Following a “formal competitive review” that involved incumbent/Troy NY-based creative agency, id29, as well as “several West Coast shops” along with VML, it was the last, WPP-owned agency that won out for the Cobra Puma Golf account. This marks the second AOR win for VML since last December, when the agency picked up ad duties for NAPA Auto Parts.
Cobra Puma Golf president Bob Philion says in a statement, “VML is an innovative agency with extensive expertise in creating meaningful consumer experiences within the world of marketing, and we are excited to have them on board. Their understanding of the industry and ability to tell our Game Enjoyment story across multiple platforms will help us elevate our communications platform and reach an even greater global audience.” , VML has taken over the activation of the current COBRA “Go Looooong” campaign and will continue to focus on all 2015 product launches. You can check out the first print work for Cobra Puma Golf from VML, which will also handle global creative for the brand in UK, Canada, Japan, Germany, Sweden, South Korea, South Africa, Australia and China, after the jump.
Bacon is everywhere. (No, not Kevin Bacon.) And it seems everyone loves it—even pigs! It's so great, it once helped a man negotiate his way across the nation dealing exclusively in bacon. Thanks, Oscar Mayer. Now, the bacon craze is hitting the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.
The IronPigs this week unveiled what I can only imagine was a highly anticipated bacon-themed Saturday uniform, which includes a bacon-strip logo on the cap, and a "first-of-its-kind" bacon-style piping down both legs of the pants. Check it out at the team's new site, smellthechange.com. For those of us who like to get a bit more bacon for our buck, we can purchase other innovative merchandise such as scratch-and-sniff bacon-logo T-shirts, now available online.
One has to wonder, though. What will this do to the IronPigs' vegetarian fan base? On second thought, who cares!? If they were vegetarians, they weren't real fans anyway.
Brazil is already known as the land of beer and soccer, but now A-B InBev brew brand, Brahma, in conjunction with the Rio de Janeiro-based branch of agency, Africa, is bringing the country’s passions closer together than ever before with Brahma Selecao Especial, a new limited-edition beer brewed for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
Brahma Selecao Especial’s big selling point is that it is brewed with “barley planted, grown and harvested on Granja Comary, home to the Brazilian national soccer team,” which should score major points with Brazilian soccer fans. Literally bringing together beer and soccer by planting on the Brazilian soccer teams’ decades-long training grounds, the “same soil where [the] five-time world champion team was conceived” brings the World Cup-sponsoring brand even greater appeal to Brazil’s soccer-loving faithful.
Sergio Gordilho, Africa’s co-president and CCO, says, “Creating and developing such an innovative idea in partnership with such a legendary brand shows a new frontier for advertising, where the agencies stop thinking about the media and start focusing on the idea. We developed this project with Africa Lab, an innovation arm of the agency, and we are looking forward to see the results on shelves around the entire country.”
Africa collaborated with Brahma at every step of the process — they even “accompanied the planting of the barley, its growth and harvest, the development of the product, and helped with the promotion and launching strategies,” claims Africa co-president and CEO Marcio Santoro.
The new beer, complete with “packaging [which] leaves aside the brand’s traditional red color for black, subtle green and yellow lines paying homage to the arrival of the World Cup to Brazil” will be available beginning next month, but you can pre-order it now on Brahma’s website. Stick around for credits after the jump. continued…
Procter & Gamble's "Tough Love" ad, which celebrates the pride and determination of athletes and their moms ahead of next month's Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, manages to play on the heartstrings without hitting a saccharin note.
Not long ago, images of kids without limbs struggling to excel in sports would have been viewed as appropriate for fund-raising PSAs but too downbeat for other types of advertising. It's a mark of how far we've come that such visuals are now seen as inspiring and triumphant. And the found footage in this minute-long clip from Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore., showing determined youngsters swimming, racing and skating (with their supportive moms nearby), is especially soul stirring.
