Aug
24
Jul
24
Honey Maid's Latest Wholesome Family Features a Disabled Aunt and Her Niece
Posted in: Uncategorized
Honey Maid’s campaign featuring inclusive depictions of American families takes another step forward today with a spot showing a disabled aunt and her niece making apple and cheddar melts together on their graham crackers.
It’s a simple, quiet 30-second spot, Cheerios-like both in its simplicity and its unspoken embrace of all types of families. Honey Maid has become one of the most famous brands embracing such diversity in its ads with same-sex couples, mixed-race, blended and immigrant families, and more.
The aunt in the ad is Stephanie Woodward, a disability rights lawyer and activist who is currently director of advocacy at The Center for Disability Rights. She signed on for the project, Honey Maid says, because she—and many in the disabled community—want real disabled people featured on TV and in the media, not actors playing disabled people.
Here is the 30-second online version of the spot:
Woodward was also drawn to the simple realism of the ad in a media landscape where disabled people are often portrayed “in either a pity or a superhero light.” (By the way, while there is much debate around the language of disability, Woodward prefers the term disabled person to person with a disability. “I am a proud disabled woman and prefer not to identify with ‘people first’ language as it separates me from my disability identity,” she says.)
The latest spot coincides with this weekend’s 25th anniversary of the signing into law of 1990’s Americans with Disabilities Act. Honey Maid says the ad is also one of the first to include audio descriptions on the 15-second TV version—describing what’s happening on screen for blind and low-vision audiences—along with standard closed captioning. The audio description will run on Bravo, E!, Nick @ Nite, Lifetime, LMN, CBS and ABC.
“The ‘This Is Wholesome’ campaign launched in March of 2014 and has been committed to featuring a cross-section of the American family,” says Gary Osifchin, portfolio lead for biscuits at Mondel?z International. “From a same-sex couple and single dad, to a mixed-race military family, a blended and an immigrant family, the sweet moments between a disabled aunt and her niece are just another example of Honey Maid’s commitment to feature real American families and the wholesome connections they share.”
Here is the 15-second TV version:
CREDITS
Client: Honey Maid / Mond?lez International
Senior Director, Biscuits North America: Gary Osifchin
Senior Brand Manager: Mikhail Chapnik
Senior Associate Brand Manager: Jared Moran
Campaign: “This is Wholesome”
Title: Honey Maid: How to Make Apple & Cheddar Melts
Agency: Droga5 NY
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Executive Creative Director: Kevin Brady
Associate Creative Director: Tara Lawall
Associate Creative Director: Devon Hong
Copywriter: German Rivera Hudders
Art Director: J.J. Kraft
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale
Associate Broadcast Producer: Goldie Robbens
Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer
Group Strategy Director: Matt Springate
Senior Communications Strategist: Taylor Hines
Senior Social Strategist: Kat Popiel
Social Media Manager: Rob Engelsman
Data Strategy Director: Katty Lein
Data Strategist: Annie Corbett
Group Account Director: Brett Edgar
Account Director: Amanda Chandler
Account Manager: Jasmine McDavid
Associate Account Manager: Amy Rosenberg
Project Manager: Andra Johnson
Production Company: Variable
Director: Jonathan Bregel
DOP: Stuart Winecoff
Executive Producer: Tyler Ginter
Producer: Alex Friedman
Production Supervisor: Paige DeMarco
Editorial & Post Production & Audio: D5 Studios
Music: de Wolfe Music
Jul
13
Droga5 Clears Things Up for Clearasil
Posted in: UncategorizedDroga5 takes a humorous approach in its new campaign for Clearasil, its first work for the Reckitt Benckiser brand since picking up creative duties last May.
A 30-second broadcast spot, entitled “Interruption,” opens on a teenage boy named Stephen saying, “This pimple is going to last forever” into the mirror and receiving reassurance from a talking bottle of Clearasil that it won’t, since the fast-acting formula works within 12 hours. It also promises that acne won’t last forever, “…just like your mom won’t walk in on you forever.” This triggers a montage of Stephen’s mom walking in on him while looking at something she doesn’t approve of on his computer screen, making out with a girlfriend in the car, attending a lamaze class and giving a lecture on singularity (as Dr. Stephen), ending with the line “For now, let’s be clear, Clearasil works fast.”
