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.”

Football Fans Make Questionable ‘Choices’ in Innocean’s NFL-Fueled Effort for Hyundai

Innocean USA launched a new football-themed campaign for Hyundai, with NFL fans making some seriously questionable decisions tied to their love of the sport.

In “Choices,” a child informs his dad from the backseat that his baby brother vomited on himself. So the dad pulls over his Hyundai Santa Fe and looks in the trunk to discover the only thing he has to wipe it up is his prized Pittsburgh Steelers towel. He finds a creative, if not entirely responsible, solution.

In “Fishing Trip,” a Miami Dolphins fan’s wife tells him, “Don’t forget, we’re taking my parents out on the boat this Sunday.” Dismayed, he drives his Hyundai Elantra down to the docks and takes drastic measures, playfully set to the tune of Chirstoper Cross’ 1980 hit “Sailing.”

While the spots manage to show off a couple of each vehicle’s features, such as the Santa Fe’s Sirius XM recording feature, they suffer from their reliance on the  bumbling dad/husband stereotype. Sure, the men in the spots are motivated by their love of NFL football but their actions (come on dad, no spit rag in the car?) come across as clueless and in the case of “Fishing Trip,” completely selfish. The agency did a better job of crafting a spot celebrating intense fandom in its recent “Field Goal” spot, which featured a dad exiting his house to celebrate a game-winning field goal in his car so as not to wake his sleeping baby. Still, it would be nice to see a female fan take center stage in at least one spot, especially considering women make up about 45 percent of NFL fans.

Credits:
Client: Hyundai
Chief Marketing Officer: Dean Evans
Director, Brand Marketing Communications: Paul Imhoff
Senior Group Manager, Brand Marketing & Advertising: Monique Kumpis
Agency: Innocean USA
CCO: Eric Springer
Group Creative Director: Barney Goldberg
Associate Creative Director, Art: Jose Eslinger
Associate Creative Director, Copy: Carissa Levine
VP, Group Account Director: Marisstella Marinkovic
Account Director: Bryan DiBiagio
Account Supervisor: Jene Crandall
Account Executive: Alison O’Neill
Director of Product Information: Brian Bittker
Product Information Specialist: Lawrence Chow
Senior VP, Planning and Research: Frank Striefler
VP, Planning Director: Kathleen Kindle
VP, Media Planning: Ben Gogley
Media Director: James Zayti
VP, Director of Integrated Production: Victoria Guenier
EP/ Content Production: Nicolette Spencer
Content Producer: Melissa Moore
Business Affairs Director: Ann Davis
Assoc. Business Affairs Director: Lisa Nichols
Broadcast Traffic Supervisor: Theresa Artaserse
Broadcast Traffic Manager: Valerie Neibel
Project Management Supervisor: Darin Schnitzer
Production Company: O-Positive
Director: David Shane
DP: Ottar Gunnerson
Executive Producer: Ralph Laucella
Producer: Ken Licita
Product Manager: Sameet Patadia

Hyundai Drivers Do the Most Asinine Things for Football in Brand's New NFL Ads

Hyundai drivers are weird, weird people who do weird, weird things because of football, according to Innocean USA’s amusing new ads for the NFL sponsor.

In “Choices,” a Pittsburgh Steelers fan has to clean up baby mess in his Hyundai Santa Fe. But what if he misses a crucial play while deciding whether or not to wipe up the vomit with his Terrible Towel? Thanks to his car’s 8-inch Touch Screen with Sirius XM recording feature, he won’t miss anything. As for the vomit, well, you can see for yourself.

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ECD Greg Braun Out at INNOCEAN

Cycling Canada Wants You to ‘Hop On’

Innocean Worldwide Canada teamed up with Sons and Daughters director Mark Zibert, VFX house Alter Ego and Saints Editorial to create the 60-second spot “Hop On” for cycling Canada.

