Hasta La Creative!

The Martin agency launched a new campaign for Ritz, the first for the Mondelez cracker brand in eight years (Havas’ “Open For Fun” campaign in 2007 was the most recent for the brand).

Both the title and direction of the campaign allude to the brand’s origins as an affordable indulgence during the Great Depression. “We took inspiration from where we began, which was during the Great Depression in 1934. And that was when butter crackers could only be afforded by a few,” Linda Lee, senior director of the North American cracker category at Mondelez International, explained to AdAge. “But Ritz really allowed the masses, allowed everyone, to have a taste of a buttery rich cracker.”

In the broadcast spot for the campaign (featured above), voiceover stating, “May you be rich, so rich nothing is out of reach. Filthy rich.” is contrasted with footage of a family’s everday happy moments. The approach is exemplified by “filthy rich” being delivered over footage of playing in the mud. A print ad for the campaign reads, “Not country club rich, book club rich,” a perfect demonstration of the double meaning the campaign aims to give the word. “We’ve moved from an era of materialism and financial gain to an era that is about relationship, connection, just moments,” Lee explained, citing the brand’s attempts to market to consumers who value experiences over wealth.

The “Play with OREO” campaign, which launched in January, continues this month with a lovely new set of out-of-home ads featuring groovy illustrations from 10 artists.

The artists were given words to play off—functional ones like “dunk” and “twist,” as well as more emotional ones like “dream” and “wonder”—and asked to come up with a scene that brings those words to life. The only requirement was that the scene include a character with the Oreo cookie wafer as the face/head.

The ads will run outdoors in New York City, Los Angeles and Indianapolis and shared through Oreo social channels starting this week. The featured artists are Shotopop, Jeff Soto, Ryan Todd, McBess, Andrew Bannecker, Geoff McFetridge, Andy Rementer, Alex Trochut, Craig and Karl and Brosmind.

See all the ads below, along with credits.

CREDITS
Client: OREO, Mondelez International, Inc.
Advertising: The Martin Agency
Public Relations: Weber Shandwick
Social: 360i
Media Buying: MediaVest

Client Credits:
VP, Global Biscuit Category Jason Levine
VP, Brand Strategy and Communications Jill Baskin
Senior Director, OREO & Chips Ahoy! Janda Lukin
OREO Global Brand Manager Flavio Ackel
OREO Sr Associate Brand Manager Kerri McCarthy

Agency Credits:
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Alexander
SVP/Executive Creative Director: Jorge Calleja
VP/Creative Director: Magnus Hierta
VP/Creative Director David Muhlenfeld
VP/Associate Creative Director/Design: Chris Peel
Associate Designer: William Godwin
Senior Studio Artist: Matt Wieringo
VP/Group Planning Director: John Gibson
Strategic Planner: Gigi Jordan
EVP/Worldwide Acct Director: John Campbell
SVP/Group Acct Director: Darren Foot
VP/Account Director: Leslie Hodgin
VP/Account Director: Britta Dougherty
Account Supervisor: Molly Holmes
Account Coordinator: James Salusky
EVP/Managing Director Production & Development: Steve Humble
Senior Art Producer: Anya Mills
Senior Print Producer: Paul Martin
Junior Print Producer: Jamie Parker
Group Project Management Supervisor: Giao Roever
Business Affairs Supervisor: Juanita McInteer

Illustrators:

—Bernstein Andruilli
Shotopop
Jeff Soto
Ryan Todd
McBess
Andrew Bannecker
Geoff McFetridge

—Big Active
Andy Rementer

—Levine Leavitt
Alex Trochut
Craig and Karl
Brosmind

The Martin Agency launched a new global campaign for Oreo, called “Play With Oreo.”

“Fans have always played with Oreo in a number of unique ways by twisting, licking, dunking, rolling, stacking and dipping the cookie. Now, the brand is on a mission to inspire imagination and play around the globe, not only with the cookie itself, but in consumer’s everyday lives,” the brand explained to Adweek.