While it retains the requisite graphic showing how the product helps clear acne, the spot breaks from the typical serious approach of the category while managing to tackle many of the same issues. It also stands in stark contrast to Droga5’s approach for the other Reckitt Benckiser it picked up last May. The agency’s “Home is in the Air” effort for Air Wick in December was decidedly more serious, which saw the agency and Air Wick recreating the smells of home for an American soldier stationed in Qatar. While not laugh out loud funny, the lighthearted humor of “Interruption” works well with its gentle reassurance that acne won’t last forever while presenting the brand as a fast-acting solution to the (temporary) problem. In addition to the broadcast spot, the campaign will be supported by digital, social, PR, point-of-sale and influencer marketing initiatives.
“Someone once said laughter is the best medicine. While we’re pretty sure they weren’t talking about acne commercials, we figured it was as good an excuse as any to try to make a humorous one,” Droga5 group creative director Tim Gordon told Adweek. “What teens really need is some reassurance and a laugh. Reassurance that acne isn’t going to last. Reassurance they’ll grow out of it. Reassurance they won’t need acne cream forever. Reassurance that one day they’ll be able to laugh at the volcanic zit they got just before prom.”
Credits:
Client: Clearasil/Reckitt Benckiser
Brand Director: Deb Ebile
Brand Manager: Elyse Goldweitz
Campaign: Let’s Be Clear
Spot: “Interruption”
Agency: Droga5 New York
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer :Ted Royer
Group Creative Director: Tim Gordon
Senior Copywriter: Ryan Raab
Senior Art Director: Dan Kenneally
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale
Executive Producer: Adam Perloff
Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer
Strategy Director: Will Davie
Senior Strategist: Danielle Travers
Senior Data Strategist: Lily Ng
Head of Communications Strategy: Colleen Leddy
Communications Strategist: Bryn Little
Social Strategy Director: Tom Hyde
Senior Social Strategist: Calvin Stowell
Social Manager: Maureen O’Brien
Group Account Director: Olivia Legere
Account Director: Megan Gokey
Account Manager: Ashton Atlas
Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Aaron Stoller
DOP: Bryan Newman
Executive Producer: Holly Vega
Producer: Mala Vasan
Editorial: Mackenzie Cutler
Editor: Erik Laroi
Assistant Editor: Brendan Hogan
Executive Producer: Sasha Hirschfeld
Postproduction: The Mission
Executive Producer: Mike Pardee
Producer: Ryan Meredith
Sound Design: The Ski Team
Sound Sound: Lounge
Mixer: Chris Afzal
Jul
01
ECD Matt Ian Leaving TBWA for Droga5
Posted in: UncategorizedMatt Ian, a longtime creative department fixture who spent the last two years as ECD at TBWAChiatDay New York, will leave that agency this month to become group creative director at Droga5.
Sources told us about the move before the ink had even dried on Ian’s contract, and today his new employer confirmed the story as he prepares to end his tenure with the TBWA organization.
Almost exactly two years ago, Ian left Deutsch LA for TBWA in order to replace Matt Figliulo; the latter had just made the break in order to launch his own agency, which later won and lost Sprint. While at Deutsch, Ian served as ECD on the Volkswagen account but did not work on that one campaign. You know the one.
Prior to his 2011 hire by then-Deutsch CCO Mark Hunter, Ian led creative on the Microsoft Windows account at Crispin, Porter + Bogusky. During his previous nine-year stint with BBH in the Big Apple, he helped launch AXE in the states while writing and directing ads for Johnnie Walker and Levi’s, among others. Prior agency roles include stints writing copy at Ogilvy & Mather and, yes, TBWA New York under then-chief David Page (currently of BouchezPage).
When Rob Schwartz was promoted to CEO of TBWA New York in January, he said that Matt Ian would retain his ECD position–but Ian frames the new gig as the product of a natural and even inevitable progression, writing:
“I’ve always admired Droga5’s strong creative pedigree and diversity of client experience. Overall, the agency has produced some of the most influential work in the business, and if you can’t beat em, join ‘em.”
The new hire, of course, follows the agency’s big week at Cannes, at which it won Independent Agency of the Year. From Chief Creative Officer Ted Royer:
“Over the past year, Droga5 has experienced exponential growth and a record year on the awards front. We are always looking to add great talent to the team to continue this momentum. We are are thrilled to welcome Matt to the agency and look forward to seeing him in action.”
