Hasta La Creative!

If you’ve seen any of Big Lots holiday spots over the course of the past few years, it should come as no surprise that the brand gets musical in its latest effort.

After winning agency of record duties for Big Lots in early 2014, the Chicago-based agency’s first holiday campaign for the brand centered around a “Nailing It” anthem featuring America’s Got Talent finalist Deanna DellaCioppa. OKRP brought DellaCioppa back for the following year’s “Black Friday Woman” and proceeded to release another musical holiday anthem last year.

This year’s effort centers around a 60-second anthem ad that represents an evolution for the brand. Rather than really solely on music performed by the ad’s actors, the spot blends singing from enthusiastic amateur performances with Three Dog Night‘s version of “Joy to the World.”

The overly enthusiastic performances by coworker and dad alike are played for laughs, while the more varied approach allows the brand to showcase a variety of families and situations (not to mention products), which according to a press release were inspired by real stories from OKRP employees.

“Holiday spots usually paint a picture of how things should be—aspirational and often times unattainable. For Big Lots, we sought to embrace the beauty of the holidays for what they really are — perfectly imperfect moments of joy and togetherness,” OKRP creative director Marian Williams explained in a statement . “As a new holiday anthem, Joy to the World has a universal, inclusive quality that feels right for our time.”

“Our goal was to connect more emotionally with our core customer, who we refer to as ‘Jennifer.’ We believe the stories we are telling within the campaign really touch the heartstrings while showing the small ways Big Lots helps bring the holidays home,” added Big Lots executive vice president, chief merchandising and operating officer Lisa Bachmann. “The music has become a signature for our brand, enabling us to instantly connect with Jennifer and to stand out from competitors.”

In addition to the 60-second anthem ad, which will run in cinemas and online in 60 the campaign also includes 30 and 15-second versions, running on broadcast and online, as well as radio ads and an iHeart Radio across its holiday channels.

Credits: 
Agency – O’Keefe Reinhard & Paul
CEO – Tom O’Keefe
CCO – Matt Reinhard
Head of Production – Scott Mitchell
Producer – Mallory Sohmer
Creative Director – Marian Williams
Designer – Justine Massa
Director of Account Services – Natasha Kesaji
Director, Production Business Affairs – Katie Johnson

Production – SKUNK
Director – Greg Brunkalla

Editorial – Whitehouse Post
Editor – Sam Puglise-Kipley

Editorial – Whiskey & Bananas

Color – Nolo

Animation – The Mill

Erich & Kallman, the San Francisco agency opened by W+K, GS&P, TBWA and Barton F. Graf vet Eric Kallman and former CP+B president Steve Erich in 2016, recently launched a campaign for Noble Vines, entitled “Know the Number.”

It’s not the first time the agency has promote a wine brand as the agency launched an effort for OneHope around a year ago.

The number in question in the “Know the Number” campaign is the series of numbers given to select vintages of wine grapes and which grace bottles of Noble Vines. As a 15-second spot explains, “For centuries, vintners have singled out individual vines that produce exceptional grapes,” and of those a few have stood the test of time to receive numbered designations.

The spot offers an explanation of the brand’s naming practices in a way that implies superior quality. “Know The Number” concludes by inviting viewers to learn more about the numbers behind Noble Vines wines and included an “interactive challenge” targeting millenials, particularly in the areas of Dallas, Miami and Southern California.  The campaign is running across outlets including Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, The New York Times, Vogue, Vanity Fair, Vox, Bravo and NBC News through December 2. According to the client, the campaign increased sales 27 percent in ad test markets.

Dailey, which has served as agency of record for Honda Powersports (motorcycles, ATVs, etc.) since 1979 launched a campaign for Honda’s Gold Wing motorcycle brand, relaunching the brand in celebration of its first major redesign in 17 years.

A 90-second anthem ad entitled “What Lies Beyond” introduces the new tagline, which also functions as an answer to the question of why bikers hit the open road in the first place. Set to a generic millenial folk-ish soundtrack, the voiceover celebrates the exploration of “what lies beyond” as the reason for setting out on a roadtrip during a three-day weekend and exploring unknown roads leading to unfamiliar dive bars.