Coming on the heels of such playful efforts as 360i’s Halloween “Nomsters,” the new campaign is far from a dramatic shift for the brand. Indeed, the new ad keeps the “Wonderfilled” platform (and tagline) intact. The animated spot, set to an original tune by French electro-pop act Yelle, focuses on all the different ways consumers play with and tweak their Oreos. “It’s so easy to let your imagination go when you play with Oreo,” the song (and spot) concludes.

It comes across as a pretty natural evolution for the brand, building on previous “Wonderfilled” efforts as the brand sharpens its focus on imagination and play. The ad will make its U.S. broadcast debut — in both 15 and 30 second versions — next Monday, eventually airing in over 40 countries. In other Oreo news, the brand confirmed that Red Velvet Oreos will be released in time for Valentine’s Day.

Credits:

Client: OREO (Mondelez International, Inc.)
VP, Global Biscuit Category: Jason Levine
VP, Brand Strategy and Communications: Jill Baskin
Senior Director, OREO & Chips Ahoy!: Janda Lukin
OREO Global Brand Manager: Flavio Ackel
OREO Sr Associate Brand Manager: Kerri McCarthy

Agency: The Martin Agency
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Alexander
SVP/Executive Creative Director: Jorge Calleja
VP/Creative Director: David Muhlenfeld
VP/Creative Director: Magnus Hierta
VP/Group Planning Director: John Gibson
Strategic Planner: Gigi Jordan
EVP/Worldwide Acct Director: John Campbell
SVP/Group Acct Director: Darren Foot
VP/Account Director: Leslie Hodgin
VP/Account Director: Britta Dougherty
Account Supervisor: Molly Holmes
EVP/Managing Director Production & Development: Steve Humble
Producer: Heather Tanton
Junior Producer: Maggie Shifflett
Group Project Management Supervisor: Giao Roever
Business Affairs Supervisor: Juanita McInteer

Production Company: Brand New School
Executive Creative Director: Jonathan Notaro
Managing Director: Devin Brook
Head of Production: Julie Shevach
Producer: Johnna MacArthur
Designer: Andrés Rivera
Designer: Jeffrey Welk
Designer: Jungeun Kim
Designer: Lindsey Mayer-Beug
Designer: Serge Kirsanov
CG Director: Russ Wootton
2D Lead: Mark French
Technical Director: Dan Bradham
3D Animator: Carmine Laietta
3D Animator: Jon Burke
3D Animator: Spyridon Serbos
3D Animator: Sam Crees
3D Artist & Cell Animator: Jeff Bryson
3D Artist & Cell Animator: Morten Christensen
3D Lighting: Michael Lampe
3D Lighting: Sylvia Apostol
3D Modeler: Atsuki Hirose
3D Modeler: Scott Denton
3D Modeler: Young Lee
3D Rigger: Jason Bikofsky
3D Rigger: Jonah Austin
2D Compositor: Jeen Lee
2D Compositor: Jeff (Dragon) Billon
Storyboard Artist: Fred Fassberger
Storyboard Artist: Tung Chow
Assistant Editor: Tyler Byrnes

Music Composition & Lyrics: David Muhlenfeld, English Major

Music Production & Mix: Duotone
Engineer: Aaron Mirman
Producer: Lissa Farquhar
Executive Producer: David Leinheardt

Final Master: The Lodge
Voiceover talent: Yelle
Music Supervision: Aaron Mercer, Wool&Tusk

Public Relations: Weber Shandwick
Media: Media Vest
Social: 360i

If you’re excited by rumors of a Salt-N-Pepa reunion album, you’ll thoroughly enjoy this Geico ad where Salt, Pepa and DJ Spinderella don their famous jackets and tell everybody to push it.

Divorcing the song from its sexual connotations, the ladies are now here to help anyone who needs some encouragement with their pushing. They help a man who tries to pull open a door that needs to be pushed. They help a lady in an elevator who needs to select a floor. They show up at a Lamaze class, then on a football sled, and finally they dance after a poor man trying to mow his lawn.

