Hasta La Creative!

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.

Tonight, Y&R is launching a new multimedia campaign for Dell called “Beginnings” that “celebrates the reawakening of the entrepreneurial spirit upon which the company was founded.” The campaign, created in conjunction with WPP sibling VML along with Dell, will include broadcast, digital, OOH and print work and is the first major effort for the brand since it officially went private a couple of months ago.

“Beginnings” is an homage to the “modest starts of some of Dell’s most notable corporate customers,” including Whole Foods, Under Armour, Skype, TripAdvisor, and Shutterfly. The campaign kicks off tonight with a TV spot celebrating the dreamers who recognize that innovation starts with new ideas. Set to a cover of “This Magic Moment” by The Felice Brothers, the ad goes through the humble beginnings of these and other successful corporate customers before likening them to Dell’s own humble beginnings, in a dorm room in 1984. The spot’s unfettered optimism seems appropriate for the start of a new year, and it only makes sense for the company to look back at its history, given its recent leveraged buyout.

The full 60 second ad will be followed by both the full version and a 30 second abridged version airing across broadcast and cable networks for the next several weeks, including during the 2014 Winter Olympics in February.

The television campaign will be accompanied by “high-impact digital and OOH billboards…in Times Square, with the TV spot and banners viewable on Taxi TV in cabs throughout the city.” There will also be a “mix of traditional and digital billboards” at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Austin, Texas. Credits after the jump. continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.