Hasta La Creative!

TBWAMedia Arts Lab launched its first big effort for the new iPhone 7, focusing on the phone’s low-light camera in the 60-second broadcast spot “Midnight.”

The spot shows off the new iPhone’s low-light camera via a boy skateboarding around town and taking photos in the middle of the night. Set to “In A Black Out” by Hamilton Leithauser and Rostam, the spot follows the young photographers as he takes shots of moths around a lightbulb, sprinklers going off in a yard (touching on the phone’s water resistance as well), a deer roaming around a gas station and the moon over a cityscape below.

As you would expect from an centering on the phone’s perks for photography, it’s all very beautifully shot. The attention to detail in the lighting and cinematography is a step up from Apple’s usual offerings and the scene is paced well to the musical selection. It’s also not hard to see why Apple and TBWAMAL chose the approach, as the iPhone’s camera has consistently been a selling point for the brand.

“Midnight” made its broadcast debut last night during the Emmy’s and was joined by another spot promoting the iPhone 7, “Morning Ride.” The 30-second, in-house spot gives the water resistance feature center stage. It focuses on a bicyclist preparing to go out on a morning ride, in the middle of a thunderous rainstorm, concluding with the “Perfectly Magic” just as his garage door opens.

Water resistance is also one of the features promoted in “Go Time,” the brand’s in-house production for the Apple Watch Series 2. Set to the Nina Simone classic “Sinnerman,” the spot features a montage of users showing off various features, among them the aforementioned water resistance (up to 50 meters) and built-in GPS. The usual crowd is targeted, with Apple Watch users in the ad including both dedicated workout enthusiasts and young people who just want the latest accessory.

W+K London launched a new campaign for Lurpak, telling people who enjoy preparing and eating food (we refuse to use the word “foodie”) that it’s “Game On, Cooks.”

Like the agency’s April, 2015 “Freestyle” spot, the ad celebrates home cooking. This time around, though, the message is less purely celebratory. It’s more of a challenge for the food-obsessed but somewhat kitchen-averse, who watch cooking shows, follow and like obsessively on social media but haven’t made a home cooked meal in awhile. You know who you are!

“It”s time to get your hands dirty again, ” says the voiceover (presumably with some Lurpak butter), “smell the magic, hear the crackle.”

“So what are you going to be, spectator or player?” the voiceover asks at the conclusion of the spot, challenging viewers to get to know their kitchens again and devote themselves to home cooking.

The foodie challenging tone makes the spot a call to action and something of a wake-up call to foodies who have come to neglect their own kitchens. It was motivated, Adweek points out, by the insight that people are consuming more media surrounding food and cooking than ever, but actually cooking less.

It seems a fair assumption that at least some of those people will be motivated by being called out for their behavior and the spot does a good job of inspiring such viewers, showing the rewards inherent in a home cooked meal, while not shying away from the difficult tasks that are part of the job.

Oh hey, what has Razorfish been up to lately? Since you asked, this week the sprawling Publicis network released some new creative and a new positioning announcement!

First, this Audi spot is quite a bit different than VB&P’s effort earlier in the week, which focused on a dadbro who likes to drive as fast as he can through Death Valley in search of the finest artisanal coffees.

The T-Rex is a little sad that his tiny little arms and scaly skin aren’t quite as frightening as it used to be. And now we hear pretty much all dinosaurs had feathers, too! Nothing is ever what it seems. Plus, also, additionally: piloted cars! They’re so easy even a dinosaur could drive them.

This one was created by Razorfish and directed by Stephan Wever of Stink; Germany’s Sehsucht handled the Spielberg effects. And we’re just gonna say that it was not quite like the sort of work we have come to expect from Razorfish.

In other Razorfish news, yesterday the network announced the launch of a new engagement-based loyalty offering. What does that mean?

Well, it’s “a new way for clients to identify, implement and optimize meaningful interactions that create customer engagement across the post-purchase buyer journey.”