Paralympic snowboarder Amy Purdy narrates: "You could have protected me. You could have taken every hit. You could have turned the world upside down so that I would never feel pain. But you didn't. You gave me my freedom because you were strong. And now, so am I."
The ad, running both online and on TV, debuted on Feb. 19 and has racked up 2.2 million YouTube views so far. Part of P&G's "Thank you, Mom" campaign, the spot serves as a companion piece to W+K's similarly themed viral hit "Pick Them Back Up," which follows four athletes from their baby steps to Olympic glory.
Taken together, the two spots make the point that all athletes, regardless of ability or skill level, similarly strive toward their goals. They fight to overcome long odds, personal travails and self-doubt—often relying on the dedication and perseverance of their moms to help them succeed. Such equality communicates a simple, universal truth: You have to let them fall a few times before they can soar.
With the 2014 Sochi Olympics slowly making their way toward their conclusion, we thought we’d share an Olympic campaign you might not have seen yet. Radley launched “Be A Weekender” for Hilton with four mini-documentaries honoring American Olympic athletes for Hilton’s Honors program.
The four videos were designed to “provide an energizing look at the forever-on-the-move lifestyles of Olympic hopefuls,” exemplified by “Weekend By Ashley,” the 2:16 video starring U.S. skater Ashley Wagner featured above. In the video, Wagner talks about her crazy, always on the move lifestyle in which she sometimes forgets what country’s hotel room she is in, growing up at the ice rink, and all the trips to warm places she’d like to take. Other athletes featured in the series include speed skater Patrick Meek, hockey player Meghan Agosto-Marciano and Paralympic ski racer Alana Nichols.
Creating these documentaries was no easy feat, as finding the extra time to film with athletes whose days typically begin with training at 3 A.M. is a big challenge. As Radley CCO/Director Kurt Spenser explains, “Fitting into the lives of Olympic hopefuls in the middle of an Olympic year is not an easy task. Detailed planning with the Hilton team allowed us to stay on schedule for the athletes and to be spontaneous when opportunities presented themselves. We did not want to interrupt their training or their travel, so we had to tailor our production as much as we could while still staying on budget and on time. It was a great team effort and we are all very proud of the results.”
Check out “Weekend By Ashley” above, and stick around for Alana Nichols‘ video, along with credits, after the jump. And for the full experience, head over to the campaign website. continued…
New York-based production company Decon has launched the next episode in its funny new web series promoting Reebok Classic
To refresh memory, Reebok commissioned Decon to run with a strategic content approach to promote its new retro Classic product line. So, Decon came up with the mini web series, “The Retro Shop,” and the results are pretty hilarious. The first item in the Reebok Classic launch is the Shaq Attaq Retro sneaker, which made its debut on the 14th, so naturally everyone’s favorite Kazaam star is featured heavily in the first two episodes. “The Retro Shop” is set, appropriately enough, at an old school barber shop, where patrons discuss argue about some of the NBA’s greatest players. It’s a formula that works really well, especially since Decon keeps things on the shorter side, and makes for an eminently watchable experience. So grab some popcorn and in case you need a rewind, check out episode 1 starring Shaq and his horrible wig, along with credits, after the jump. continued…
DDB and Tribal Worldwide Amsterdam have an interesting social campaign brewing for the beermeisters at Heineken.
Entitled “Share the Sofa,” the campaign invites fans to join star UEFA Champions League players on Twitter for a chat during select games. Players involved include Ruud Gullit, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Owen Hargreaves, Hernan Crespo and Fernando Morientes. Owen Hargreaves was featured recently, with his “Share the Sofa” generating 2,600 tweets and 55.6 million social impressions. Dutch star Patrick Kluivert was the most recent player to be featured, during Tuesday’s Manchester City Vs. Barcelona match.
Fans questions need not be about sports, but can range from “What’s your favorite sandwich?” to just about anything. While it’s easy to be cynical about the overcrowded social media marketing space, this seems like a fun initiative offering fans real insights into their favorite players (even if it’s just their favorite sandwich) with a unique opportunity to ask them just about anything. The initiative makes good sense for Heineken as well, offering a large part of their fan base (those looking for watery beer to guzzle during matches) a unique second screen experience they’ll associate with the brand.
