Hasta La Creative!

Jim Elliott, who joined Arnold Worldwide as global CCO in January after a stint at Y&R, has made his first new hires to boost the agency’s creative department this month.

Dylan Bernd will be SVP, group creative director in Boston and Chris Chao will be SVP, creative/design director in New York, effective immediately (they’ve already started, in fact).

Bernd joins Arnold from Mullen, where he also worked as GCD and drove creative on the JetBlue, truTV, and US Cellular accounts (here’s JetBlue’s recent “Fly It Forward” campaign). Prior to joining Mullen, he spent more than a year at McCann’s New York offices leading the MasterCard work.

He also freelanced at CP+B and David&Goliath, where he worked on the Kia Super Bowl spot (making of clip here). After beginning his career as an art director at Cole & Weber and Mother New York, he spent three and a half years as CD at BBH and helped create campaigns for Johnnie Walker, Ally Bank, and AXE.

Chao most recently spent seven years in the Saatchi organization in New York as an art director/SVP and ACD on Olay (which he “helped grow…from a $1B brand to a $2.5B powerhouse”) after working as ACD at Deutsch NY on Westin, Sheraton, and Tylenol.

In the new role, he will be a member of the KAO creative team working on John Frieda and Jergens.

Bernd will report to ECD Pete Johnson in Boston and Chao will report to EVP/ECD Kate Murphy in New York.

Bernd, who worked with Elliott at Cole & Weber, says:

“To have the opportunity to work with him again at Arnold is a dream, as he’s one of the nicer human spirits in advertising.”

From Chao, who spent several years as an art director at then-Arnold/McGrath in the late 90s/early 00s:

“I’m thrilled to be returning to Arnold at such an exciting time in the agency’s development…I look forward to working with Kate and her talented team to evolve the beautiful work they have done on John Frieda and Jergens.”

Y&R has a new campaign encouraging New Yorkers to become organ donors on behalf of the New York Organ Donor Network.

In an animated 90-second spot, parts of buildings begin to fall off as the city is portrayed in dire health. A group collects the pieces, however, and assembles them into a heart which powers the city back up, as the Statue of Liberty breathes a sigh of relief, followed by the tagline “Keep New York Alive” and a message urging New Yorkers to become organ donors. The campaign is needed because as a state New York is well behind the curve in terms of registered organ donors.

“Next-to-last place—we are ranked 49th in terms of the percentage of state residents registered as organ donors—is not good enough for New York,”Glen Jacobs, executive creative director at Y&R, told Adweek. “We need to move the needle, so organ donors can save lives. Period.”

For the spot, Y&R teamed up with Laurent Witz, the director behind Oscar-winning animated short Mr. Hublot. Witz and company employed lifelike 3D animation to deliver the message in a way that can grab people’s attention. While it’s not immediately apparent why the city is falling apart, the message is clear by the end of the 90 seconds, and the initial mystery serves to draw in the viewer.

Still, Jacobs says that Y&R’s work for the cause is far from over. “If this campaign helps raise awareness for the cause, that’s great,” he told Adweek. “But we have a long way to go. So, our aim is to keep finding bigger and better ways to get the message out.” (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Y&R New York has launched a new campaign for Partnership for a Healthier America’s Drink Up initiative. The Partnership for a Healthier America, by the way, is the nonprofit, which works with Honorary Chair Michelle Obama, devoted to solving the childhood obesity crisis.

The campaign calls on the power of historical figures Muhammad Ali, Audrey Hepburn and Albert Einstein to celebrate the importance of drinking water. In the above 30-second spot, for example, Ali delights at a press conference while the camera slowly focuses in on his glass of water, followed by the line, “No wonder he never lost a press conference,” and then the “Water. So talented yet so humble tagline.” Other spots in the campaign employ a similar effect. The campaign also includes online banner ads, digital billboards, and a social media component utilizing the hashtag #spreadthewater. Credits and Albert Einstein spot after the jump. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

What would it look like if J.K. Rowling was sleepy and directed a Dell commercial? That’s mostly a compliment for “Brothers,” a cutesy spot that doesn’t draw attention to itself, but could’ve done so a little more, considering it’s going to run during the Olympics. With whimsical storytelling and a few colorful scenes, there’s enough material to hold your attention for the time being.

The story focuses on two brothers, the Kavanaughs, who have a strong connection, even as children. They grow up to start a business together, Kavanaugh & Kavanaugh, not to be confused with Kavanagh & Kavanagh, a real law firm in Millville, NJ, I found on Google after watching. The Kavanaugh brothers, who have never been separated, know that they must for their business to succeed. So, one brother heads to Asia to globalize the company. How do they do this? With Dell products and with tablets that aren’t affected by blackouts. There’s a good story here, and I must give credit for the lack of overbearing product placement, but this spot could use a bit more verve. Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Since 1944, the United Negro College Fund has operated under the banner “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste.” Today, they’re updating to the too-long slogan “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste But a Wonderful Thing to Invest In.”

Regardless of its verbosity, Y&R New York and the Ad Council’s new campaign is a smart, relevant adaptation. Instead of accepting donations for their fund, UNCF is “taking the cause straight to where the money is,” and has created the first-ever stock for social change. Columbia University economist Clive Belfield created an algorithm to determine the value of a share, which investors can purchase via Better Futures’ website.

The Better Futures campaign puts concept into practice, and shows people that they’re not just giving money, they’re investing in future generations. Y&R’s pro bono work will include print and TV PSAs that “use real stories from real UNCF students to show how that investment will pay dividends for all our futures,” says Michael L. Lomax, president/CEO of UNCF, in a statement. If investors are inspired to get involved, the Better Futures stock could be Wall Street’s most meaningful.

Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.