Another spot, “Beyond the Screen,” sees a couple ditch their phones to connect with friends in person. A third ad celebrates the brand’s history, from 1975 to the present day, while the product-centered “Beyond the Gold Wing” highlights the redesign’s technological innovations. A fifth spot will follow some time next month. All of the spots are hosted on the campaign microsite.

“The big challenge for us was to create a bike and a campaign that appealed to our existing customer base while also attracting a customer new to touring,” Honda Powersports marketing manager Lee Edmunds said in a statement. “We think Dailey really hit the mark with the ‘Beyond’ campaign with videos that will appeal to both customer bases and a sense of exploration that will appeal to all.”

Credits:
American Honda Motor Co., Inc.
Senior Manager, Marketing – Michael Snyder
Manager, Advertising & Press – Lee Edmunds
Manager, Experiential Marketing – Keith Dowdle
Assistant Manager, Advertising – Sean McFillin
Assistant Manager, Experiential Marketing – Peter Runsten
Advertising Specialist – Ben Hoang

Dailey
ECD – Marcus Wesson
CD/Writer – Michael Miller
CD/Art Director – Mark Rouse
CD/Digital – Manaf Al-Naqeeb
ACD/Writer – Mark Lindemann
ACD/Art Director – Jin Kim
Account Director – Steve Mitchell
Account Director / Digital – Trisha Ferreira
Account Supervisor – Denise Pelton
Executive Producer – Autumn Childress
Director of Digital Production – Don Lupo
Executive Digital Producer – Christine Rhee
Digital Producer – Laura Lee
Project Manager – Jessica Uribe
Studio Artist – Steven Mitchell
Director of Technology – Mitchell Malpartida
Director of Business Affairs – Judi Chandler

Production Company – Derby Content
Director – Roberto Serrini
Production Company Producer(s) – Mary Crosse & Eli Ash
Canada Production Company – Pink Buffalo
Canada Production Company Producer(s) – Shawn Angelski & Martin Fisher
Production Design – Scott Moulton
Director Photography – Chris Wiseman
Photography – Blake Jorgenson & Bruce Benedict

Editorial Company – Derby Content
Editorial company producer(s) – Olivia Johansson; Linzy Anderson; Mary Crosse
Editor(s) – Roberto Serrini

Music Company – Noiselab
Music Producer – Pinky Turzo
Postproduction Company – The Mill-NYC
Engineering – Sound Lounge NYC
Audio – Sound Lounge NYC
CG – Thomas J Wilson

So you may have heard about a debate in this country over media coverage and confirmation bias, or the ability to report on politics without bringing opinion into it, or one very fat man’s tendency to scream at everyone who isn’t telling him exactly what he wants to hear.

Today, CNN’s creative marketing department launched a new campaign under what will be the network’s new tagline, “Facts First.”

It marks the first work from new creative agency Figliulo&Partners, and it makes a very abstract point with a simple piece of fruit … which is not in any way related to another kind of fruit. They’re two completely different things, see??

Unless you’ve been living in the world’s deepest, darkest cave for the past two years or so, it should be pretty clear what they’re alluding to here. The copy does offer some additional framing, though:

Facts are facts. They aren’t colored by emotion or bias. They are indisputable. There is no alternative to a fact. Facts explain things. What they are, how they happened. Facts are not interpretations. Once facts are established, opinions can be formed. And while opinions matter, they don’t change the facts. That’s why, at CNN, we start with the facts first.

From the release, which notes that the spot used the apple to keep things visually simple and compelling: “this work sounds a clear and relatable reminder to all that facts are fixed, finite in nature and fundamentally different than opinion.”

Of course that’s true. But one might argue that there’s a larger problem: many, many Americans want the media they consume to reinforce their existing opinions, not challenge them to reconsider any personal beliefs or even force them to spend time and effort trying to better understand a complicated story.

