Heard of Oculus Rift but still not sure what it is, exactly? Now you can become a little more familiar with the experience thanks to Wieden+Kennedy Portland.
But first, this September entry from W+K for client Chrysler is less an ad than a short “making of” documentary about the company’s interactive factory tour project:
New work after the jump.
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Wieden+Kennedy’s latest spot for Sony, titled “Script to Screen,” has already earned more than a million YouTube views since its debut this weekend. But it’s new to us, and it’s the opening of the Fall edition of the brand’s ongoing “Be Moved” campaign, which started during the Golden Globes in January and continued in February with a profile of the New Jersey man behind “the world’s largest model railroad.”
“Script to Screen” is a bit less…quirky than that offering:
In case you missed it, the point is that Sony doesn’t just make movies, music and games — they also make the tools.
Since this work is all about the products, we have two product-specific spots after the jump.
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The Dodge company, founded by the brothers Dodge as an auto parts supplier around the turn of the (last) century, first began making its own cars almost exactly 100 years ago.
To celebrate that centennial, W+K Portland has a new spot paying tribute to the Dodge brothers and the styles of their age and introducing the Dodge Challenger, a model designed to recall the spirit that led their business in its early years.
The spot, titled “Ballroom — They Dreamed Big”, adds a nostalgic sheen to the era of Fitzgerald’s Gatsby; the release calls it “an imaginary tale of John (Tyler Bryan) and Horace (Joe Coffery) Dodge celebrating their success with friends 100 years ago.”
Looks like quite the pre-Prohibition shindig.
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W+K Portland got Richard Sherman to star in its new spot “Never Finished” for Nike, following on the heels of Sherman’s recent appearances for Neff earlier this month and Campbell’s in August.
The new spot deals with the hype train surrounding Sherman, as he is constantly bombarded with media discussions of whether or not he is “the best.” “Never Finished” does a good job at finding humor in the situation, aided by a believably exasperated Sherman. The highlight is probably the made for TV biopic, starring Damon Wayans Jr.
Sherman’s roles in ads so far have mostly seen the Seahawks star not taking himself seriously and playing with his public persona. That definitely continues with “Never Finished,” but the schtick is much less over the top than some of his past roles, and the more nuanced characterization fits Sherman well as the spot, more than anything, mocks the media hype that surrounds star players. It makes for an entertaining ad, and Sherman’s most enjoyable performance by far.
The campaign, which runs until October 9th, also includes five additional videos, with special cameos from Johnny Manziel, Victor Cruz, Ndamukong Suh and Ken Griffey Jr.
(more…)
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W+K Portland went all out in getting celebrity talent for “Winner Stays” the latest iteration of their “Risk Everything”campaign for Nike.
The 4:12 film plays off the idea of pretending to be your favorite star players while playing a pickup game with friends. “Winner stays” says one side of one such pickup game, and soon players are claiming to be famous soccer stars and taking on their unique skill sets. It’s a fun idea, although it’s stretched a bit thin at over four minutes long. W+K is betting that with World Cup fever spreading people will stay around for the star power, which includes the return of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr. and Wayne Rooney, a host of other soccer stars from around the world, and a few unexpected cameos. During the action, the spot offers the first glimpses of Nike’s new Magista and Mercurial Superfly.
“We connect to players’ passion for the game, whether it is the world’s best in Brasil or players in the park or street, explains Davide Grasso, chief marketing officer for Nike. “‘Winner Stays’ taps into an experience that every young player around the world will recognize – competition with friends and the idea of playing with your heroes or pretending to be them.”
While it may be fun and expertly crafted, it’s pretty hard to get over the run time for the full-length “Winner Stays.” Four minutes is just a really long time to expect people to sit through an advertisement and the new product reveals are relatively deep into the spot. Thankfully, there are abridged versions, with run times of 3 minutes (still pretty long), 90 seconds, 60 seconds, and 30 seconds. Stick around for full credits after the jump. continued…
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Wieden+Kennedy has named Colleen DeCourcy as the newest partner in its global network.
DeCourcy most recently served as Global Coexecutive Creative Director; she joins Dan Wieden, Dave Luhr, Mark Fitzloff, Susan Hoffman, Tom Blessington, Bill Davenport, John Jay, Neil Christie, Tony Davidson and Kim Papworth on the partner team.
DeCourcy worked at W+K for only eighteen months before the promotion; prior to joining the agency, she founded her own shop called Socialistic, which she ran as CEO and chief creative officer. The release states that, during her time at W+K, she has “extended the creative department’s capabilities beyond advertising, into both experience and product design.”
Her full ad industry resume includes stints in leadership positions at TBWA New York, JWT and Organic.
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In a world with Starbucks at every corner and small, fancy artisinal coffee shops sprouting up everywhere, it would be counterproductive for an instant coffee brand to try to compete. So W+K starts a different conversation for Maxwell House, asking, “Whatever happened to good?”
