Hasta La Creative!

At the end of February, W+K Portland released an ad for Nike Golf called “Why Change?” featuring Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, among a host of other athletes. Now, Woods and McIlroy are back for a new spot, released in 60 and 120-second versions, exploring the nature of athletic idols inspiring young athletes.

The ad, entitled “Ripple” tells the story of McIlroy as a dedicated young golfer who looks up to Woods as his hero. He watches Woods on TV with hypnotic awe, and practices his game relentlessly. A young McIlroy hits a plastic ball around the house, as he ages he is so devoted to the game he’ll practice driving in the pouring rain and beg his father to let him hit a few more as it gets dark. It ends with McIlroy now a proffesional golfer, playing alongside his idol. While “Why Change?” took a humorous approach, complete with sarcastic narration from Key & Peele’s Keegan-Michael Key, “Ripple” instead goes for emotion, based on the insight that athletic idolatry creates a ripple effect, with one generation inspiring the next.

“It’s been an incredible journey for me, going from massive fan to competitor,” said McIlroy, in a statement. “To think that not too long ago I was that little boy watching him on TV to where I am now. It’s been a cool journey and I’m very lucky I get to compete with and against him, because he inspired me as a kid and he inspires me now. He’s the best player I’ve ever seen.”

“I’ve been in that same situation,” added Woods. “Growing up, Jack [Nicklaus] was my idol. My first recollection of The Masters was 1986, when Jack won. I remember him making a putt at 17 and lifting that putter up. Fourteen years later at the 2000 PGA Championship, I got to play with and against him – someone I looked up to.”

(The campaign is particularly relevant given the fact that Woods fell out of the Official World Golf Rankings’ Top 100 last week for the first time since 1996.)

Credits:

W+K PORTLAND

Creative Directors Chris Groom / Stuart Brown

Copywriter Brock Kirby

Art Director Derrick Ho

Producer Jeff Selis

Interactive Strategy Reid Schilperoort

Strategic Planning Andy Lindblade / Brandon Thornton

Media/Comms Planning Alex Dobson / Jocelyn Reist

Account Team Alyssa Ramsey / Rob Archibald / Heather Morba / Ramiro Del-Cid

Business Affaires Dusty Slowik

Project Management Nancy Rea

Executive Creative Directors Joe Staples / Mark Fitzloff

Head of Production Ben Grylewicz

PRODUCTION

Production Company Biscuit Filmworks

Director Steve Rogers

Executive Producer Holly Vega

Line Producer Vincent Landay

Director of Photography Nicolas Karakatsanis

EDITORIAL

Editorial Company Joint Editorial

Editor Peter Wiedensmith

Post Producer Leslie Carthy

Post Executive Producer Patty Brebner

VFX

VFX Company The Mill

VFX Supervisor Tim Davies

Flame Artist

VFX Producer Will Lemmon

Titles/Graphics

MUSIC + SOUND DESIGN

Music+Sound Company

Composer Ludovico Einaudi

Sound Designer

Song (if applicable) Nuvole Bianche

Producer

DIGITAL / INTERACTIVE

CONTENT TYPE Online Media

LAUNCH DATE 4/5-12/15

DURATION 1.5 weeks

W+K PORTLAND

Creative Director Chris Groom / Stuart Brown

Copywriter Brock Kirby

Art Director Derrick Ho

Producer Jeff Selis

Interactive Strategy Reid Schilperoort

Strategic Planning Andy Lindblade / Brandon Thornton

Media/Comms Planning Alex Dobson / Jocelyn Reist

Account Team Alyssa Ramsey / Rob Archibald / Heather Morba / Ramiro Del-Cid

Executive Creative Directors Joe Staples / Mark Fitzloff

Agency Executive Producer Ben Grylewicz

Digital Designer Rob Mumford

Exec Interactive Producer Patrick Marzullo

Content Producer Byron Oshiro

Broadcast Jeff Selis

Art Buying Amy Berriochoa

Photographer Luke Delong

W+K Tokyo launched the final spot in its “Re:RUN” campaign for Nike Women’s in Japan, entitled “The Finish Line.”

The new spot concludes the story of three women who dropped out of the Nagoya Women’s Marathon but decided, with the help of Nike, to try again. Nike developed custom training programs for each of the three women in the campaign with its professional trainers and followed the women over the course of two months as they prepared for this years marathon. “The Finish Line” follows the women as they face their past failures and once again compete in the Nagoya Women’s Marathon. Unsurprisingly, it has a rather happy ending. W+K Tokyo and Nike also covered the women’s race days on social media, so those following the campaign will hardly be surprised to learn that Nao, Natsumi and Kana all finished the race.