F&P partner and chief creative officer Scott Vitrone, who came aboard in February, kind of addresses this in his quote:

“It’s no secret that the line between opinion and fact is becoming increasingly blurred for Americans. It would have been easy to just fire another shot in this increasingly hazy debate, but we wanted this campaign to strike right at the heart of the issue. This is what a fact is; plain and simple. Only after that basic understanding reestablished can we move on meaningfully into the specifics of today’s issues.”

Again, this is true. But CNN’s most significant contribution to American politics and society at large may well be the standard hour-long talking head panel program, in which self-appointed experts or “influencers” vie for attention by providing viewers with … their opinions. And most of them get paid more than the reporters behind those facts, too, because advertisers, aka your clients, want to get in front of prime time viewers eager to see people yell over one another.

This is our media model.

The kids today do NOT get cancer.

That’s understandable given the vast amounts of misinformation available on these here interwebs.

Sid Lee Canada has addressed this urgent matter in a new campaign for Rethink Breast Cancer that drew on information taken from a survey of 800-plus young adults in the U.S. and Canada.

This ad is maybe not super flattering to the young folks.

But they’re hardly the only ones who need answers to big health questions.

For example, when we visited China in 2012 for work, young men were encouraged not to sleep near their phones for fear of damaging their fertility, and some pregnant women wear metal mesh aprons to protect their unborn children from radiation poisoning via computers and phones. Not sure if they still do that, but the point is that lots of young people around the world are looking for reliable information about their health.

And this campaign is based around a bot that answers questions about breast cancer, which is a pretty cool service given the prevalence of such conditions.

Most importantly, it allows everyone to laugh at the word “boobies.”

CREDITS

Jeffrey Da Silva – Executive Creative Director
Tom Koukodimos – Executive Creative Director
Alexis Bronstorph – Creative Director
Kelsey Horne – Creative Director
Haley Koehn – Art Director
Whitney Tam – Copywriter
Haley Koehn – Designer
Christina Festoso – Account Director
Nastassia Allamby – Account Supervisor
Deven Dionisi – Strategist
Kelsey-Lynn Corradetti – Producer
Nigel McGinn – Editor/Colourist

Kareem Boulos – Media Planner – Media Experts
Anjay Feldano – President/Executive Producer – Scarlett Street Creative Agency
Kapana Feldano- Executive Producer (Post Production) – Scarlett Street Creative Agency
Tony Large – Director/Director of Photography
Peter Schnobb – Editor/Colourist
Kyle Watt – Post Audio

CP+B launched a spot to promote Amazon’s live streaming of an October 12th Thursday Night Football matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers, shot by “The Epic Split” director Andreas Nilsson.

The spot seems cram in as many references to the team names  as well as “Amazon” and “streaming ” as it can, doing so in about the silliest way possible.

A sight-seeing couple take out their binoculars to catch a closer look at a group of eagles, then catch a glimpse of a pack of panthers, noting the two are “about to go head to head, right here in the Amazon.” (While standing in a stream, naturally.)

The spot follows a similarly-themed ad promoting the September 28th matchup between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. Amazon Prime Video will stream a total of eleven such NFL games this year and CP+B will roll out another ad to promote a Christmas Day game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Houston Texans.

Since every single news story or cultural event now rapidly devolves into an “our team vs. their team” exercise in political tribalism (UGH), it’s worth remembering that the National Football League is supposed to be about talented people playing football.

Grey launched the new season about a month ago with an FX-heavy spot that positioned itself as a trailer for the NFL as your favorite legacy TV show, back for another year of bone-crushing excitement complete with a “shock and awe” soundtrack by Miguel.

The new spot elaborates on the “Let the show begin” tagline in a very similar style. This time, the key selling point is the league’s unpredictability.

As you can see, this effort stars Demarco Murray, Jay Ajayi, Michael Thomas, and Myles Garrett making their way through a virtual obstacle course that resembles a mashup between gridiron antics and the new Blade Runner sequel. The music is from THEY, who are just as unfamiliar to us as the players themselves.