Last month, Bryce Harper performed the first ever chicken-eating backflip for KFC as part of Draftfcb Chicago’s “How Do You KFC?” campaign. Now, Draftfcb continues the campaign of people eating chicken in situations where it doesn’t make sense for people to eat chicken, making history with the first ever two-man chickensled. The campaign is well-timed, coming on the heels of the U.S. men’s first two-man bobsled medal since 1952 and a two medal performance by the U.S. women’s bobsled team.
Draftfcb and KFC tapped Team USA Bobsled brakeman Jim Carriel, and retired Team USA Bobsled pilot Landon Phillips for the historical event. Carriel ate chicken from the KFC Go Cup from a customized cup holder while speeding down the track at 70 miles per hour and five Gs. “No other bobsled team out there is pulling five Gs while eating chicken. More casual fans of chicken sled racing may not know the physical demands five Gs puts on an athlete. Do you know how much an Extra Crispy Strip ‘weighs’ at five Gs?” Carriel asked. “It’s almost a half pound. Seriously. Don’t try this at home, kids.”
Draftfcb’s new video is supported by a tongue-in-cheek social campaign calling on fans to like or share a petition on the brand’s Facebook page to make chicken sled racing a Winter Olympic event in 2018.
With spring training in full swing, Major League Baseball has appointed a new multimedia creative agency partner, minus review, in BBDO New York, which will not only handle advertising/marketing for brand but also MLB Jewel events such as Opening Day, the All-Star Game and postseason. Tim Brosnan, MLB EVP/business, says in a statement, “This is an incredibly exciting time for Major League Baseball, and BBDO is exceptionally well-suited to help us bring the best game in the world to our fans in uniquely creative ways. We look forward to having them apply this creativity to further fuel the unprecedented success that baseball currently enjoys by creating innovative ways for fans to connect with MLB.”
While BBDO NY takes on MLB brand/Jewel duties (which were previously handled by a few different agencies), IPG-owned, Boston-based Hill Holliday will remain on as agency of record for MLB Fan Cave. This marks the second notable account win this month for BBDO NY, which added to its Pinnacle Foods roster by winning Wish-Bone duties.
We've seen this marketing stunt countless times: Big brand dips into its deep pockets to give some hardworking, deserving, photogenic youngsters a new playground or a concert or a trip to Toys R Us. But this well-worn tactic can still wield some power.
This time, it's Gatorade, with a cameo from Dwyane Wade, giving an extreme makeover to a high school basketball team's locker room in New Orleans. The Riverdale Rebels, it seems, haven't had a very good run in the past few decades. Now, though, the scrappy, close-knit team (mantras: "I got your back!" and "Family!") are heading to the playoffs for the first time in 20 years. Gatorade, in what looks to be the final two quarters of a recent Rebels win, replaced busted metal lockers and bare-bones facilities with NBA-quality digs.
The effort, dubbed "We Are All-Stars," from ad agency TBWA\Chiat\Day in Los Angeles, broke Monday, timed to the NBA's All-Star weekend. The reaction from the teenage ballers to their new locker room and a visit from D-Wade? It's as sweet as a fruit punch-flavored sports drink. Go ahead and enjoy it.
Credits below.