Let’s try that again:

“Built on a unique, insights-driven methodology, the Loyalty offering is centered around three core solutions of Customer Engagement Strategy, Loyalty Marketing and Engagement Ecosystem that span Market Assessment, Customer and Insights Strategy, Lifecycle Marketing, Experiential Marketing, Channel Management, 360 Customer View, Advanced Personalization, Ecosystem Implementation, and more. The offering strategy and framework will be led by David Worth, Razorfish.”

We are still a bit too slow to get it. But the release tells us that this new offering channels “Rosetta’s deep heritage in customer consulting and customer engagement,” and any rumors you may have heard about other structural changes within the two (now one) Publicis organizations were just that.

Anyway, the ad was good.

Following last year’s “The Big Adjustment” spot last year promoting the brand’s underwear, Austin agency Preacher is back to promote Tommy John’s line of undershirts.

As with its predecessor, the spot cartoonishly lampoons uncomfortable alternatives before presenting Tommy John as the answer you’ve been looking for. While in “The Big Adjustment” the problem was that the boys were unhappy, this time around its an uncomfortable, itchy undershirt. To bring the problem to life in “Undershirt Undoing,” Preacher stuffed ferrets down actors shirts and filmed them awkwardly trying to navigate situations such as making a golf putt, giving a political speech and performing a routine dentistry procedure.

The results are humorous,and if the approach the problem of an itchy undershirt a little too much, it does help the brand stand out in a category where that’s difficult. And hey, at least Preacher didn’t go with their original animal choice.

“Our first idea started with cats,” Preacher founder and CCO Rob Baird told AdFreak. “That lasted one presentation. Once we got serious about pursuing this idea, the combination of logistics of size and concern about cat lovers’ response to putting them under dress shirts made us move to other options. Ferrets were on a shortlist of players, including hamsters and snakes. But once we found out they love to burrow and then Googled ferrets for a visual refresher—seeing their aggressive little faces—they seemed perfect.”

Aggressive. Little. Faces. Somehow we’re guessing the actors thought that less than ideal.

“Usually, once the ferrets were tucked inside the shirts for several fast-action takes, they wanted to sleep,”added Baird. “Our animal handlers had plenty of treats tucked throughout our actors’ shirts to keep them moving and causing annoyance for our guys. The smart ones usually ate their treats and found the quickest exit—usually through a neck or button opening in the shirt. We have to give our actors a lot of credit for playing it so well and staying calm—the discomfort was real. Fortunately, we had no bites.”

The agency also created a behind-the-scenes video, which those of you aren’t afraid of ferrets can check out below.
Credits:
Client: Tommy John
Chief Executive Officer: Tom Patterson
Chief Marketing Officer: Josh Dean
Senior Art Director: Fawad Khan
Producer: Allison Wicke
Director of Social Media: Monica Fineis
Agency: Preacher
Chief Creative Officer: Rob Baird
Copywriter: Mark Svartz
Executive Producer: Stacey Higgins
Agency Producer: Katie Stoller
Assistant Agency Producer: Zach Tavel
Brand Director: Amanda VanAntwerp
Chief Executive Officer: Krystle Loyland
Chief Strategy Officer: Seth Gaffney
Senior Strategist: Carson Mobley
Business Affairs: Miiko Martin
Production Company: Smuggler
Executive Producers: Patrick Milling Smith, Brian Carmody, Jacqui Wilkinson
Director: Neil Harris
Head of Production: Andrew Colon
Line Producer: Claire Jones
Director of Photography: Tat Radcliffe
Production Services (Lithuania): Nordic Productions
Services Producer: Greta Kleine
Edit House: Cartel
Executive Producer: Lauren Bleiweiss
Head of Production: Meagan Carroll
Producer: Dale Nicholls
Editor: Andy McGraw
Assistant Editors: Matt Berardi, Micah Chase
Music: Black Iris
Track: Misery
Composer: Trey Pollard
Executive Creative Director: Justin Bailey
Creative Director: Rich Stine
Executive Producer: Jon Spencer
Senior Producer: Amanda Patterson
Mix: Lime
Sound Engineer: Rohan Young
Assistant Sound Engineer: Ben Tomastik
Finish House: Cartel
Senior Flame Artist: Wes Waldron
Color: Ntropic
Colorist: Marshall Plante

After winning creative duties for New York Life late late year, following a review launched in April, Anomaly has launched its first work for the client.

