runs in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, South Africa and the Middle East, comprising “teasers, events and an interactive social media experience ‘The Players Monument” (playstation.com/4theplayers) where people can declare themselves players, adding themselves to a digital interactive monument, and becoming part of the PS4 community.” Make no mistake, this is a huge campaign, one of the most anticipated of the year.

The sentiment behind the campaign is that the design of Sony’s next-gen system centers around the player. Unlike recent Xbox One spots, which emphasize the system’s capabilities as an entertainment system with multiple uses, Sony is very clearly positioning PS4 as a gaming system. While Microsoft attempts to scoop up the casual “attach this to your TV for a high-quality Netflix/Blu-ray player that you can play games with as well” market, Sony is going for the gamers.

The spot features a first person perspective through an immersive world where multiple gaming worlds have been set free. You’ll recognize some of “the most famous heroes and villains ever to play a part in PlayStation’s” gaming worlds throughout the ads scenarios. I won’t give away too much, as spotting these for yourself is part of the fun. It’s a great way to build anticipation from nostalgia, and look toward the future as the spot highlights upcoming PS4 titles as well. The spot was shot in Budapest by director Scott Lyon for production company Outsider. Al Moseley, President & Chief Creative Officer, 180 Amsterdam described the campaign as “drenched in gaming culture, incredible effects and with every detail and every pixel it delivers to the true gamer.” If all that’s not enough to get you excited for the PS4, this should be. Credits after the jump. continued…

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Here’s a little client-side news for the impending lunch hour. A phone call has confirmed that Kevin Mayer, who’s spent the last 18 months serving as VP/marketing at Volkswagen of American, is no longer with the automaker. We’re also hearing VW may have also parted ways with another marketing exec, but we’re still waiting on confirmation. As for Mayer, the now-former VW VP was based out of the brand’s D.C.-area hub in Herndon, VA.

During his career, the exec, who just picked up an Adweek Brand Genius Award in September, also held several senior-level positions on the marketing/strategy side at fellow automakers such as Hyundai, General Motors and Subaru while also working early on in his career on the account side at agencies including MARS and Grey.

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On October 1, Zambezi released the first installment of an uncensored interview with Michael Jordan to coincide with the release of NBA 2K14. We’re pleased to cover the release of the second part as MJ, known to be private over the years, opens up a bit about his career, life, and family. When MJ talks about on-court incidents, the viewer can see brief reenactments of his most famous moments using the game’s graphics. The game has been out for awhile, but now that the NBA season is hitting its stride, 2K is looking for another marketing jolt to go with the PS4 and Xbox One releases in the next 10 days.

The best part is when MJ muses on his favorite Jordan shoe of all time, comparing it to choosing a favorite child, but then he goes ahead and rattles off his top-three in the next breath. By the transitive property, MJ could probably rank his offspring, which actually fits perfectly with his competitive and results-based history. Nothing wrong with that, just interesting insights that come from this four-minute candid interview.

Credits after the (basketball-related segue) jump.

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After recently parting ways with DDB Chicago , which absorbed the account once Element 79 folded, hair salon chain Supercuts has found a new agency of record in Minneapolis-based agency Olson, which we have to say is on somewhat of a tear as this marks its sixth AOR win in two months’ time following winning the likes of Sharp and Commerce Bank. Olson’s AOR assignment will include a national broadcast and digital campaign, as well as a social-media effort.

Robin Beddor,  Supercuts senior director of brand and marketing states about her company’s decision, “Olson’s broadcast capabilities impressed us, but they won us over by demonstrating an ability to seamlessly bring their ideas to life across digital channels as well. They married top-notch strategy with real expertise in a broad range of marketing disciplines that will help us connect with our guests in an impactful way.” Along with the AOR duties for Supercuts, we’ve been told that Olson has also picked up social/PR work for Cabela’s and Cars.com.

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With the Xbox One’s November 22nd launch date looming ever nearer, CP+B’s marketing blitz for Microsoft’s next-gen system continues with two new spots. Coming on the heels of the “Invitation” spot released late last month, the two new short spots highlight the system’s diverse capabilities while otherwise taking different approaches.