CREDITS Client: Gatorade Senior Director, Communications: Molly Carter Director, Branded Entertainment: Jill Kinney Manager, Branded Entertainment: Nancy Laroche Senior Manager, Communications: Noah Gold Director, Sports Marketing: Jeff Chieng Assistant Manager, Global Sports Marketing: Eduardo Gomez Senior Manager, Digital Marketing: Abhishek Jadon Assistant Manager, Digital Marketing: Nicki Granadier
Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles Chief Creative Officer: John Norman Executive Creative Director: Brent Anderson Creative Directors: Renato Fernandez, Gustavo Sarkis Associate Creative Director Guto Araki Art Director: Tiffany Lam Associate Creative Director: Doug Menezes Copywriter: Scott Reedy Executive Producer: Sarah Patterson Producer: Alicia Portner Executive Project Manager: Karen Thomas Account Supervisor: Kyle Webster Account Executive: Ralph Lee Group Planning Director: Scott MacMaster Planning Director: Martin Ramos Managing Director: Peter Ravailhe Group Account Director: Blake Crosbie Account Manager: Marc Johns Executive Business Affairs Manager: Lisa Lipman Broadcast Traffic: Jerry Neill
Production Company: Bandito Brothers Director: Jacob Rosenberg Executive Producer: Suzanne Hargrove Producer: Cassidy Lunnen Art Director: John Gathright Director of Photography: Laura Merians
TBWA\Chiat\Day LA is behind this new, heartwarming long-form clip for Gatorade.
On Feb. 15, the Riverdale High School basketball team in New Orleans was on the verge of playoff contention for the first time in 20 years. To celebrate the team’s dedication TBWA/Chiat/Day LA and Gatorade decided to surprise the team with a renovated locker room. Since the renovations were completed while the team was on the court, the new locker room came as a complete surprise. Just as the team is celebrating their victory and the new locker room, Gatorade has one more surprise in store for them…a visit from Miami Heat star, Dwyane Wade. Check out the video above for a pleasant antidote to this dreary Tuesday.
BBDO Toronto has crafted a new spot for the Canadian Paralympic Committee in anticipation of the upcoming Sochi Paralympic Games, with the uplifting message/tagline “It’s not what’s missing, it’s what’s there.” The line describes the need to look past physical differences to the incredible talent of these athletes and all the hard work they put in to train for the games.
“When we look at Paralympic athletes, we can make the mistake of focusing on their disabilities, instead of their extraordinary abilities,” said Simon Craig and JP Gravina, Associate Creative Directors, BBDO Toronto. “This campaign forces the viewer to see all the amazing things that make these Paralympic athletes great. To catch them in the midst of competition is an awe-inspiring experience by any definition.”
To accomplish this, the 60 second spot employs a letterbox effect to focus in on a select portion of each athlete, only revealing their identities toward the end of each scene, and thereby highlighting their athletic prowess and impactful performances rather than their disabilities. It’s an interesting fusion of form and function that really underscores the message behind the campaign, even if it risks alienating some viewers who complain about such a small portion of the screen being used at the start of the spot.
The athletes featured here are snowboarder Michelle Salt, sledge hockey players Tyler McGregor and Dominic Larocque, and cross country skier/biathlete Mark Arendz. Arendz called the campaign “an awesome opportunity to increase awareness and demonstrate what we as Paralympic athletes are capable of.”
Nomination for the Canadian Paralympic Team is still going, with the full team set to be officially announced at the end of the month. The 2014 Sochi Paralympic Winter Games will be held from March 7-16. Canada will send approximately 50 athletes to the games, competing in all six sports, with the goal of placing in the top three nations in the gold medal count. Credits after the jump. continued…
BBDO has just released a new Olympics spot for Visa featuring U.S. Olympic Freeskier Torin Yater-Wallace.
The 45 second spot, “Nightswim,” follows Torin on one of his night runs through “an ocean of snow,” where “it’s only [him] and the mountain.” Torin explains that he skis at night because the days just aren’t long enough, and he can engage his passion in private at night, without the pressures and distractions he faces during the day. The spot closes with Morgan Freeman‘s narration that Visa has been “supporting Olympic athletes for over 25 years.”
Like a lot of the Olympic advertising we’ve been seeing, “Nightswim” is pretty straightforward, allowing the athlete involved and the idea of Olympic sponsorship to speak for itself. The most unusual thing about the spot would have to be the nighttime setting, which allows for some interesting visuals, but also some moments where it’s kind of hard to tell what’s going on. Credits after the jump.