The campaign, “Be Good At Life,” will launch with a 30-second spot starring comedian and onetime Daily Show regular Demetri Martin entitled “Welcome to the World.”

In the spot, Martin advises, “Better start saving for college tuition” as the scene shifts back and forth between Martin calmly gardening and a man nervously looking on as his wife gives birth. “But you don’t have to think about that right now,” Martin adds, “because New York Life can help you manage your family’s financial future.”

The spot will make its broadcast debut this Saturday and run in 60, 30 and 15-second versions. It’s a bit of a strange approach, to say the least. The juxtaposition of Martin’s gardening and the chaotic birthing scene seems designed to grab attention, while Martin’s involvement in the first place seems obviously designed to attract a certain demographic.

“We have made a choice to focus more specifically on the maturing millennials market because we believe it’s so important to break through and win their attention to encourage our ability to grow and their ability to have access to financial security,” New York Life senior vice president, chief communications and marketing officer Kelli Parsons told AdAge, adding that Martin only signed on for the launch spot but may appear in future ads. 

In addition to being Anomaly’s first effort for the brand, “Be Good At Life” marks New York Life’s first campaign since “Keep Good Going” in 2012. Code and Theory, which was named the brand’s digital agency last December, has redesigned the brand’s website as part of the campaign’s digital push. The campaign also includes OOH elements in cities including New York.

When last we heard from Audi and Venables Bell & Partners, the agency/client turned to Iggy Pop to convince us that intelligence and innovation are today’s version of punk and that tech innovators are the new rock stars.

The new spot is quite different. It (sort of) celebrates Audi’s status as a returning Emmy’s sponsor but focuses more on the company’s new partnership with the ubiquitous Airbnb.

Emmy viewers and others will have a chance to experience the life of this badass dude, who only drives an Audi, only drinks fair trade artisanal coffee, and chooses to spend his time scheduling family trips to the hippest spot in Nevada: the middle of Death Valley.

Dude feels the need for speed. He also has some nostalgia for old school things like New York Times paper delivery, but his kids seem a little bored as the son plays with dangerous animals and the daughter tries hard to kill their monthly data plan. Why wouldn’t this guy leave his kids with the in-laws, we wonder?

The circumstances behind this narrative are fictional, but the house is real — even if its current purpose is to promote the Audi R8.

Some details: renters can stay in that house for the low price of $610 per night, but they can’t bring a dog, check in after 3 PM, smoke a cigarette, throw a party or invite kids aged 0 to 12. So the guy above is blatantly flaunting the rules while taking the opportunity to enjoy the “Audi VIP treatment,” which amounts to “one day of driving – all under the masterful eye of some of our best driving instructors” along with “a chance to experience 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds.”

This house doesn’t include an address or, presumably, a working wi-fi connection. But it does have an R8 parked in the dusty driveway, and “nearly every star in the sky can be seen at night, offering the experience of a lifetime.” Winners’ meals will be prepared by a personal chef before some unspecified “evening entertainment/activities.”

The work doesn’t have much to do with the Emmys, but it will debut during the ceremony on Sunday. Regarding the ceremony itself, the question is not which shows will win but how many more awards will go to Game of Thrones than all other contenders combined.