And here we thought no one in the ad industry obsessed over awards.
Jun
29
Droga5 Celebrates ‘4 de Julio’ for Honey Maid
Posted in: UncategorizedDroga5 launched a new Independence Day iteration of its “This Is Wholesome” campaign for Mondelez brand Honey Maid, entitled “4 de Julio,” which follows the agency’s September effort celebrating blended families.
The new spot celebrates the Domincan Gomez family, and explores how father Arisandy, an environmental engineer, and mother, Cindy, a realtor, teach their children, and Cindy’s mother, Alesandrina about American pride and celebrate the Fourth of July. “4 de Julio” begins with Arisandy describing some of the difficulties he faced when he first immigrated to America and became a citizen, simultaneously feeling invisible and discriminated against. He and his wife go on to describe the values they pass on to their children, coupled with footage of the family’s celebration of the holiday, complete with s’mores. The spot’s message, as delivered by Cindy is that the family is made up of “normal human beings, going through struggles just like everyone else,” every bit as American as any other family. It’s a message that should almost go without saying, but in a nation where certain conservative politicians still trade in racism and xenophobia, a very necessary one.
“Honey Maid has a history of celebrating all families and the wholesome moments that make them who they are,” said Gary Osifchin, portfolio lead, biscuits, Mondel?z International. “The Gomezes embody the resonant strength behind America’s blended and diverse culture. It is an honor to highlight their family’s experiences and traditions this Fourth of July.”
Jun
22
Droga5 Curses at ‘Misconceptions’ for Newcastle
Posted in: UncategorizedDroga5 takes the irreverent self-mocking schtick it developed with “If We Made It” for Newcastle to its logical conclusion in its latest ad kicking off the brand’s summer campaign, which hopefully signifies a change in direction from the agency in the future.
The foul-mouthed spot, developed from the insight that many avoid Newcastle Brown Ale fearing it is heavy or harsh only to laugh at the misconception later, features an array of converted naysayers. Each of these converts gives their reasons for avoiding Newcastle, such as “I used to think Newcastle was bitter” or “I thought Newcastle would taste heavy” before declaring themselves, “a dumb idiot,” “a big fucking idiot” or “a couple of ignorant assclowns” (with the expletives bleeped out, of course). The approach is jarring enough, but then Droga5 ends the spot with the line, “Brought to you by the dumb fucks that made this commercial,” preceded by the campaign’s tagline, “It’s Better Than You Thought.”
“We’ve found that because of Newcastle’s full, brown color, people sometimes think that it’s a heavy beer,” said Priscilla Flores Dohnert, brand director for Newcastle Brown Ale. “But they couldn’t be more wrong! Yes, it is full-bodied, but it’s also very smooth and refreshing. We made a video that helps bring that to life in a completely unsubtle, fun, Newcastle sort of way.”
The summer campaign will also include a revival of the brand’s celebration of “Independence Eve” and will be supported by instant redeemable coupons and mail-in rebates encouraging consumers to swap out their typical summer brew for a Newcastle Brown Ale.
Jun
22
Droga5 and Strongbow Just ‘Fired’ Sir Patrick Stewart
Posted in: UncategorizedWhen we first learned that Droga5 would be turning to the former Captain Picard as a spokesperson for (mildly) alcoholic cider brand Strongbow, we knew they would do things a little…differently.
The press release last October, for example, described the client’s debut ad as its “first and bestest TV spot.” Creative Directors John McKelvey and Hannes Ciatti even went so far as to say, respectively, “We went better than best,” and “That’s the bestest.”
Here’s the ad in question:
As with Droga’s Newcastle campaigns, the clear goal here was to play on the many, many cliches populating your average alcohol ad.
The next spot in the series, released this March, mocked two other mainstays of alcohol marketing: the meaningless award and the irrelevant celebrity spokesperson.
Our main takeaway was that Sir Patrick Stewart almost certainly does NOT drink hard apple cider (though he did claim to have waited until the age of 72 to enjoy his first-ever slice of pizza).
In Strongbow’s latest ad, released yesterday, the brand seems to have realized that–unlike the Starship Enterprise–it never really needed Captain Picard anyway. It didn’t even need Commander Riker:
Quick and to the point.
