Hasta La Creative!

DigitasLBi has appointed Michael Ashley as vice president, group creative director for the agency’s Atlanta office. He will report to executive creative director Atit Shah and partner with North American chief creative officer Ronald Ng while taking responsibility for leading the agency’s creative team in Atlanta, developing concepts and campaigns for clients, as well as proposals for internal and new business initiatives, The Drum reports.

Ashley arrives at DigitasLBi from Mullen’s Pittsburgh branch, where he served as a senior vice president and executive creative director for a little over a year. Prior to Mullen, Ashley spent two years as a creative director with BBDO, working on accounts including GE, Starbucks and AT&T, following a short stint as a freelance art director/creative director.

Before that he served as a creative director for JWT for six years beginning in 2005, working with clients such as HSBC, Kraft, Smirnoff and Royal Caribbean.

Ng told The Drum:

“Michael is a brilliant creative leader, with a keen ability to tell beautiful brand stories. I can’t wait to witness the great ideas and superb work that he’ll bring to our Atlanta office – and beyond.”

When you’re moving, you’re so beset by cardboard boxes that your life might as well be made of them. And now, Century 21’s new ad campaign actually is.

The new stop-motion campaign from Mullen uses cardboard cutouts to tell three stories about the travails of relocation. In the first ad, an emo cardboard kid in a red cap gets all broke up when his cardboard dad tells him they’re moving from one cardboard house to a bigger cardboard house. Luckily, there’s a cardboard real estate broker with a sunny yellow scarf to introduce the kid to another kid, with a blue cap.

In the second spot, a Century 21 agent saves the day by showing an elderly man who’s just moved to the city that there’s a nearby park where he can go hang out with the birds, without having to worrying about his lovely wife driving her boat of a car into the bushes.

The third spot manages a sideways dig at the enemy of real estate brokers everywhere—Craigslist—labeled not entirely inaccurately here as Creepslist. But the yellow-garnished hero helps a young single woman meet the rather fantastical criteria of a place that’s not infested by rats and has a roof with a view of red-hatted water towers (apparently enough to make the young woman cry).

The visuals, hand-cut by artist Elizabeth Corkery, are plenty endearing—simple without being boring, with nice, minimal use of color to highlight the emotional subtext. It also helps that the scenarios are all reasonably credible, and that moving, in general, really does suck. Then again, it’s all just part of modern life on this little spinning cardboard planet we call Earth (twee soundtracks not included).

Mullen has created a digital experience of Biblical proportions to support National Geographic Channel’s Killing Jesus, a three-hour docudrama premiering March 29, which is Palm Sunday. The show is based on the best-selling book of the same name.

An immensely detailed, immersive website tells the story from three different perspectives: Son of God (the view of Christ and his disciples); Son of Man (the view of the Jewish priests of the time); and Threat to Rome (taking in political/economic implications). Each perspective is represented by a different crown: thorns, religious headdress and Roman laurels. This technique provides users with a panoramic perspective of Jesus’s life, allowing them to explore events from every conceivable angle.

“We were looking to tell the story in a way that allowed people to see it from several different vantage points,” says Mullen associate creative director Allison Rude. “Our war room on this project resembled the wall from ‘A Beautiful Mind’ as we pieced together historical fact, religious scripture and custom illustrations.”

French artist Bastien Lecouffe Deharme created the impressive artwork, and his hand-drawn contributions grace the site’s eight self-contained chapters, which span Christ’s story from his birth in a Bethlehem stable through the crucifixion at Calvary. The amount of interactive information and analysis is pretty staggering. Users could lose hours (days?) investigating the various timelines (from three perspectives, no less).

That said, the navigation is intuitive, and all aspects of the presentation (based on my 30-minute spin through the site) seem compelling.

The technical specs are suitable impressive. The site’s scrollable panoramas contain more than 3,000 individual images, animated with 14,000 keyframes, along with 185 sound, music and voiceover tracks. All of this was made using 290,000 lines of code, which Mullen says is four times the size of its two previous NGC sites combined. Those sites supported the cable net’s Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy programs.

But wait, there’s more. Supplemental material includes a Killing Jesus microsite with articles, video clips, photo galleries, deleted scenes and cast Q&As, as well as an NGC blog campaign called “Killing with Kindness,” inspired, we’re told, by Christ’s teachings on love and charity, and promoted on social media with the #KillingWithKindness hashtag.