From the release: “The NFL season is nothing if not wildly unpredictable. Teams defy the odds and unknown players make names for themselves.”

That’s true in so many more ways than one.

CREDITS

Agency: Grey
Client: NFL
Campaign: “Unpredictable”

Worldwide Chief Creative Officer: John Patroulis
Deputy Chief Creative Officer: Jeff Stamp
Group Creative Director: Joe Mongognia
Creative Director/Art Director: Mike Cicale
Creative Director/Copywriter: Cameron Miller
Project Director: Hank Romero
EVP/Global Account Director: Brian Weston
SVP/Account Director: Courtney Berry
Senior Account Executive: Lucy Hallowell
Assistant Account Executive: Michael Jones
Executive Strategy Director: Tony Lederer
Senior Planner: Nicolas Pilaprat
Senior Planner: Ben Michaels
Content Strategist: Bryce Mathias

Sound Design: Sound Lounge
Co-Mixers: Justin Kooy and Peter Holcomb
Producer: Becca Falborn
Executive Producer: Mike Gullo

Production Company: Elastic
Director:  Paul Mitchell
Director of Photography: Sean Stiegemeier
Live Action Producer: Richard Weager
Production Designer:  Shel Greb

Design Studio:  Elastic
Creative Director: Paul Mitchell & Lisa Bolan
Designer(s): James Levy, Nadia Tzuo
Producer: Lee Buckley
Executive Producer: Luke Colson
Head of Production: Kate Berry
Managing Directors: Linda Carlson & Jennifer Sofio Hall
VFX Supervisor / 2D Lead: Maciek Sokalski
CG Supervisor / 3D Lead:  Andrew Romatz
3D Artists:  Dustin Mellum, Ian Ruhfass, Josh Dyer
2D Artists: Elliot Brennan, Brinton Jaecks
Editor :  Ryan Delk / Chris Hall

Another week, another opportunity for the folks at Barton F. Graf to get a little weird.

The agency’s new tagline for Pop Secret brand popcorn is “Better Than Everything,” as in everything you have experienced or could possibly imagine. The full extent of Pop Secret’s awesomeness is limited only by the boundaries of your own mind.

That and some “hot buttery logic.”

So flowers are a definite no. How about sunsets?

Even the greatest thing ever—a kid’s birthday party—has some downsides.

Of course, if we really get down to it, all popcorn does have those kernels that get stuck between your teeth or up on the roof of your mouth. And it’s one of the best things for spoiling a young appetite. Many brands don’t even use real butter!

We’ve asked this before, but since we’re big fans of repetition: how much does Gerry Graf love David Lynch? And when can we get a beer with his favorite casting directors?

CREDITS

Chief Creative Officer: Gerry Graf
Chief Strategy Officer: Laura Janness
Creative Directors: Matt Moore, Jonathan Vingiano
Copywriter: Brad Phifer
Art Director: April Lauderdale
Head of Integrated Production: Josh Morse
Producer: Cameron Farrell
Account Director: Kate Callander
Account Supervisor: Marla McCormick Domergue
Strategy Director: Amanda Perring
Head of Business Affairs: Jennifer Pannent
Project Manager: Andra Gould

Production Co: Epoch Films
Director: Matthew Swanson
EP: Megan Murphree
Producer: Patrick Harris
DOP: Bobby Shore
Production Designer: Michael Walker

Edit: MackCut
Editor: Ryan Steele
Assistant Editor: Zachary Antell
Executive Producer: Gina Pagano
Producer: Sabina-Elease Utley

Telecine: CO3
Colorist: Tim Masik

Finishing: Method
Executive Producer: Angela Lupo
VFX Supervisor: Gong Myung Lee
Producer: Anna Kravtsov
Lead Flame Compositing: Kevin Quinlan

Last November, Toyota Motor Europe selected The&Partnership as its lead agency, with the WPP shop forming a dedicated &TOYOTA hub to service the client. In July, the agency hired Andre Moreira to lead the unit as executive creative director.