The new “Say Good Morning to a Good Day” campaign features a series of broadcast and web spots centering around an affable, middle-aged everyman (everydad?) who laments that with all the attention on phrases like “Awesome,” “Amazing,” and “That’s epic, bro!” people have forgotten about “good.” In the 30-second spot, he goes on to explain that good is “Swinging to get on base” or “choosing not to overshoot the moon, but instead to land right on it.” This all makes “good” seem pretty appealing, with the spot ending with the resurrected “Good to the Last Drop” tagline.
While some may question the choice of admitting your product isn’t “amazing,” the strategy makes sense for Maxwell House, whose coffee is, at best, “good enough,” and whose best bet is to convince the older generation that all the fuss over fancy coffee just isn’t worth it. W+K pull off the execution really well, making the “good” approach about as persuasive as it can be. Credits after the jump. continued…
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The 2014 World Cup is coming to every continent but Westeros–and W+K Sao Paulo would like to remind us, on behalf of client Coca-Cola, what an international event it will be with the “One World, One Game” campaign.
The first spot in Coke’s “largest-ever marketing campaign” series is a global tour of its latest “corporate social responsibility” project.
The company’s press release reassures skeptics: it surprised team members who “thought they were being filmed for a Coke documentary” with complimentary tickets to Rio, where they’ll “carry the national team flags onto the pitch during the Germany vs. Portugal match.”
We might point out that they were being filmed for a Coke documentary series, but we’re not quite that cynical.
Further chapters flesh out the local teams’ stories.
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W+K’s trademark nonsensical humor is on full display in their latest, the new spot “Made by Kobe” promoting Kobe Bryant‘s Kobe 9 Collection for Nike, which launched on March 6th.
The spot imagines what it would be like if Kobe Bryant designed a piano: “It will turn piano boys into piano men. It will make Lionel Richie‘s tears cry tears.” Lionel Richie actually appears in the spot, tear slowly rolling down his cheek while he plays the piano, adding to the humorous tone. After talking up the hypothetical Kobe Piano, which looks pretty badass, the narrator introduces the “Made by Kobe*” Kobe 9 Collection. Although the product reveal comes 50 seconds into the 75 second spot, the sidelined Lakers star can be seen wearing his new line throughout the commercial.
The spot is exactly what we’ve come to expect from W+K, calling to mind some of their well-known past hits, like their famous work for Old Spice. The formula may be starting to show signs of age, but W+K still has a big leg up on the countless competitors attempting to imitate this kind of work. “Made by Kobe” will run until March 27th. Now if they’d only release that piano for real. Stick around for credits after the jump.
*Kobe is the name of a 12-year-old Chinese boy who works around the clock to handcraft the Kobe 9 Collection for 2 cents an hour. continued…
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More from W+K, as W+K New York have unveiled their latest “This is Sportscenter” offering.
The 30 second spot, “Long Week,” celebrates Super Bowl XLVIII with a fun look at the rivalry between Denver Broncos’ mascot Miles and Seattle Seahawks’ mascot Blitz. Set in an elevator on ESPN’s Bristol, Connecticut campus, the spot stars SportsCenter hosts Jay Crawford and Steve Levy, who witness a tense, awkward exchange between the rival mascots. Credit has to go to director Jim Jenkins and the guys playing the mascots for perfect comedic timing. At the end of the spot, Everett and Levy reveal that the two mascots have been engaging in such behavior all week. Hopefully Miles and Blitz don’t kill each other before the big game.
The timely “Long Week” is designed to promote ESPN’s weeklong coverage of Super Bowl XLVIII, which began yesterday with ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike kicking off 115 hours of TV and radio programming from New York City. ESPN’s programming originates from their Herald Square and Times Square Studios all week, up until Superbowl Sunday. Keep an eye out for “Long Week” during that coverage. Credits after the jump. continued…
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If a Levi’s ad had a one-night stand with a Dos Equis commercial and the lovechild was baptized by a former Abercrombie art director, this “Equinox Made Me Do It” campaign by W+K New York would be the result. Equinox’s sensual shenanigans – mainly, turning gym memberships into sex – has graduated from bad joke that everyone is in on to an accepted norm at this point. The over-the-top sexuality even made its way into Aziz Ansari’s most recent standup special. But the appeal seems to be growing: gyms have spread across the country, celebrities are frequent guests, and Equinox now boasts a “Best Gym” award from a handful of publications including Fitness Magazine. The accolades should come in handy as people line up to sign up for a New Year’s resolution gym membership. So should the pretty people running naked on big billboards. If you live in a city with an Equinox gym, get ready to see butts.
The “Made Me Do It” campaign is W+K’s first work for Equinox, but you probably couldn’t tell the difference, because the gym is still selling the same amount of sex. And why shouldn’t they? While copycat fitness centers fight against each other, Equinox separated itself from the competition by rethinking the old adage of less is more. Credits after the jump.
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