CREDITS

CLIENT NAME: Audi of America
BRAND: Audi
SPOT NAME: Desolation
AIR DATE: 9/18/16
AGENCY: Venables Bell & Partners
EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Will McGinness
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Justin Moore, Erich Pfeifer
ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, COPYWRITER: Matt Miller
ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, ART DIRECTOR: Matt Keats
SENIOR ART DIRECTOR: Kyle Jones
DIRECTOR OF INTEGRATED PRODUCTION: Craig Allen
SENIOR PRODUCER: Matt Flaker
PRODUCTION COMPANY: MJZ
DIRECTOR: Craig Gillespie
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Phillip Lesourd
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Emma Wilcockson
PRODUCER: Martha Davis
EDITING COMPANY: Final Cut Editorial
HEAD OF PRODUCTION/FINAL CUT: Suzy Ramirez
EDITOR: Crispin Struthers
MUSIC COMPANY: Human
COMPOSER: James Leibow
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Craig DeLeon
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Jonathan Sanford
SOUND DESIGN AND MIX: 740 Sound
MIXER: Chris Pinkston
SOUND DESIGNERS: Chris Pinkston, A. Josh Reinhardt, Rob Marshall
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Scott Ganary
PRODUCER: Jeff Martin
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER OF MIX: Geena Richard
VFX/FINISH: Framestore
COLORIST: Beau Leon
VFX SENIOR EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: James Razzall
VFX SENIOR PRODUCER: James Alexander
VFX CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Alex Thomas
HEAD OF BRAND MANAGEMENT: David Corns
BRAND DIRECTORS: Chris Bergen, Ally Humpherys
ASSISTANT BRAND MANAGER: Bri Jones
PROJECT MANAGER: Talya Fisher, Leah Murphy

Office of Baby, the New York agency founded by GS&P veteran Paul Caiozzo and partners, has launched the first-ever global campaign for Etsy, the online marketplace where you can buy everything from a taxidermy beetle playing the banjo to cat hair jewelry to elephant boxers (complete with strategically placed trunk).

While the Brooklyn-based company has expanded its site to include 54 million members and 35 million products, it has yet to launch a comprehensive ad campaign. That’s where Office of Baby and “Difference Makes Us” comes in. The work focuses on two types of everyday items — mugs and bedside tables — to demonstrate how seemingly minute differences in personal taste help define who we are.

Both “Mugs” and “Table” were shot on iPhones, allowing Etsy sellers to match the vignettes and edit in their own products, and set to music by 90-year old children’s folk singer Ella Jenkins. “Mugs” opens on a woman using a floral design mug to catch rain water from a leaky roof, before showing a woman grabbing the last mug in the office break room (which happens to say “Best Dad Ever”) before her coworker walks in. Other mugs in the spot include a “Big Hug Mug,” rainbow mug, some kind of fantasy-themed mug, the requisite cat mug and a smiley face mug. 

“Bedside Tables” applies a similar approach to the furniture staple. The variety of styles of bedside table all say something about their owner, particularly when it’s revealed what’s inside them and how neatly (or not) they are kept.

“When we started collaborating, the idea of Difference Makes Us felt natural, coming right out of the core of what Etsy has always been doing,” Office of Baby creative director Paul Caiozzo said in a statement. “It was an incredible honor to work with Etsy, a company that’s been celebrating creativity and uniqueness since its inception.”

The approach makes a lot of sense for the brand, for which uniqueness and individuality is a distinct selling point. After all, where else can you buy a four-foot long carrot body pillow?

CREDITS

Client: Etsy
Campaign: Difference Makes Us

Agency: Office of Baby
Creative: Nathan Frank, Paul Caiozzo, Kate Wadia
Producer: Chris Patton
Music: Ella Jenkins
Music Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
Edit: Kathy Gatto
Colorist: Jason Crump
Sound Design + Mix: Geoff Strasser
Animation: Jason Jones

SS+K launched a pair of PSAs for the NCAA, entitled “Done” and “Two Percent.”

“Done” addresses issues of gender diversity, with various female athletes saying their “done” with the need for female empowerment messages. Athletes including volleyball player (and three time Olympic gold medalist) Misty May Treanor, three-time Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin Hall and WNBA stars Nneka Ogwumike and Chiney Ogwumike all express the sentiment that “We shouldn’t need commercials to tell you you’re powerful.”

Clearly inspired by a rash of such femvertising, the spot declares that these athletes, and many others, are over it. After all, “Genders don’t play sports, athletes do.”

“The flip side of an ad that says ‘women [can] do anything’ is that you’re saying you believed they couldn’t,” explained SS+K senior art director Alyssa Georg. “We’re pointing out that women have already reached the top of sports.”