Like Mullen’s earlier NGC outings—and The Martin Agency’s similar digital work for the JFK Library—this initiative’s vast scale can seem overwhelming at times, especially for a story whose elements are so familiar. Still, the bold, multi-view style—respectful, yet rigorously researched and probing—is fairly innovative, and might give users fresh insight.

Given the weighty nature of the subject matter, Killing Jesus’s all-in approach seems appropriate and isn’t overkill at all.

CREDITS
Brand: National Geographic Channel
Client: Matt Zymet, Executive Director, Digital Media
Client: Ashley Kalena, Digital Media Producer
Agency: Mullen
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker
Executive Creative Director: Tim Vaccarino
Executive Creative Director: Dave Weist
Associate Creative Director: Allison Rude
Associate Creative Director: Brian Leech
Associate Creative Director: Scott Slagsvol
Copywriter: Eugene Torres
VP, Executive Producer: Tiffany Stevens
Senior Digital Producer: Alyssa Hartigan
Senior Digital Producer: Kim Ryan
Group Account Director: Rebekah Pagis
Account Director: Jessica Zdenek
Assistant Account Executive: Stephanie Costa
Director of Development Operations: Steve Laham
Senior QA Engineer: Ryan Nelsen
SVP, Creative Director/Technologist: Christian Madden
SVP, Director of Interactive: Mathey Ray
Associate Creative Director/Technologist: Joe Palasek
Senior Creative Technologist: Justin Bogan
Creative Technologist: Adam Riggs
Creative Technologist: Stefan Harris
Associate QA Engineer: Amber Archambeault
Senior Production Designer: Terri Navarra
Senior Content Manager: Caroline Roberts
Motion Designer: Jeremiah True
VP, Digital Production Manager: Steve Haroutunian
Senior Creative Technologist: Costa Boudouvas
Senior Experience Designer: Charlene McBride
Senior Experience Designer: Krista Siniscarco
Junior Production Designer: Candice Latham
SVP, Director of Broadcast Production: Zeke Bowman
Animator: Eric Ko
VP, Director of Art Production: Tracy Maidment
Senior Art Producer: Jessica Manning
VP, Senior Video Editor: Jessica Phearsome
Senior Copy Writer: Kelly McAuley
Assistant Editor: Libby Ryerson
Assistant Editor: Nick Brecken
Business Manager: Vanessa Fazio

Animation/Graphics
Artist: Bastien Lecouffe Deharme
Artist Representation: Shannon Associates

Music
Sound Design: Mike Secher

Audio Post
Sound Design/Mixer: Mike Secher

Mullen has launched a new campaign for Acura entitled “Catch It If You Can” with the new spot “Bottle.”

The 60-second “Bottle” is set to that most over-used (and overrated) of Pixies songs, “Where Is My Mind,” and features a scientist capturing lighting in a bottle (yes, literally) to power the Acura ILX. To be fair, Mullen and Acura got Pixies lead guitarist Joey Santiago to rework the song, and it actually fits the mood and action of the ad pretty well. The spot, directed by Johnny Green, who recently helmed Under Armour’s “I Will What I Want” ad from Droga5, is well shot and does a pretty good job of setting a mood. Unfortunately, it never really goes anywhere, feeling disjointed, held up by a flimsy premise and, as Adweek put it “less than the sum of its parts.”

Credits:

Brand: Acura
Client: Mike Accavitti, Senior Vice President, General Manager
Client: Ed Beadle, Senior Marketing Manager
Client: Leila Cesario, National Advertising Manager
Car Model: 2016 ILX
Spot Title: “Bottle”

Agency:  Mullen
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker
Executive Creative Director: Margaret Keene
Creative Director, Art: Paul Foulkes
Creative Director, Writer: Adam Calvert
Senior Art Director: Sean Stell
Writer: Natasha Hugeback
Senior Vice President, Director of Integrated Production: Jon Drawbaugh
Senior Broadcast Producer: Meagen Moore
Content Producer: Elaine Russell
Business Affairs, Music Supervisor: Danica Bates
Managing Director: Cameron McNaughton
Vice President, Account Director: Nicole Neopolitan
Account Supervisor: Courtney Calvert
Account Executive: Kylie Mugg
Product Specialist: Curtis Milward

Production Company: Reset
Director: Johnny Green
Managing Director: Dave Morrison
Executive Producer: Jeff McDougall
Producer: Betsy Oliver
Director of Photography: Paul Cameron