Since the newest ad in the campaign doesn’t have a press release, we’re not sure whether Picard has truly been given the old heave-ho or whether he will return for future Strongbow ads.
Even if he really did get fired, we know that he will find many productive things to do in his adopted neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn. Working to ban strollers, however, is not one of those things.
Jun
22
BSSP Opts Out of Priceline Review
Posted in: UncategorizedAt the beginning of the month, Priceline announced it was in the early stages of a creative review and that incumbent agency Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, who have held the account since 2006, were participating. Now it appears the incumbent agency has opted out of the review.
“We feel that focusing on current clients, new clients and our new business pipeline is a better use of resources,” BSSP CEO Greg Stern told Adweek. “BSSP and Priceline have had a long, successful relationship—far longer than the average client-agency tenure. We wish them nothing but success in the future.”
The agency’s decision to opt out immediately preceded Priceline’s naming of seven semifinalists in the review, identified by Priceline chief marketing officer Brett Keller as Grey, Droga5, Arnold, BBDO, Leo Burnett, Venables Bell & Partners and The Martin Agency. “They’ve got a lot of great talent there,” he told Adweek, referring to Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners. “We would have loved to have seen them participate, but we completely respect and understand their decision.”
Priceline, which Kantar Media estimates spends $40 million on media annually, will visit the seven semifinalists to select finalists in the review next month. The review, which is being managed by Ark Advisors, is expected to conclude by the end of the summer.
Jun
15
Droga5, Vita Coco Too Cool to Make a Real Ad
Posted in: UncategorizedLast year, coconut water maker Vita Coco decided that print ads starring Rihanna and her beachfront lifestyle weren’t quite enough to promote its key product. The brand is growing even faster than its super-hot category and currently owns 60 percent of the coconut-based market despite PepsiCo’s investment in competitors Zico and O.N.E.
Earlier this year, the company also ensured its status as a classic agency world stock character: the unreliable client. Amid plans to expand internationally, Vita Coco signed Saatchi & Saatchi as its creative AOR in September 2014. At the time, Coco’s communications director hyped this move as “the first time we’ve worked with a truly global agency,” but the relationship didn’t work out; when Saatchi’s six-month contract expired, the company announced that it would not adhere to the AOR model, choosing instead to work with multiple “agency partners” depending on its needs.
Right after that announcement, Vita Coco signed Droga5 Europe to work on “creating a UK and European campaign for the brand.”
The agency’s debut work for the client also marks the latter’s first-ever TV campaign–and while the Droga Europe win focused on UK and Europe-based campaigns, the new ad will premiere tonight on prime-time American TV.
As with so much of Droga5’s work, this ad promotes the client’s product by mocking current trends in marketing. The agency’s ire focuses on campaigns positioning various beverages as dietary/weight loss aids and effectively argues that Vita Coco doesn’t need to make such claims because its product is so simple: water from a coconut. How unhealthy could that be?
In reaching this point, Droga pokes fun at crash diets and food marketing buzzwords of the day (“super foods,” anyone?) while implying that consumers can avoid the whole mess of false claims entirely by simply sticking with RiRi’s favorite non-alcoholic beverage.
Jane Prior, EVP of global brand strategy and development, writes:
“We are excited to unveil our first ever US TV commercial. As a category leader, Vita Coco is committed to elevating the coconut water category and we’re looking forward to reaching millions of new consumers with this campaign.”
The ad will air around the world; no word on follow-ups at the moment.
Client: Vita Coco
Campaign: Stupidly Simple
Title: Get More Healthy
Launch Date: 15th June 2015
Agency: Droga5 Europe
Executive Creative Director: Nik Studzinski
Copywriter: Tom Corcoran
Art Director: Tom Bender
Producer: Rachel Amess
Head of Brand Strategy: Toto Ellis
Brand Strategist: Iona Ratcliffe
Managing Director: Nick Simons
Account Management: Yuki Yamakado
Client Vita Coco
EVP Global Brand Strategy and Development: Jane Prior
Production Company: Blink Ink
Director: Chris Bristow
Producer: Matt Marsh
Editorial: Blink Ink
Editor c/o Blink Ink
Animator c/o Blink Ink
Post Production: Blink Ink (animation/compositing)
Jun
11
Droga5 NY, Dixie Ask Viewers to go ‘#DarkForDinner’
Posted in: UncategorizedDroga5 New York launched a new summer campaign for Dixie entitled “#DarkForDinner” which calls on viewers to put away all devices to more fully engage with friends and family.