“Hop On” shows a series of bikes in various scenarios, without riders. As they zoom around tracks, down country roads, or over mountainsides, the pace and music crescendo. More bikes join the caravan as the spot concludes, encouraging riders to “hop on” for a bicycling adventure of their own. It’s a simple idea, executed well, and it makes for an visually interesting way to promote cycling in Canada. The spot is part of a larger campaign that “aims to position the organization as the heart of cycling in Canada.” It’s supported by print and social media elements, as well as a campaign microsite. Alter Ego also provided a making of video for the spot (featured below), if you’re curious how they pulled it off.

Credits:

Client: Cycling Canada
Agency: Innocean Worldwide Canada

Production Company: Sons and Daughters
Director, Director of Photography: Mark Zibert
Executive Producer: Dan Ford
Producer: Neil Bartley

Editing: Saints Editorial
Editor: Mark Paiva
Assistant Editor: Red Barbaza
Executive Producers: Michelle Rich, Stephanie Hickman

Postproduction, Design, Visual Effects: Alter Ego
Visual Effects Supervisor: Andres Kirejew
Visual Effects: Darren Achim, Steve McGregor, Andrew Thiessen
Computer Graphics Lead: Sebastian Bilbao
Animation: Eileen Peng, Edward Deng, Rob Fisher, Brandon Fernback
Producer: Caitlin Schooley
Executive Producers: Cheyenne Bloomfield, Greg Edgar
Color Grading: Alter Ego
Colorists: Wade Odlum, Eric Whipp, Clinton Homuth

Music, Sound: RMW Music
Producer, Music Composer: Mark Rajakovi?
Sound Design: Kyle Gudmundson
Associate Producer: Kristina Loschiavo
Executive Producer: Jeff Cohen
Media Services: Sebastian Biega, Chris Masson

Bikes Ride Themselves in This Heart-Pounding Ad for Cycling in Canada

Canada is a great country for cycling, but the bikes aren’t going to ride themselves. Well, actually they do in this inventing and intense spot for Cycling Canada from ad agency Innocean, Sons and Daughters director Mark Zibert and effects house Alter Ego.

The goal is to inspire Canadians to get active. The tagline is, “Hop on.”

Check out the spot and Alter Ego’s behind-the-scenes clip below.

CREDITS
Client: Cycling Canada
Agency: Innocean Worldwide Canada

Production Company: Sons and Daughters
Director/DOP: Mark Zibert
Executive Producer: Dan Ford
Producer: Neil Bartley

Editorial: Saints Editorial
Editor: Mark Paiva
Assistant Editor: Red Barbaza
Executive Producer: Michelle Rich and Stephanie Hickman

Postproduction, Design, Visual Effects: Alter Ego
VFX Supervisor: Andres Kirejew
VFX: Darren Achim, Steve McGregor, Andrew Thiessen
CG Lead: Sebastian Bilbao
Animation: Eileen Peng, Edward Deng, Rob Fisher, Brandon Fernback
Producer: Caitlin Schooley
Executive Producers: Cheyenne Bloomfield and Greg Edgar
Color Grading: Alter Ego
Colorists: Wade Odlum, Eric Whipp, Clinton Homuth

Music and Sound: RMW Music
Producer/Music Composer: Mark Rajakovi?
Sound Design: Kyle Gudmundson
Associate Producer: Kristina Loschiavo
Executive Producer: Jeff Cohen
Media Services: Sebastian Biega and Chris Masson



Innocean, La Red Celebrate Perfectionism for Kia Sorrento

Innocean Worldwide Europe teamed up with digital agency La Red to launch a campaign for the Kia Sorrento celebrating the vehicle as “Made for perfectionists. Perfect for everyone.”

The campaign features four ads celebrating perfectionists from different backgrounds: a chef, an artist, a fashion designer and a basketball coach. Each spot highlights one of the professional’s exacting standards, drawing parallels to the high quality standards of the Kia Sorrento. Innocean worked on the story development, strategic planning and broadcast execution, while La Red developed the overall and digital execution concepts, and the web films.

