Hasta La Creative!

WMcCann, Brazil introduces the new can “Pin Up” from Conti Bier with a 38-second spot.

The ad keeps things basic, showing the new can from the assembly line to being loaded into a refrigerator. After the message “The only one that takes it off” appears onscreen, the spot shows the can’s pinup as her top layer disappears to reveal her undergarments. As a selling-point for beer this is about as low as it gets, taking the Coors “cold-activated” schtick to new, even more gimicky places. “The cooler, the better” the spot concludes, which probably has to do with covering for the beer’s faults, with the “pin up” gimick their idea of a clever disguise. The real question, of course, is will this actually help sell more beer?

Over the past several months we’ve received a stream of tips regarding Nationwide, one of the country’s more generous advertisers with a measured spend upwards of $300M per year.

First, we learned that Nationwide had signed Ogilvy, which created its classic “on your side” tagline, for a campaign starring Peyton Manning that would run throughout the football season. The first ad in that series debuted, along with the client’s new logo, in September.

We continue to receive a number of tips regarding the client, and “mum” remains the word on its upcoming Super Bowl spot, which will mark the brand’s return to the big game after eight years.

One thing is clear: as per our headline, Nationwide is making changes to its agency roster. Many of the recent tips concerned Moxie, and here’s the corporate statement:

“We continue to have a relationship with Moxie. They are currently working on other projects for us and, like all companies, we evaluate work scope in a flexible manner throughout the year.”

The agency has not responded to repeated requests for comment, but this quote reads as if the client has transferred some aspects of its work with NASCAR from Moxie to an unnamed party. For context, the agency produced a series of ads starring driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in recent years and the brand will continue to sponsor him. Sources tell us that the change will almost certainly affect staffers at the agency’s Columbus, Ohio office; Nationwide is currently its biggest client.

McKinney refrained from commenting on the business other than to restate its status as the client’s official creative agency of record.

Given Manning’s cachet and the recent rebranding, odds regarding Nationwide’s Super Bowl ad lean strongly toward Ogilvy.

McCann New York enlisted gay couple Kordale and Kaleb Lewis — who became Instagram celebrities after posting this photo documenting their morning routine fixing their daughters’ hair before school — and family for a new spot for Nikon.

The two-minute plus video takes a closer look at Kordale Lewis, Kaleb and their children, as the couple discusses their morning routine, parenting and their unexpected rise to Internet stardom. It’s part of McCann’s “Generation Image” campaign for Nikon, which launched in November, celebrating the ubiquity and importance of images to millenials. In addition to rocking a Nikon camera in the spot, the couple also says that “A picture is worth so much more than a thousand words,” and given the Lewis’ success it’s hard to argue otherwise. Nikon may be the first brand to capitalize on the Lewis’ fame and endearing personalities, but it’s hard to imagine they’ll be the last.

Credits:

Client: Nikon

Agency: McCann NY
Tom Murphy, Co-Chief Creative Officer
Sean Bryan, Co-Chief Creative Officer
Larry Platt, Executive Creative Director
Thomas Sullivan, Group Creative Director
Cameron Fleming, Associate Creative Director
Calvin Lyte, Associate Creative Director
George Katz, Design Director
David Mashburn, Design Director
Kathy Love, Executive Producer
Jory Sutton and Chandler Simms, Integrated Producers
Ryan Fitzsimons, Production Coordinator
Eric David Johnson, Executive Music Producer
Mike Ladman, Music Producer

Account:
Kevin Scher, Group Managing Director; Dana McCullough; Account Director; Daniella Rey, Account Director; Danielle Jimenez, Assistant Account Executive

Strategy:
Steve Zaroff, Chief Strategy Officer; Julien Delatte, Group Strategy Director; Michele Kim, Strategist

Production
Director: Douglas Gautraud
Production Co: Coverdale, Inc.
DP: Luca Fantini

Editorial: The Whitehouse
Editor: Paul LaCalanra
Assistant Editor: David Rothstadt

Color Correction: Fergus McCall at The Mill
Sound Engineer/Mix: Tom Goldblatt @ Audio Engine

Music Company: South Music

McCann XBC teamed up with Gwen Stefani in a new 30-second broadcast spot for MasterCard directed by Wondros’ Sophie Muller.

The spot focuses on MasterCard’s integration with Apple Pay and the “priceless surprises” the company is giving away to customers using the new feature. Stefani works a rocket launcher, sending these surprises — including a hand bag, concert tickets (to see Stefani, naturally) and a “golf experience” represented by a golf kart — flying through the air toward unsuspecting MasterCard users. At the end of the spot, an unsuspecting fan rocking Stefani’s old haircut wins a chance to meet the woman herself.

It’s pretty basic stuff, with McCann XBC and MasterCard counting on Stefani’s star power to win over viewers and the potential prizes to get them excited for MasterCard’s Apple Pay integration. The choice of Stefani isn’t simply a nostalgic one for the brand, as the singer’s recent single “Spark The Fire” is used as the spot’s soundtrack and she has both a solo album and an album with No Doubt in the works.

(more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

McCann New York has launched a campaign for Nikon targeted at millenials for the holiday season.

In a new 30-second online spot, the brand celebrates “Generation Image,” as a young woman states “My generation creates tens of thousands of images literally in the blink of an eye. Our images speak for us.” She then asks, “Are yours saying enough?”