It’s pure silliness. But it certainly is memorable. And since Geico doesn’t have to use its ads to tell you what it does (save you 15 percent on car insurance, as everybody knows), it might as well have fun with it.

Also, you’re not going to be able to push “Push It” out of your head for the next few hours.

CREDITS
Client: Geico
Vice President, Marketing: Ted Ward
Manager, Broadcast Production and Agency Relations: Amy Hooks
Marketing Planner: Amy Ruddell
Marketing Coordinator: Katherine Kalec
Marketing Coordinator: Tom Perlozzo 

Agency: The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Alexander
SVP/Group Creative Director: Steve Bassett
SVP/Group Creative Director: Wade Alger
SVP/Creative Director/Art Director: Sean Riley
Senior Copywriter: Ken Marcus
VP/Agency Executive Broadcast Producer: Molly Schaaf
Bid/Prep/Shoot/Edit Producer: Alex Scheer-Payne
Vfx/Finishing Producer: Sam Tucker
Agency Junior Producer: Emily Taylor
Business Affairs Supervisor: Suzanne Wieringo
Senior Integrated Production Business Manager: Amy Trenz
VP/ Group Account Director: Brad Higdon
Account Supervisor: Parker Collins
Account Executive: Meg Ingraham
Senior Project Manager: Jason Ray    

Production Company: Hungry Man
Director: Wayne McClammy
Director of Photography: Bryan Newman
Executive Producer Mino Jarjoura
Producer: Nate Young

Editorial Company: Mackenzie Cutler
Editor: Ian MacKenzie
Assistant Editor: Nick Divers
Executive Producer: Sasha Hirschfield
Editorial Producer: Evan Meeker

Telecine: The Mill
Colorist: Fergus McCall

Audio Post Company: Rainmaker Studios
Engineer: Jeff McManus

Push It:
Conform: Running With Scissors
Conform Artist: Chris Hagen
Executive Producer: Scott Friske
Producer: DeeDee Ray

Talent:
“Push It”
Cheryl “Salt” James Wray
Sandra “Pepa” Denton
Deidra “Spinderella” Roper
Door Guy – Sergio Cilli
Elevator Woman – Suzy Nakamura
Lamaze Wife – Chala Savino
Lamaze Husband – Lonny Ross
Lawnmower Guy – Mike McCafferty
AVO – Jon Curry
Music – “Push It”

Comedian/filmmaker John Freiler took issue with GEICO today.

Specifically, in a tumblr post and a series of related tweets, Freiler claims that the newest spot from The Martin Agency stole its premise from a film he and his co-creators released last year:

“GEICO, a company that is essentially a sentient collection of irritating pop-up ads for your TV, copied our film down to its marrow. This is not awesome or fun or great.”

Here’s the film in question, which scored more than six million views by inverting all the cliches that drive the horror genre:

…and the latest GEICO spot after the jump.

(more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Geico introduces its latest advertising theme, “It’s what you do,” in this amusing horror-movie sendup from The Martin Agency that breaks just in time for Halloween.

Much like the insurer’s “Did you know?” commercials, and the ads featuring Maxwell the pig and Caleb the hump-day camel, “It’s what you do” espouses the wisdom of switching to Geico in order to save money. Some other things people do aren’t nearly so clever.

For example, teens in scary films are famous for making bad choices that significantly increase their peril. That’s just “what they do.” Here, a bunch of numbskulls on the run from a murderous maniac look for a hiding place—and consider an attic, a basement, a spooky running car and a garage crammed full of chainsaws.

When one girl suggests hightailing it to the cemetery, that actually seems like a smart idea, because this clueless crew will probably wind up dead anyway.