“Kia prides itself with its ability to surprise and for this particular campaign we wanted to channel this spirit to present a new, more sophisticated side of the brand,” said Andreas Cordt, client service director for Innocean Worldwide Europe, in a statement. “Through our close collaboration with La Red, we decided to focus on ‘the perfectionists’ who wouldn’t settle for anything less than the best.”

Innocean Tells Story of ‘Bad Neighbour’ for Hyundai

Innocean Australia launches a new campaign for the Hyundai Sonata with a 60-second spot entitled “Bad Neighbour.”

“Bad Neighbour” opens on a man with a broken leg waiting for his neighbour to drive him to work. The neighbour shows up and seems immediately taken with the man’s new Sonata. Over the course of the ad, we see the pair on their daily routine as the neighbour grows more and more fond of the car, which becomes a problem when the car’s rightful owner is ready to get behind the wheel again.

This type of approach is really dependent on pacing and director Nick Ball handles that well, giving the feeling of time passing in such a way that the spot’s conclusion doesn’t feel rushed. Rather than play the ending as a surprise, it feels more like a foregone conclusion, arrived at gradually over the course of the 60 seconds, which helps make the conclusion not feel as cheap as it could have. The campaign will also include a spot tied to Hyundai’s sponsorship of the ICC Cricket World Cup, which begins February 14th, and will be supported by a digital component.

Credits:

Client – Hyundai Motor Company Australia

Managing Director, Oliver Mann

Senior Manager Marketing, Andrew Knox

Brand Communications Manager: Kate Fabian

Marketing Coordinator: Luke Hartin

Agency – Innocean

Creative Director: Scott Lambert

Creative: Mike Lind

Agency Producer: Tania Templeton

Group Business Director: Tim Hiley

Business Director: John Larkin

Business Manager: Raoul Gundelach

Production Company: Finch

Director: Nick Ball

Executive Producer: Rob Galluzzo

Producer: Julianne Shelton

DOP: Ross Emery

Editor: Seth Lockwood – Method

Sound design: Song Zu

Music Composer: Jonathan Dreyfus

We Hear: Executive Producer Out at Innocean USA

While Innocean officially declines to comment on staffing changes, we’ve received a steady stream of tips this week regarding Executive Producer Jamil Bardowell.

Seems that Bardowell, who joined Innocean as VP, Director of Integrated Production in 2012, is no longer with the agency.

Bardowell has an extensive agency background: before joining Innocean, he worked at WPP’s The Garage Team Mazda; previous roles include production duties at Deutsch, Saatchi & Saatchi and The Rumor Mill.

His name appears on campaigns as recent as this week’s Hyundai FIFA spot; we’ll let you know if we learn more.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Hyundai faz piada dos discursos clichês em “The Walking Dead”

Ontem estreou a quarta temporada de “The Walking Dead” nos Estados Unidos – e na locadora do Paulo Coelho – e com ela a continuação da parceria da série com a Hyundai.

O aplicativo Chop Shop, que permite a criação de um carro à prova de zumbis virtual, ganhou um comercial veiculado no intervalo do episódio “30 Days Without an Accident”.

O filme brinca com os discursos clichês de situações catastróficas – como um apocalipse zumbi – com o protagonista dizendo: “tudo o que você precisa para sobreviver é coragem, força de vontade, bláblablá”. Mas é fácil pra que tem um máquina de matar contra aquele que tem apenas um graveto (e pouca coragem, certamente).

Criação da agência Innocean.

Brainstorm9Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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Kia’s Man and Woman of Now: Two of the Most Irritating Ad Characters Ever

Australian yuppie hipsters … crikey, who better to pitch cars in Kia commercials? The answer appears to be anyone, judging by the pervasive negative reactions to the automaker's "Man of Now"/"Woman of Now" spots from ad agency Innocean. The spots popped up Down Under in January and were panned by pundits at the time, but they're just now gaining global traction (and fresh abuse) following recent airings during Wimbledon coverage on Australia's Channel 7. The Guardian, among others, asks if these might be the most irritating ads ever made, and warns viewers, "Once you've seen the spots, you can't unsee them, so be careful what you click for."