With the opening ceremony just a day away, and Sochi apparently still in shambles, McGarryBowen has unveiled their Winter Olympic campaign for United Airlines.
The friendly 60 second spot, entitled “Welcome Aboard, Team USA” is as straightforward as that title implies. Athletes from speed skaters to curlers (yay curling!) board the plane in ways representing their respective sports (the speed skater glides into the terminal, ski jumper is loaded onto a conveyer, figure skater twirls and stores her overhead, etc.), while the United crew is all smiles — even when the captain stops a curling stone with his foot. “Welcome Aboard, Team USA” ends with the tagline “Team USA Friendly,” followed by United’s revived “Fly The Friendly Skies” slogan. The athlete-filled spot should stoke viewers’ excitement for the games, and act as a friendly reminder of United’s sponsorship of Team USA. Credits after the jump. continued…
What happens when two NBA athletes confront each other in an ad campaign dubbed “Approved” for Foot Locker? This. Now, BBDO NY continues its successful, appealing streak with the sports apparel retail chain by bringing in New Orleans Pelicans’ unibrowed star Anthony Davis to join forces with James Harden, the bearded star of the Houston Rockets. You might remember Harden from his previous roles in Foot Locker ads including one where he exposed his singing talents. In the first Harden-less spot, Davis cruelly crashes a youngster’s hoop dreams while meeting with Harden in the second one below. It keeps continue to be appealing so let us try to get a laugh, out of this, the horrible post-ice storm day. The first one above is for Kids Foot Locker while the one below is for regular Foot Locker.
In a timely follow-up to last week’s humorous “Long Week” spot, W+K NY have released “Jersey,” the latest in their “This Is SportsCenter” campaign.
The 17 second “Jersey” features SportsCenter anchor Stuart Scott and Broncos mascot Miles. Miles, depressed enough after seeing the Broncos steamrolled in the Super Bowl, prepares for what is presumably his end of the bargain following a losing bet with Seahawks mascot Blitz, and Scott feels for him. For the Denver mascot, it’s going to be another long week. “Jersey” is a fun continuation of the mascot rivalry W+K explored with “Long Week,” although we’re guessing Broncos fans won’t be so amused. Stick around for a second look at “Long Week” after the jump. continued…
180 Amsterdam is a launching a new integrated campaign for ASICS, which continues to highlight the brand’s “Better Your Best” mantra.
The new campaign “will have an even stronger and more powerful focus on how ASICS products and technologies help athletes across the board continue to improve in their sport.” This is evident in the TV spot “Gotta Run” for ASICS: Gel. It features an obnoxiously always up athlete, running from sport to sport all day and saying “gotta run” when jetting from one place to the next, before coming home and collapsing into bed without a shower. His poor significant other removes the shoes (which must smell indescribably awful) from his feet, making the ad come full circle from the beginning, when the guy plops out of bed and right into his ASICS. It’s a bit over-the-top, but should appeal to ASICS’ athletically obsessed core audience.
180 Amsterdam’s campaign will run all year long and feature “a mix of TV and print advertisements, digital brand films, point of sale, event activation and online engagement to strengthen ASICS image as a True Sports Performance brand.” Look for the “Marathon Campaign,” “a print and film campaign that celebrates the special qualities, attributes and personality of one of the world’s most selective groups”; the “Advantage, You” tennis campaign, featuring Gael Monfils and Samantha Stosur; and the triathlon video featuring “Ironman World Champion Pete Jacobs and his wife Jaimi on location at their Noosa home” in the near future. And please, if you’re going to work out all day, remember to take a shower.
Super Bowl mania has officially begun. Advertisers are scrambling to make sure their ads get enough hype leading up to Sunday’s big game. And then there’s that other hype we’ve been hearing about involving comments Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks made during his NFC championship post-game interview with Fox Sports’ Erin Andrews.
This morning MediabistroTV sat down with Philadelphia Eagles’ wide receiver Brad Smith, in town to promote his “Design for Brad Smith” competition, and got his take on the Sherman controversy.