The first spot, “Retirement Home,” features recently retired NFL linebackers Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher. Urlacher asks Lewis if he’s having any trouble adjusting to retirement as both watch football and play Madden 25 at the same time. Lewis claims not to be having any adjustment issues, but his actions say otherwise. It’s a funny little spot that will appeal to the (sizable) segment of the Xbox crowd who have always wished they could play Madden while watching the NFL.

The second spot, “His and Hers” addresses the apparent sexism of the “Invitation” spot (in which the only female featured uses the system only to watch movies, not play games). It highlights the voice recognition system by showing a woman command the Xbox One using her voice after arriving home to find her boyfriend watching soccer. She tells the system “Xbox go to Dead Rising 3″ and begins to play. Then she starts similarly commanding her boyfriend in a similar matter, telling him to get her a beer. It’s a bit over the top, but a welcome reversal of the gender stereotypes displayed in CP+B’s “Invitation” spot.

Credits and “His & Hers” after the jump.  continued…

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Ford’s latest dive into original branded content is “Laugh Trek,” a web series starring comedians Moshe Kasher, Nick Thune, the 2014 Ford Fiesta with voice command something-or-other, and Made Man, the men’s lifestyle site from Defy Media (born from the merger of Break Media and Alloy Digital). Also, your aunt Judy may or may not have something to do with this.

Ford (who’s no stranger to the branded web series game) has made “Laugh Trek” into part road trip/part stand-up comedy competition hybrid, with this week’s episode challenging Thune and Kasher to make fun of a Korean pop song in front of Korean people. Now, to spare you from the 8-minute video, let’s just say that Kasher bombs pretty hard. The fact of the matter is that K-Pop is a pretty easy target, so spending a long amount of time making fun of something that’s mildly annoying isn’t very funny. Thune tries a different approach, pretending that the upbeat song is actually being played at a funeral and that he has been tasked with the eulogy to the deceased, a made up guy named Travis. It’s funnier, but, still, not great. As a fan of Thune, this made me a little sad.

If that somehow still sounded appealing, you can watch the first episode, “Retirement Home,” here and five more here as the season progresses. Credits after the jump.
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McCann and Lowe have put together a new global integrated campaign for Nestle’s espresso line Nespresso featuring good pals/Oceans Eleven co-stars George Clooney and Matt Damon.

The new spots follow in the footsteps of the eight part, award-winning campaign with George Clooney, who’s been the face of Nespresso–especially outside of the U.S.–since 2006. In this latest effort, “Nespresso: In the Name of Pleasure,” (featured above), Clooney is snubbed by an attractive female, which is supposed to be funny because he’s George Clooney. In the cheesy, not surprising “twist,” the woman tells a crowd “George Clooney’s inside,” causing a stampede.

In the shorter complement to the main Nespresso “Pleasure” ad, Clooney runs into his Hollywood colleague and informs everyone of the latter’s presence, causing a similar stampede. If you like the gimmick, or love the talent enough not to care either way, you’ll fall for it. Otherwise, you may be wondering what the appeal is (like me). Check out the Damon follow-up as well as credits after the jump. continued…

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We figured we’d kick things off by addressing tips we received on the Spy late in the day yesterday regarding the relationship between Coca-Cola North America and Hearst-owned digital agency, iCrossing. From what sources in the know tell us, due to “a shrinking budget,” it was a mutual decision for Coke to “streamline a small piece” of its North American paid search business with Starcom MediaVest Group. While SMG hasn’t responded to our inquiries as of yet, it appears that iCrossing, which actually expanded its search relationship with Coke NA nearly two years ago, is still very much in the mix.

According to sources, iCrossing is still managing the soft drink giant’s biggest North American paid search effort, My Coke Rewards, and remains Coke’s global search AOR. In addition, we’ve been told that Coke has tapped iCrossing to manage its supplementary search campaign to support its Sochi Olympics sponsorship.

Update: Well, the Coca-Cola camp has chimed in and wants to clarify its relationship with SMG. A spokesperson, who tells us the “shrinking budget” issue is actually not an issue, says, “Coca-Cola is extending our relationship with SMG to drive greater innovation, efficiencies and effectiveness across platforms. By integrating search into our overall connections plans, this further enables our Company to take a major step forward in building best-in-class connections plans scaling across owned, earned, shared and paid media channels.”

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