Now The&Partnership has launched its first campaign for Toyota Motor Europe, with an effort celebrating the company’s hybrid vehicles.

The 60-second anthem ad, “We Choose Hybrid,” opens with an open road in the countryside, before shifting its attention to a group of individuals who are presumably hybrid drivers. “You’ll find us in the country,” begins the voiceover, “in the city.”

“Living for work, for the weekend,” it continues as Toyota’s vehicles make a first appearance, in a variety of locations, “making choices, moving forward.”

The spot continues, championing Toyota’s hybrid cars and celebrating over ten million hybrid drivers before naming the things hybrid drivers “choose,” which leads into the tagline.

Among those: “power,” “beauty,” and “progress.”

As a longtime leader in the hybrid category, it’s perhaps not surprising that The&Partnership’s first work for the client should celebrate Toyota’s hybrid offerings. The anthem ad doesn’t do much to surprise or shake up the category, but it should appeal to those already hybrid-friendly while alluding to benefits of driving a hybrid (both personal and ecological) for those who have yet to make the switch. With over ten million hybrid drivers out there, at least a few of them are presumably looking for their next one, right?

The broadcast spot kicks off a campaign which will also include “150 pieces of brand-led, product-led and educational digital content,” according to a press release, as well as print and OOH initiatives. Launching in France, Italy, Sweden and Norway this month, the campaign will roll out to Germany and the U.K. in October.

“Our data showed that most drivers still have a limited understanding of the benefits offered by hybrid technology, and that there were significant misconceptions about the people who choose hybrid vehicles (no, they’re not all tree-huggers),” Moreira said in a statement. “The ‘We Choose Hybrid’ platform aims to remove those misconceptions by celebrating the 10 million progressive drivers who already made that Hybrid choice.”

“This first project for Toyota is a great example of our integrated model in action. Working as one team, we used audience decision data to inform not just the media strategy but also the creative development, ensuring the right assets got produced in the first place,” added Dan Whitmarsh, global chief strategy officer at The&Partnership media agency m/SIX. “As ‘We Choose Hybrid’ rolls out across Europe, Toyota can be confident not just of having the best possible targeting and optimisation, but also that its platform of more than 150 pieces of content has the answers to all the questions people care about.”

Credits:
Brand: Toyota Motor Europe
Clients: Jan Verhaegen, Brand & Marketing Communications
Manager & Dario Giustini, Senior Manager, Brand & Communications

Agency Network: The&Partnership
Executive Creative Director: Andre Moreira
Creative Directors: Phil Beamount & Dominic Gettins
Creatives: Michael Eichler, Sam Bishop
Planner: Simon Ringshall
Executive Producer: James Miller
Producer: Alex Rofaila
Production Assistant: Dale Chapman
Business Director: Ildut Loarer
Account Director: Stefano Della Schiava

Production Company: Merman Films
Director: The Malloys

Directors of Photography: Luke Jacobs, Tony Brown

Editing: Paul O’Reilly, STITCH Editing
Post-Production and Visual Effects: Barny Wright, Big Buoy

Audio: 750mph

Voiceover: Michael Shelford

We go together like milk and…

Most people would finish the phrase with cookies, naturally. But in its latest “Got Milk” spot for the California Milk Processor Board, Goodby Silverstein & Partners offers up a host of alternatives.

“Love Stories” imagines milk as trying its luck in the dating scene, “playing the field” with such unlikely combinations as the aforementioned foods, in addition to a donut, a taco and a chicken wing.

The message, of course, is that milk pairs well with a variety of foods, in addition to its famously complementary, crumbly confectionary companion. While we’re not sure about some of those combos (Tacos, really?) there’s certain charm to seeing a glass of milk riding on the back of a bicycle with a donut and the approach offers up a nice change of ace for the campaign.

The Drum reports the spot will be supported by print ads featuring the tagline, “Food Loves Milk,” much to the chagrin of the copywriter who proposed the “Everyfoodie Loves Milkmond” concept.