CREDITS
Client: Geico
Vice President, Marketing: Ted Ward
Manager, Broadcast Production and Agency Relations: Amy Hooks
Marketing Planner: Amy Ruddell
Marketing Coordinator: Katherine Kalec
Marketing Coordinator: Tom Perlozzo

Agency: The Martin Agency
Chief Creative Officer: Joe Alexander
SVP/Group Creative Director: Steve Bassett
SVP/Group Creative Director: Wade Alger
SVP/Creative Director/Art Director: Sean Riley
Senior Copywriter: Ken Marcus
VP/Agency Executive Broadcast Producer: Molly Schaaf
Bid/Prep/Shoot/Edit Producer: Alex Scheer-Payne
Vfx/Finishing Producer: Sam Tucker
Agency Junior Producer: Emily Taylor
Business Affairs Supervisor: Suzanne Wieringo
Senior Integrated Production Business Manager: Amy Trenz
VP/ Group Account Director: Brad Higdon
Account Supervisor: Parker Collins
Account Executive: Meg Ingraham
Senior Project Manager: Jason Ray

Production Company: Hungry Man
Director: Wayne McClammy
Director of Photography: Bryan Newman
Executive Producer Mino Jarjoura
Producer: Nate Young

Editorial Company: Mackenzie Cutler
Editor: Ian MacKenzie
Assistant Editor: Nick Divers
Executive Producer: Sasha Hirschfield
Editorial Producer: Evan Meeker

Telecine: The Mill
Colorist: Fergus McCall

Audio Post Company: Rainmaker Studios
Engineer: Jeff McManus

Horror Movie:
Conform: Running With Scissors
Conform Artist: Chris Hagen
Executive Producer: Scott Friske 
Producer: DeeDee Ray

The Martin Agency would like you to “Meet the Hopsons,” a family who live in a giant bouncy house.

The Hopsons fell in love with their neighborhood but, since all the houses have vinyl siding, they assumed they couldn’t paint theirs. Since they love color, this was a problem. The Hopsons came up with an unusual solution and decided to live in a giant bouncy house. And so begin the whacky adventures of “Meet the Hopsons.” At over two minutes the premise, which might have made for a fun 30-second spot, feels stretched far too thin, and it’s not until the last 30 seconds or so that the idea is tied to Benjamin Moore’s Revive paint for vinyl siding. Still, “Meet the Hopsons” is not entirely without some degree of quirky charm. It’s just hard to believe anyone would stick around long enough to see Benjamin Moore’s product presented as the solution. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Richmond, Va.-based The Martin Agency has been cashing in with a certain talking camel for an insurance company lately. It seems they finally earned enough money to save up for a big move — to London.

UK’s Campaign reports that the 49-year-old agency has long had its sights set overseas:
Matt Williams, the chief executive of the US agency, said London has been “a goal for us for some time”.
Initial interviews to fill the ECD and MD roles are underway, and the agency hopes to have 10 to 15 people in the London office by the end of the summer.

In a statement, Martin CCO Joe Alexander described the city as “one of the world’s great creative markets,” noting the exceptional craftsmanship behind the ads produced there.
“It’s something we’ve always prided ourselves on, as well,” Alexander said. “But the proof will be in the size of our ideas and the quality of the execution. Those are the only things that matter.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Sometimes a little stupid is just right.

Chips Ahoy delivers with a series of spots from The Martin Agency featuring an animated cookie prone to minor, entertaining mischief. The 30- and 15-second shorts get all the key details right—the pauses, and the simple but absurd expressions.

It's a good play for the kids who'll clamor after the product. The moms who do the grocery shopping may not be so thrilled that the brand is egging on their little angels.

Then again, who could stay mad at a face like that?

Enquanto no Brasil a Oreo estreou com a garotada cantando Bob Marley, lá fora a marca segue firme e forte com a campanha Wonderfilled, criada pela The Martin Agency. A animação, mais uma vez, é assinada pela We Are Royale, enquanto a trilha sonora é um pop dançante interpretado pela dupla canadense de rock indie Tegan & Sara.

Para este comercial, a ideia era apresentar uma edição limitada de biscoitos com diferentes sabores, tendo como mote a possibilidade de revelarmos às pessoas um lado desconhecido de nossa personalidade. Mais ou menos o que as gêmeas canadenses fazem neste jingle.

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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