The NCAA would do well not to ignore issues of gender inequality, however, since as recently as 2014 female athletes received ten percent less in NCAA scholarship dollars than their male counterparts. 

Another spot features former San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice explaining that only two percent of NCAA athletes turn pro. But while 98 percent of NCAA college athletes won’t receive a professional contract, brand endorsements or private jet, he claims they’ll all receive something even more valuable: a college education. Sallie Mae agrees!

Credits:
Creative Agency – SS+K
Partner, Co-Founder – Rob Shepardson
Partner, Chief Creative Officer – Bobby Hershfield
Director of Production + Innovation – John Swartz
Senior Producer – Pamela Shulman
Senior Art Director – Alyssa Georg
Senior Copywriter – Elena Knox
Business Manager – Sarah Giarraffa
VP, Account Director – Jennifer Barr

Talent – Extreme Reach
Talent Manager – Vincent DeVito
Celebrity- Business Affairs Account Manager – Melissa Mathias

Production Company – Superprime
Managing Director/Executive Producer – Rebecca Skinner
Managing Director/Sales – Michelle Ross
Managing Director – John Lesher
Head of Production/Executive Producer – Roger Zorovich
Director/DP – Samuel Bayer
Underwater Camera Op – Bob Settlemire
Photographer – John Clark
Executive Producer – Dave Kemp
Production Supervisor – Piazzie
Asst. Production Supervisor – Shaun Daniels
Asst. Production Supervisor – Joshua Fallon
Director Asst – Jillian Dierenfield
Assistant Director – Michael Kahn
Assistant Director – Gail Shand
AC – Rich Hama
AC – Noah Glazer
D.I.T. – Adrian Jebef
Gaffer – Sean Ginn
BB Electric – Gregory Shummon
3rd Electric – Brandon Delgado
Electric – Jose Martinez
Electric – Robbie Poulliot
Key Grip – Matt Blum
BB Grip – Seong Dilg
Grip – Jeff Brack
Grip/DRVR – Dewayne Richardson
Prop Master – Scott DeSantis; Michael Zephro
Art – Mike McCabe
Script Supervisor – Ana Maria Quintano
Sound Mixer – Moe Chamberlain
Sound Boom – Ron Sherouse
Teleprompter – Debora Parga
VTR – Matt Hillyer
Make up – Angeline Fox
Key Costumer – Steph Strate
Costumes 2nd
– Tai Kohen
Costumes 3rd
– Gabrielle Levinson
Location Manager/Scout – John Rizzi
Gang Boss – Billy Dawson
Catering – Chris Tersaakyan
Craft Service – Rhonda Johnson
Medic – Chris Lum
Production Assistant LEAD – Cindy Garcia
Production Assistants – Angel Cituentes, Lucio Michel, Julio
Bay, Gabe Zepeda, Eric Valdez, Danita Clark, Wendy Montoya, Christian Clark, Bryce Pascual

Editing/Post Production Company – Arcade Edit
Jeff Ferruzzo– Editor
Matt Ferran– Asst. Editor
Sila Soyer– Partner, Executive Producer
Gavin Carroll – Senior Producer
Tristan Wake– On-line edit/VFX

Frame Store
Beau Leon – Telecine

Heard City
Jodi Levine – Mixer

Music – tonefarmer
Founder / Partner –
Ray Loewy
President / Partner – Tiffany Senft
Executive Producer – Liz Higgins

Spot – “2%”
Track – “Endorsement Feels”
Composer – Dan Sammartano

Spot – “Done”
Track – “Arms Akimbo”
Composer – Jimmy Harned

Preacher, the Austin-based agency launched by Mother New York alums in 2014, launched a “Pony Up on Venmo” campaign for PayPal-owned peer-to-peer payment service Venmo with a series of national broadcast spots that debut this week. 

As you perhaps guessed, the spots play on the phrase, making use of actual ponies. That approach allowed Preacher to tie the selling points of a brand that not all viewers will be familiar with to the memorable (and ridiculous) image of full-grown adults on very tiny ponies.