The ad is aimed at addressing declining digital camera sales as young people are taking more pictures than ever, but taking them with their smartphones rather than cameras. “I Am Generation Image” is a plea for higher quality images, suggesting that if millenials really care so much about images they should step up their game to a Nikon digital camera.

“Many people who get started taking images on smartphones want to upgrade to a more advanced camera,” Larry Platt, an executive creative director at McCann Erickson New York, told The New York Times. “It’s really about the proper product to make sure you’re getting across your message.”

A second online spot outlines another campaign component: Nikon is giving out a Nikon D750 D.S.L.R camera to select recipients and hosting their images on the campaign site iamgenerationimage.com in an attempt to show viewers how a Nikon can help them take their images to the next level. Nikon and McCann New York certainly have their work cut out for them. A recent CNBC article characterized the digital camera market as in “free fall.” But Nikon is convinced the campaign, with a budget estimated at $5-7 million can help, with Lisa Baxt, associate general manager for communications of the Nikon Inc. division of the Nikon Corporation in Melville, N.Y. citing a “a shift from convenience to quality, in that a more authentic story is told with a better photo,” in The New York Times. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Commonwealth McCann has debuted a new campaign for the Chevy Colorado entitled “You Know You Want a Truck.”

In the “Focus Groups” spot above, they polled groups including “guys with bears,” “single women,” “rich housewives,” children and the elderly. The results? Truck guys are 85% more handsome, 76% more resourceful and 100 percent more likely to have an awesome pet. Other spots include the creation of “Truck Guy” deodorant and a “Trucked Out” dating profile. Each spot presents itself in a documentary style (and claims to use “real people, not actors”) but also features a playful tone that shows the brand isn’t taking things too seriously.

“The films are centered around the idea that there is an inner truck guy in everyone,” said Paul Edwards, U.S. vice president, Chevrolet marketing. “The game-changing Chevrolet Colorado will enable people to unleash their inner truckness.” (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Dumb Ways to Die,” the famed Australian train-safety campaign from 2012, has done a couple of encores for special occasions. First it did a Valentine’s Day ad. And now it’s done a little choose-your-own-adventure Halloween special.

Should you trick or treat those who come to your door on Friday? Well, both approaches have their risks, it seems—for candy giver and candy seeker alike. “Be safe around Halloween … and trains,” says the copy.

Agency: McCann Melbourne.

Nestlé’s Fitness cereal brand, which last year brought us the tweeting bra, has upped the ante with the hidden-camera bra. Watch below as a woman walks around London capturing footage of men and women furtively (they think) checking out her boobs.

It’s a fun little social experiment from McCann Paris—and one, predictably, that has caused a bit of a flamewar in the YouTube comments. But it turns out the point of the video isn’t really to comment on objectification at all.

Also, check out the behind-the-scenes video here:

CREDITS
Client: Nestlé Fitness
Agency: McCann, Paris
Creative Director: Sarah Clift
Art Directors: Kate Pozzi, Sarah Clift, Caroline Gozier
Copywriter: Kate Pozzi
TV Producers: Sasha Mantel, Arnaud Lemens
Social Strategist: Mariam Asmar
Account: Cédric Vanhoutte, Cynthia Decant, Laurie Chappel, Leslie Adam, Julie Colombani
Production Company: Outsider | The Corner Shop
Director: Ellen Kuras
Producer: Mel Nwanguma
DOP: Ellen Kuras
1st AD: Julian Higgs
Costume Designer: Lydia Kovacs
Edit: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Ted Guard
Post Production: MPC LA
Music: Human

McCann Paris has a provocative new take on the breast cancer awareness PSA, launching the world’s first (according to them) “Bra Cam,” to remind women to check for breast cancer.

At the beginning of the spot, a woman fastens a hidden camera to her bra before heading out for the day in a somewhat revealing (but still plenty safe for work) outfit. The ad then brings up a counter recording each time her breasts are “checked out” over the course of the day. It’s an attention grabbing way to deliver a pretty clear message: Everyone else is checking out your breasts, so check them out yourself and self-examine regularly for breast cancer. The campaign comes complete with a social initiative asking women to post a #CheckYourSelfie, checking themselves out and inviting friends to do the same in an effort to raise breast cancer awareness and get more women to self examine regularly. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

twofifteenmccann have created a new campaign for online radio service Pandora, entitled “#ThumbMoments.”

Users of the service typically give a song a thumbs up to favorite a song, and a thumbs down to not hear the song on their station again. But on September 5th, twofifteenmccann and Pandora made the thumbs up much more meaningful. Fans who favorited a song by Lindsey Sterling, the song was interrupted by a live message from the star, followed by a one-on-one concert for the fan. Over the course of three hours, Sterling performed seven of these concerts for Pandora listeners. Their reactions form the backbone of the new online campaign, which debuted today.

The emphasis on the thumbs up emphasizes one of the service’s more recognizable features, and allows for Pandora to surprise fans of other artists with similar concerts in the future. Indeed, The New York Times reports that future “commercials will follow the same format, but Pandora declined to name participating musicians.” Additionally, hitting thumbs up for certain (unspecified) artists in the future will result in fans receiving “thumb gifts,” such as signed instruments.

“It was very emotional for listeners, and very emotional for Lindsey, too, because she could see them one-to-one in a way that she doesn’t even get to in a concert,” James Robinson, chief creative officer of twofifteenmccann, told The New York Times of the campaign. “She could see what her music meant to these people.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.