Inspiration for the campaign came from a survey commissioned by Dixie which found that the average consumer eats dinner without distractions only twice a month, with 20 percent of participants not doing so at all. The brand sees its ability to offer a cleanup-free dinner as eliminating one of these distractions, a point which tellingly shifts attention away from the brand’s environmental impact.
The spot at the center of the campaign shows groups of friends and family engaging in (seemingly) candid conversations, laughing and generally having a good time. An opening shot of cell phones sitting on a table establishes that their absence is to thank for the festive mood. In many of the scenarios friends and family learn new things about each other, and the spot ends by asking viewers, “What will you learn when you go dark for dinner?” adding “On Sunday, turn off your phones and find out.” An accompanying digital component instructs consumers to use the #DarkForDinner hashtag to let people know they’ll be offline, although we imagine there may be one or two oblivious individuals who miss the point and use the hashtag to accompany a picture of their participation. Droga5 does a good job of presenting the initiative without seeming like a curmudgeonly, technophobic grandparent, but less convincingly ties the initiative to the brand. The broadcast spot (a 30-second version of the extended version above) will debut June 14, followed by six videos released over the next six weeks.
“We used real families and groups of friends” for the campaign, Droga5 creative director Karen Land Short told Adweek. “We recorded what happened when they went dark. That was a bit of an unknown at the time—we didn’t know if our thesis [that people connect more without the distraction of technology] was going to be right. But it was kind of everything we hoped for. There were jokes and real tears and secrets came out.”
Credits:
Dixie: #DarkForDinner
Client: Dixie
Campaign
Launch Date: 6/10/15
Agency: Droga5 NY
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Creative Director: Karen Land Short
Creative Director: Casey Rand
Copywriter: Dan Brill
Art Director: Spencer Hansen
Design Director: Rich Greco
Designer: Kathryn Brylinsky
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale
Head of Broadcast Production: Ben Davies
Broadcast Producer: Bill Berg
Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer
Group Strategy Director: Colm Murphy
Senior Strategist: Nick Maschmeyer
Head of Communications Strategy: Colleen Leddy
Communications Strategist: Stuart Augustine
Head of Data Strategy: Melissa Zimyeski
Senior Data Strategist: Lily Ng
Data Strategist: Annie Corbett
General Manager/Head of Account: Susie Nam
Management
Group Account Director: Brett Edgar
Account Director: Michael Arani
Account Manager: Alexa Beck
Project Manager: Francess Jaen
Client: Dixie
CMO: Douwe Bergsma
VP / General Manager of Tableware: Erik Sjogren
Senior Brand Director: Andrew Noble
Senior Marketing Director, Brand Center: Shari Neumann
Senior Associate Brand Manager: Nelie Zanca
Production Company: Chelsea Pictures
Director: Henry Mason
DOP: Benn Martenson
Partner / Executive Producer: Allison Amon
Producer: Howard Woffinden
Editorial: Final Cut NY
Editor: Patrick Colman
Assistant Editor: Spencer Campbell
Executive Producer: Lauren Bleiweiss
Head of Production: Viet-An Nguyen
Post Production: Significant Others
Producer: Alek Rost
Flame Artist: Dirk Greene
Sound: Significant Others
Mixer: T. Terressa Tate
#DarkforDinner: Interactive Credits List
Client: Dixie
Campaign: #DarkForDinner
Title: #DarkForDinner
URL: darkfordinner.com
Launch Date: 6/4/15
Agency: Droga5 NY
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Copywriter: Dan Brill
Art Director: Spencer Hansen
Design Director: Rich Greco
Designer: Kathryn Brylinsky
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale
Senior Interactive Producer: Tasha Cronin
Developer: Jason Bevans
UX Director: Daniel Perlin
UX Designer: Hiye Shin
Associate Director of Technology: Keath Chan
Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer
Senior Print Producer: Alyssa Dolman
Group Account Director: Brett Edgar
Account Director: Mike Arani
Account Manager: Alexa Beck
Project Manager: Francess Jaen
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