Editorial: RPS
Editor: Damion Clayton
Assistant Editor: Benjamin Cline
Producer: Rebecca Baker

Color Correction, Visual Effects: A52
Colorist: Paul Yacono
Visual Effects Supervisor, Lead Flame Artist: Andy McKenna
Head of Production: Kim Christensen
Executive Producer: Jennifer Sofio Hall

Audio Post: Lime Studio; 740 Sound Design
Mixer: Joel Waters
Original Music: The Pixies, Joey Santiago
Name of Track: “Where Is My Mind”

Mullen, Boston worked with JetBlue on an online campaign entitled “Fly It Forward”, in which the airline gives away tickets to individuals with inspiring stories, who then select from a list of people to receive the next ticket.

The causevertising initative is detailed in a three minute online ad following the stories of several individuals selected to “Fly It Forward.” Their stories vary widely from the inspiring to the not-as-much (Hipster street artist travels to Brooklyn to paint a mural? Are we missing something there?) but the video effectively communicates the philosophy behind the campaign. Ultimately the effort makes JetBlue look good, as the airline manages to support a variety of causes all at once, and even takes the selection process and effectively gives it over to those touched by the campaign. As the ad states, the campaign is effectively set up so that there’s no end in sight. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Patrón is nearing the end of its search for a new lead agency to handle both creative and media, as only Mullen and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners remain in its creative review, sources told Adweek.

Patrón launched the review back in August, and according to Adweek it originally consisted of about “half a dozen” agencies. Incumbent agency Cramer-Krasselt was invited to defend in the review, but declined. Lee Applbaum, global chief marketing officer at Patrón and the “key decision maker in the search” stated that the company was looking for “a highly strategic and creative agency partner” with “a track record of success in marketing luxury brands.” (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Mediahub/Mullen was awarded media buying and planning duties for TV Land, following a review that also included Fallon, reports Adweek. TV Land had previously been working with agencies on a project basis.

The assignment marks the agency’s second Viacom media buying and planning client, following being made media buying and planning agency of record for VH1 last November. Critical to the assignment will be supporting VH1?s new original series Younger, written and directed by Sex and the City‘s Darren Star, which debuts in January. Mediahub/Mullen will also work on other new and returning TV Land original series, including the Betty White-starring Hot and Cleveland, the show that marked the channel’s initial shift to original content. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Mullen has named Margaret Keene executive creative director of the agency’s Los Angeles office, AdAge reports.

Keene comes to Mullen from Saatchi & Saatchi Los Angeles, filling a role left vacant since the departure of Peter Rosch late last year. She will report to Mullen’s North America Chief Creative Officer Mark Wenneker.

Keene joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 2011, where her work included multiple campaigns for Toyota. Prior to Saatchi, Keene spent over a decade at TBWAChiatDay, arriving as an art director in 1996, and eventually working her way up to group creative director. While at TBWAChiatDay she worked on brands including Apple, Nissan, Levi’s, Kinko’s, Taco Bell, ABC and Shutterfly. Mullen opened its Los Angeles office in June 2013, following winning the Acura business in March of that year. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

How does a popular job posting site show off the breadth of its help-wanted offerings in the limited space of one commercial? For Indeed, the answer was to use its own listings to hire experienced professionals for the ad’s cast and crew.

“How the world works” is the theme delivered across TV, digital, print and other media in a rollout that began last week in the U.K., targeting both applicants and companies looking to hire. Bright, bouncy and upbeat, the initiative, crafted by Mullen, emphasizes teamwork and striving toward common goals.

A 50-second spot sets the tone, presenting an ad inside an ad with meta twists that turn the medium into the message.

We see folks from various professions “working” among huge letters that spell out the word I-n-d-e-e-d. The camera pulls back to reveal that the action is taking place on a soundstage where an ad is being filmed. “How do commercials work?” a voiceover begins. “Well, you need a team of talented professionals, working together, focused on the task, doing all kinds of jobs.” The crew on the set—choreographer, boom operator, caterer, makeup artist and others—are identified by on-screen icons which, in the spot’s clickable version, let users search Indeed’s site for those jobs.

What’s more, these folks aren’t actors, but actual professionals (real choreographers, caterers, etc.) hired through Indeed for the spot. (The making-of clip below, which goes into detail on this process, is a must-see.) Even the talent being used to represent nurses, engineers, IT specialists and financial planners are actual trained members of those professions.