In “Rally Cry,” for example, a group of friends argue over whose turn it is to pay the bill outside a bar when one friend steps up to give a speech about how “happy hour should end happy” and they can easily split the bill with Venmo app. In addition to “Rally Cry,” which will run in both 30 and 15-second versions on networks including Comedy Central and MTV, there are also a series of 15-second spots exploring how different friends from “Rally Cry” use Venmo to pay for things like fancy camping, smoothies and pizza.

“Pony Up” follows on the heels of CP+B L.A.’s “Unboxing Venmo + Expert Brad Hall Review” in July. In addition to broadcast, the campaign, which will run for two months, also includes OOH and social media activations.

“This is our opportunity to drive awareness and to showcase our personality,” Venmo marketing director Kasia Leyden told AdAge. “It came together in a really clear way as a rallying cry against those awkward moments of having to ask someone to pay you back.”

In Goody, Silverstein & Partners newest spot for Adobe, a fictional basketball player named Anton Miller is about to sign a billion dollar contract with fictional professional basketball team the Cincinnati Sabers. The team’s executives and lawyers meet Miller and company in a conference room as Miller waits for them to provide a seemingly endless array of signatures before it’s his turn to sign.

While he’s waiting, he receives, and accepts, an offer from an opposing team. Bad news for Cincinnati. The spot concludes with the line “How’s your customer experience? We can help.”

The spot manages to promote the Adobe Sign feature, as well as Adobe’s customer service offerings in general with the exaggerated illustration of manual signatures gone wrong. Coming on the heels of April’s “Snake Bite,” it’s the latest in the series of reliably clever efforts from Goody, Silverstein & Partners for the brand, injecting humor into a category where you wouldn’t expect it. While “Billion Dollar Contract” may not live up to some of its predecessors it’s still a welcome addition to the campaign, and is about as entertaining as a spot for an e-signature platform gets. The spot will make its broadcast debut on TNT during the network’s launch of the NBA season, which begins October 25.

Credits:
Client: Adobe
Chief Marketing Officer: Ann Lewnes
VP, Experience Marketing Group: Alex Amado
Executive Creative Director: Steve Gustafson
Sr. Creative Director for Video: Dan Cowles
Director of Advertising and Production: Joel Giullian
Title of Creative Work: “Billion Dollar Player”
Live Date: 9/12/16
Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Co-Chairmen: Rich Silverstein and Jeff Goodby
Chief Creative Officer: Margaret Johnson
Creative Director: Will Elliott
Creative Director: Patrick Knowlton
Creative Director: Roger Baran
Creative Director: Sam Luchini
Art Director: Jasper Yu
Art Director: Stefan Copiz
Copywriter: Alex Maleski
Director of Content Production: Tod Puckett
Senior Producer: Benton Roman
Production Coordinator: Rachel Newman
Managing Partner: Brian McPherson
Account Director: Theo Abel
Account Manager: Chelsea Bruzzone
Assistant Account Manager: Zack Piánko
Director of Brand Strategy: Bonnie Wan
Brand Strategist: Etienne Ma
Brand Strategist: Andrew Mak
Director of Communication Strategy: Christine Chen
Communication Strategy Deputy Director: Dong Kim
Senior Communication Strategist: Caitlin Neelon
Communication Strategist: Natalie Williamson
Junior Communication Strategist: Chloe Bosmeny
Business Affairs Manager: Heidi Killeen
Director of Music: Todd Porter
Reset (Production)
Director: Adam Hashemi
Managing Director: Dave Morrison
Executive Producer: Jeff McDougall
Bidding Producer: Jenn Ingalls
Head of Production: JP Columbo
Producer: Michelle Currinder
Rock Paper Scissors (Editor)
Producer: Charlyn Derrick
Editor: Olivier Bugge Coutte
Barking Owl (Music)
Sound Designer – Michael Anastasi
Mixer – Patrick Navarre
Music – Barking Owl
Creative Director – Kelly Bayett
The Mill (Post FX)
Senior Producer: Will Unterreiner
2D Lead: Tara Demarco