Commonwealth//McCann Names Greg Braun of Innocean as Deputy Global Chief Creative Officer

Commonwealth//McCann named Greg Braun as deputy global chief creative officer. In the position, Braun will be responsible for leading the agency’s global Chevrolet account, working out of its Detroit headquarters. 

Braun’s arrival follows the departure of global executive creative director Tim Teergarden in May and Rick Dennis, who served in the same role, the previous August. It also follows the agency picking up more GM work in February.

“Adding Greg to our team will strengthen our worldwide creative capabilities,” Commonwealth//McCann creative chairman Linus Karlsson said in a statement. “His body of work speaks for itself, and as we continue to work on Chevrolet’s dynamic global business, his vision will no doubt help our teams to invent and create great ideas for Chevy around the world.”

Braun joins the agency from Innocean in California, where he worked on the national Hyundai brand as executive creative director for the past four years. Before joining Innocean he spent two years as president, executive creative director at Team Detroit, working with clients including Sports Authority, Shell, NASCAR, Carhartt and The Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Earlier in his career, he spent two years as EVP/ECD at Y&R Detroit (where he worked on Lincoln and helped launch the MKS and MKT models), a year as SVP/GCD at what was then BBDO Chicago and six years in Los Angeles with Saatchi & Saatchi, where he worked on Toyota.

He left Innocean just over one year ago following the departure of the unit’s CEO; Deutsch veteran Eric Springer became the agency’s first U.S. chief creative officer in January.

“It is vital that we have the absolute top talent in place as we continue our important work of helping Chevrolet share its global brand story,” said Bill Kolb, global president, diversified agencies, McCann Worldgroup. “I’m confident Greg’s unique creative vision will not only help us to further elevate our creative product, but his clear passion for the craft will ensure we are aggressively pursuing diversified creative solutions that will achieve our client’s brand goals.”

ECD Greg Braun Out at INNOCEAN

Innocean Debuts New Work for NRG

NRG recently announced that the energy company has chosen Innocean as its full-service advertising partner, and the agency debuted its first campaign for the brand in time for the opening of the NFL season.

Its 30-second broadcast spot imagines an old-time football team — complete with leather helmets — preparing to take on the (modern day) Philadelphia Eagles. “Let’s go out there and give ‘em heck,” says the team’s captain, adding “We’re going to go out there and really give them the business.” When the team, emerges from the locker room and sees their competitors, however, they quickly turn and run. “The old game just can’t compete,” says the voiceover, “especially when it comes to energy. Solar power is here.”

It’s not a bad analogy for old forms of energy, many of which have been around since the leather helmet days, in comparison with clean solar energy. The basic concept and approach also seem pretty adaptable to future applications, so more in this same vein from Innocean in the future.

“NRG chose Innocean because they understood that we aren’t bound by convention,” said Brad Fogel, chief operating officer, Innocean USA. “We are young and agile enough to break rules and create a spot-on integrated brand campaign that shows consumers, you actually have a choice in who you want to supply the energy to power up your day-to-day lives. And if you have that choice, why don’t you choose a company that believes in doing the right thing instead of the same thing?”

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Innocean Kicks Off ‘Because Futbol’ for Hyundai

With the 2014 World Cup in Brazil now just over a week away, Innocean has kicked off Hyundai’s World Cup campaign, entitled “Because Futbol.”

In the campaign, two new in-game 30-second spots featuring the redesigned 2015 Hyundai Sonata will accompany digital, social, CRM, and retail executions. The spots will air on ESPN and Univision “as part of Hyundai’s exclusive whistle-to-whistle automotive advertising sponsorship of the World Cup series broadcasts on the networks.” The creative theme behind both “Avoidance” and “Boom” is fan passion, with Innocean likening fans loyalty to their team to Hyundai’s number one ranking in customer loyalty. In “Avoidance” a passionate fan leaves the office having recorded the day’s match. Seeking to keep himself in the dark on the game’s outcome, he goes through all sorts of trouble to avoid interacting with those who would spoil the surprise. “Boom” looks at a completely different aspect of fan passion. The campaign also includes a “#BecauseFutbol” site, built on the Tumblr platform, which “inspires and engages fans with unique content and tools developed by dozens of leading Tumblr artists and content creators.” Tumblr artist content will also be featured on the Times Square Billboard in New York during the days leading up to the World Cup.

“Soccer fans are more than just supporters of the game – they are die hard, loyal fanatics for their teams and countries,” said Steve Shannon, vice president, marketing, Hyundai Motor America. “As the industry leader in customer loyalty, Hyundai knows a thing or two about passion. This year’s World Cup campaign shows what being a ‘true’ fan really means; and how for 30 days people come together, lives change, emotions rise and unexpected moments happen.”

Stay tuned for credits and “Boom” after the jump. continued…

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Your Undead Post, Part II: Hyundai Builds Zombie-Killing Machine in ‘Chop Shop’

“If you want to survive, listen up.”

So begins Innocean’s new spot “Speech” for Hyundai (Two undead posts in a day? What the hell, it’s October). The speaker of those lines credits his ability to live off the land and fight for his survival, but an onlooker points to his Hyundai zombie-killing vehicle. Although the spot’s attempt at humor falls mostly flat, it was  perfectly timed, debuting last night during the premiere of AMC’s The Walking Dead. The 30 second spot was also show during Talking Dead last night, while “The Walking Dead Chop Shop” — the site that lets users build their own Zombie Survival Machine — launched during San Diego’s Comic-Con in July. Innocean’s television spot will be accompanied by three digital spots in all — “Speech,” “Cooler” and “Difference — airing on Hyundai’s social media channels.

The spot functions not just as a stand-alone advertisement, but as a way to drive viewers to the “The Walking Dead Chop Shop” site, which is a great tie-in. Actually, I’m kind of not sure if the spot is a tie-in for the site, or the site is a tie-in for the spot. I’m going with the former, since the site existed first. At any rate, we covered “The Walking Dead Chop Shop” back in July, but for the link-averse, here’s a short review: you can use any of three Hyundai vehicles as your base-vehicle and then pimp them out with all kinds of accessories, like razor wire, a “horde plow” and (of course) flame throwers and cattle guns. This isn’t exactly my sort of thing, but it should be a lot of fun for the car/weapon happy and zombie-obsessed. Credits after the jump.

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Survive the Zombie Apocalypse with Hyundai’s ‘Walking Dead Chop Shop’

When zombies invade, some amass canned foods and hide in their cellars. Others create the ultimate zombie slaying machine and blast through the rubble to save mankind. For the latter breed, Hyundai and its agency partner-in-crime Innocean have invented the ultimate piece of fantasy fodder: “The Walking Dead Chop Shop.” Through the Chop Shop app, enthusiasts can use three different Hyundai cars as their base, then add vehicular accessories like a “horde plow” or two varieties of razor wire.

Host Veronica Belmont introduces the app and interviews people about their ideal car in “Conversations About a Zombie Survival Machine.” People (okay, men) seem to be filled with enthusiasm when they consider the question: Cattle Gun or Flamethrower?

In-app, they don’t have to make a choice, and aspiring zombie fighters can create as many machines as they want. One winning design will be transformed into the real thing. This does nothing for me, but judging by the 14,000 entries and level of appreciation in the videos, The Walking Dead fans will give this campaign legs.

Credits after the jump

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