Admittedly, not all parts were truly cast through Indeed, since Mullen and other production partners like the directing collective StyleWar were already in place. Here’s how a Mullen spokesperson described the process:

“For the video part of the campaign, we used the Indeed platform to scout and hire creative and production talent. Indeed posted 26 job openings on its website for roles in the spot. Within 48 hours, 1,500 applications were received. Indeed conducted more than 200 interviews in just 14 days. Once a selection was made, industry professionals from six different countries—U.K., U.S., Canada, Czech Republic, Australia and Germany—traveled to Prague for filming and production.”

Beyond TV and digital video, coffee-cup wraps detail the jobs needed to bring java to market, while subway and newspaper ads explain the positions required by those industries.

Communicating aspirational themes and complex information is no easy task, but, overall, this campaign does a fine job of taking Indeed’s message to a higher level.

CREDITS
Client:  Indeed, Austin, Texas
Senior Vice President, Marketing: Paul D’Arcy
Vice President, Corporate Marketing: Mary Ellen Duggan

Agency: Mullen, Boston and San Francisco
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker
Executive Creative Director: Paul Foulkes
Group Creative Director, Copy: Tim Cawley
Copywriter: E.B. Davis
Copywriter: Jamie Rome
Art Directors: Brooke Doner, Ryan Montgomery
Designer: Mike Molinaro
3-D Artist, Concept Designer: Andy Jones
Producer: Mary Donington

VIDEO CREDITS
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: StyleWar
Editing Company: General Editorial
Color Correction, Visual Effects, Titles: The Mill
Audio Postproduction: Soundtrack
Music: Madplanet
 

Source

How does a popular job posting site show off the breadth of its help-wanted offerings in the limited space of one commercial? For Indeed, the answer was to use its own listings to hire experienced professionals for the ad's cast and crew.

"How the world works" is the theme delivered across TV, digital, print and other media in a rollout that began last week in the U.K., targeting both applicants and companies looking to hire. Bright, bouncy and upbeat, the initiative, crafted by Mullen, emphasizes teamwork and striving toward common goals.

A 50-second spot sets the tone, presenting an ad inside an ad with meta twists that turn the medium into the message.

We see folks from various professions "working" among huge letters that spell out the word I-n-d-e-e-d. The camera pulls back to reveal that the action is taking place on a soundstage where an ad is being filmed. "How do commercials work?" a voiceover begins. "Well, you need a team of talented professionals, working together, focused on the task, doing all kinds of jobs." The crew on the set—choreographer, boom operator, caterer, makeup artist and others—are identified by on-screen icons which, in the spot's clickable version, let users search Indeed's site for those jobs.

What's more, these folks aren't actors, but actual professionals (real choreographers, caterers, etc.) hired through Indeed for the spot. (The making-of clip below, which goes into detail on this process, is a must-see.) Even the talent being used to represent nurses, engineers, IT specialists and financial planners are actual trained members of those professions.

Admittedly, not all parts were truly cast through Indeed, since Mullen and other production partners like the directing collective StyleWar were already in place. Here's how a Mullen spokesperson described the process:

"For the video part of the campaign, we used the Indeed platform to scout and hire creative and production talent. Indeed posted 26 job openings on its website for roles in the spot. Within 48 hours, 1,500 applications were received. Indeed conducted more than 200 interviews in just 14 days. Once a selection was made, industry professionals from six different countries—U.K., U.S., Canada, Czech Republic, Australia and Germany—traveled to Prague for filming and production."

Beyond TV and digital video, coffee-cup wraps detail the jobs needed to bring java to market, while subway and newspaper ads explain the positions required by those industries.

Communicating aspirational themes and complex information is no easy task, but, overall, this campaign does a fine job of taking Indeed's message to a higher level.

CREDITS
Client:  Indeed, Austin, Texas
Senior Vice President, Marketing: Paul D'Arcy
Vice President, Corporate Marketing: Mary Ellen Duggan

Agency: Mullen, Boston and San Francisco
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker
Executive Creative Director: Paul Foulkes
Group Creative Director, Copy: Tim Cawley
Copywriter: E.B. Davis
Copywriter: Jamie Rome
Art Directors: Brooke Doner, Ryan Montgomery
Designer: Mike Molinaro
3-D Artist, Concept Designer: Andy Jones
Producer: Mary Donington

VIDEO CREDITS
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: StyleWar
Editing Company: General Editorial
Color Correction, Visual Effects, Titles: The Mill
Audio Postproduction: Soundtrack
Music: Madplanet