Each ad follows its subject through bustling city streets as the Man and Woman hurry to reach their Kias, extolling their own "virtues" in rapid-fire, brand-building beat poetry from hell. The "Man of Now" informs us: "I push the envelope, push a button, push a pram … push 'em real good. I wear the pants, I wear aftershave, I wear the blame … and I wear it well." Wow, I wonder how many roommates he goes through in a year. The "Woman of Now" confides: "I'm texting, typing, LOL-ing, OMG-ing, I'm digitally in touch, but not retouched. I'm a storytelling, canteen-helping, fundraising, muffin-making, party-going yoga lover." Hey, aren't we all these days?

This stuff's easy to criticize as smug nonsense. Yet, I'm not in the hater camp. Though it's largely unintentional (I think), the commercials actually do a fine job of both reflecting and skewering cultural modernism and revealing the shallow stereotypes that some self-styled "men and of women of now" have become. Viewed thusly, these ads are a hoot—irritating, yes, but also strangely compelling as warped signposts of the times we live in. (There's an ironic bit in both spots where the Man and Woman briefly bump into each other, but they're too self-absorbed to break their stride, too focused on their personal manifestos to really see the world around them.)

Kia has been a good sport, with a rep explaining that the campaign mirrors "the modern lifestyle—it's a metaphor," and adding, "Some people don't get it. You can't please everybody." The automaker even embraced a parody from Priceless Productions, which features a beefy rugby hooligan type who brags, "I spent $20 on my mum for Christmas. My haircut cost $80. I'm international, I'm interconnected, I'm interrupting people all the time because everything I say is f—ing hilarious." Good on ya! Now, go drop-kick a giant hamster, mate! ("We think it's great," Kia said of the spoof.)

In fact, the real spots play like parodies, and while that presumably isn't what Kia intended, they're generating commentary and heightened awareness without being offensive—and they're poised to go viral. That surely beats driving into instant obscurity, which is the road most car commercials take, after all.

    

Hyundai Remixes Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds’ for New Ad

Hyundai is getting a lot of coverage for putting Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" in an ad for its Assurance Connected Care in-car customer-service program, largely because the late reggae icon's music is so infrequently licensed for ads. The automaker is also sponsoring a remixed version (done by Bob's son Stephen Marley and DJ/producer Jason Bentley) of Marley's Legend album, which features the song, and a three-minute documentary about the remix project. Despite all the fuss, what strikes me most about the spot, from ad agency Innocean, is how bland it is. It's not bad per se, but the music takes a back seat, as it were, to an informative but uninspired voiceover ("What if your car could help schedule its own service? Call for help with your exact location if you ever ran into trouble out there?") and sight gags involving signs that read "No worries" and "It's all good." The only special element is the song, and it's basically background music, like a tune playing on the car's radio. Any upbeat track would have been equally effective. This is Bob Friggin' Marley! Lively up yourself! Why not seed something more, you know, high concept?

    

Yet Another Car Ad Depicts Failed Suicide to Promote Clean Emissions

A disproportionate number of car ads—usually unapproved, never officially released, sometimes ultimately revealed as hoaxes—have focused on suicide. Inhaling car-exhaust fumes has been the most popular method of attempted demise in these spots, with such efforts failing because the vehicles involved are low-emission models. That's the joke. I use the term loosely. Hyundai joins the dead pool with this apparently European commercial for its iX35 "100 percent water-emissions" model. The clip shows a middle-aged guy trying unsuccessfully to off himself in his garage. It's getting popular online. Neither Hyundai nor ad agency Innocean responded to queries. The creative approach is similar to earlier spots for other nameplates, notably Citroen and Audi. The death-wish commercials featuring those cars are superior, with Citroen's use of stylish dark humor really bringing the suicide theme to life. As for Hyundai, well, personally I wouldn't be caught dead in one.