We’ll have more on the “Design for Brad Smith” competition during our coverage of New York Fashion Week next week. And to watch more mediabistroTV videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Twitter: @mediabistroTV.
DDB has created a series of print and banner ads for Skittles celebrating the Seahawks in anticipation of the Super Bowl.
The straightforward ads claim that the “S” on Skittles (pictured in green in the ads) now stands for Seahawks. These ads continue the brand’s celebration of the Seattle Seahawks and their star Marshawn Lynch. Last night, Skittles began a charitable auction to benefit Lynch’s the Fam 1st Family Foundation. The auction’s three lots include “24 packs of Skittles Seattle Mix (one of them signed by Marshawn Lynch) and one unique Skittles covered item, such as a football, a helmet or a megaphone.” The bidding began at $100, with one of the lots’ current high bid at $5,700. DDB’s print campaign will run “tomorrow in the Seattle Times, and on Saturday in the Tacoma Tribune and The Olympian, and they will take over Skittles’ entire existing digital media buy starting today.”
Let's take a break from the pre-Super Bowl ad madness to take a look at a spot for that other big February sporting event—that's right, we're talking about the Sochi Winter Olympics—that might be just as good as any of the best ads we'll see this Sunday.
Over the next few weeks, JCPenney will be encouraging customers to round up purchases to the nearest dollar to support the U.S. Olympic Committee. To promote the campaign, Penney came up with an extremely random but also sort-of-genius concept: an Olympics-themed remake (by EVB and Victors & Spoils) of Blackstreet's 1996 hip-hop classic "No Diggity" featuring alpine skier (and 2006 gold medal winner) Ted Ligety. And if that's not bizarre-slash-wonderful enough for you, the retailer got Blackstreet's own C. Black to perform it and star in the video.
"Go Ligety" loosely parodies Blackstreet's original "No Diggity" video, but with JCPenney being a family brand and all, there are some pretty major changes: Rather than having scantily clad video girls emerge from a limo, the "Go Ligety" backup dancers are a group of minivan-driving suburban moms. Instead of lyrics like "Strictly bitch, you don't play around/Cover much ground, got game by the pound," we get, "There is no better way/To say hooray for Team USA." And this time, the puppet version of C. Black has a friend: a Lil' Ligety marionette!
A word of advice before watching this spot: Be prepared to have "Go Ligety" stuck in your head for the next 24 hours. That is, if you haven't started humming it already.
Credits below.
CREDITS Client: JCPenney Spot: "Go Ligety" Agency: EVB, Victors & Spoils Group Creative Directors: Steve Babcock, Noah Clark Creative Directors: Rich Ford, David Gonsalves Art Director: Zack Roif Executive Integrated Producer: Lisa Effress Account Director: Lynn Harris Account Manager: Mike Dusman Production Company: World War Seven Director: Shillick Executive Producer (Production Company): Josh Ferrazzano Producer (Production Company): Mike Begovich Director of Photography: Max Gutierrez Postproduction: Coyote Post Editor: Jared Varava Assistant Editor: David Monoco Music Company: Beacon Street Studios Music Producer: Caitlin Rocklen Musician, Singer: Chauncey Black Licensed Track: No Diggity Arrangers: Mike Franklin, Dewey Thomas Sound Designer: Mike Franklin Visual Effects Company: Coyote Post Visual Effects Producer: Heidi Spencer Colorist: Paul Byrne Business Affairs: Platinum Rye Planners: Carlisle Hensley, Sara Smith Choreographer: Michael Franklin Puppeteer: Michelle Zamora
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Following a “formal competitive review” that involved incumbent/Troy NY-based creative agency, id29, as well as “several West Coast shops” along with VML, it was the last, WPP-owned agency that won out for the Cobra Puma Golf account. This marks the second AOR win for VML since last December, when the agency picked up ad duties for NAPA Auto Parts.