Credits:

W+K TOKYO
Executive Creative Directors: Mike Farr, Tota Hasegawa
Creative Director: Adam Koppel
Art Director: Matt Moore
Copywriter: Charlie Gschwend, Asami Yamashita
Designer: Ayano Takase
Planner: Maria Correa
Translator: Fumie Itake
Agency Producer: Kana Wakabayashi
Agency Assistant Producer: Masataka Odaka
Account Director: Ryan Johnson
Account Supervisor: Ai Kawasaki
Account Coordinator: Chihiro Sasaki

FILM PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION COMPANY:???? ???????GunsRock inc.?
Director: ?????Yasuhito Tsuge?
Director: ????Takashi Koyama?
Producer: ?????Takeshi Matsutomo?
Production Manager: ????Yuu Banba?/ ?????Kenji Tanimoto?/?????Ryuta Nagano? ????Tatsuya Tsuji?/????Kaoru Tanaka?
Director of Photography: ????Jin ito?/ ???????Yoshitaka Murakami?
Steady camera: ?????Hisataka Ueda?
Mixer: ?????Shuji Komaki?
Off Line editor: ?????Yoshitaka Honda?/ ?????Nobuo Mita?
Colour Correction: ?????Hiroyasu Tsurukawa?
CAST:?? ?? (Nao Harada), ?? ?? (Natsumi Kozato),  ?? ?? (Kana Murata)

Kraft has changed how it defines consumers who eat Velveeta, from age and gender (millennial males) to mind-set (fun people who like to indulge). As such, new ads for Velveeta Shells & Cheese feature a broadly appealing pair of prospectors from the 19th century instead of a cool dude who sells remote-control helicopters at a mall.

In one TV ad breaking today, the bearded prospectors, one older and one younger, marvel at the “liquid gold” they’re eating, and the young one asks the oldster how he found it. Then what looks like a campfire conversation in the woods pulls back to reveal a whole different scene entirely.

Future spots will also find humor in the odd placement of frontiersmen in a modern supermarket. The campaign also includes online ads, social media marketing and a new wrinkle for the brand, radio ads, said Tiphanie Maronta, a senior brand manager at Kraft.

The ads are the first for Velveeta from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, which inherited the brand from Wieden + Kennedy in an agency consolidation late last year. 

Traveling constantly for work can suck, and Delta wants you to know it understands.

A new ad from Wieden + Kennedy New York tackles that familiar trope, as a drone of a man trudges through relatable little first-world indignities—the electronic keycard to his hotel room not working, getting lost going for a run in foreign streets, ironing a tie he’s still wearing (but wait … isn’t that how everybody does it at home, too?).

The whole spot hangs on the pensive singsong 1970 recording “Love You” by pop group The Free Design (also, how Suzanne Vega’s 1987 classic “Tom’s Diner” might sound if it were a nursery rhyme). The track is hypnotizing, if maybe a little preachy or misleading, implying the sad sack should be better enjoying his surroundings, some of which are stunning.

He does make the most of his suffering … maybe? To some degree? Looking at the views? Talking to people? Eating different foods? But mostly his face says it’s a lonely, alienating and exhausting trek.

The creatives also might peek through the curtain a little (sick of leaving loved ones behind to go on shoots?), but it doesn’t really matter. The images are generic enough examples of business travel that the guy could just as easily be in plastics.

Eventually, he makes it to a safe haven … the plane.

“It’s not home, but with every well-considered detail, it becomes one step closer,” says the voiceover. True as that may be, it certainly puts a positive spin on the situation, given that yet another intercontinental flight might actually end up being the least comfortable part of the whole ordeal.

CREDITS
Client: Delta Air Lines
Project: “On the Road”

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, New York
Executive Creative Directors: Susan Hoffman and David Kolbusz
Creative Directors: Sean McLaughlin and John Parker
Copywriter: Eric Helin + Jean Sharkey
Art Director: Mathieu Zarbatany + Devin Sharkey
Head of Content Production: Nick Setounski
Broadcast Producer: Cheryl Warbrook + Helen Park
Brand Strategist: Meranne Behrends + Sam Matthews
Account Team: Liz Taylor, Meghan Mullen, Jasmina Almeda
Business Affairs: Sara Jagielski, Keri Rommel, Sonia Bisono, Rylee Millerd

Production Company: Epoch
Director: Martin de Thurah
Managing Director: Mindy Goldberg
Executive Producer: Melissa Culligan
Head of Production: Megan Murphreee
Producer: Michaela Johnson
Production Supervisor: Terry Gallagher

Editorial Company: Rock Paper Scissors
Editor: Mikkel Nielsen
Executive Producer: Eve Kornblum
Post Producer: Jen Milano
Post Executive Producer:
Editorial Assistant: Misha Kozlov

VFX Company: The Mill
VFX Lead Flame: Nathan Kane
Colorist: Fergus McCall
VFX Flame Artists: Krissy Nordella, Ben Kwok, and Jamin Clutcher
VFX CG Artists:
Producer: Colin Moneymaker

Sound Studio: Sonic Union
Sound mixer: Steve Rosen / Fernando Ascani
Producer: Melissa Tanzer + Justine Cortale

In this inspirational ad from Wieden + Kennedy for Powerade, a boy who represents a young Derrick Rose rides through the south side of Chicago to a voiceover by Tupac Shakur—the late rapper’s first-ever narration of a commercial.

“You see, you wouldn’t ask why the rose that grew from the concrete had damaged petals,” Shakur says. “On the contrary, we would all celebrate its tenacity. We would all love its will to reach the sun. Well, we are the roses. This is the concrete. These are my damaged petals. Don’t ask me why. Ask me how.”

The bike ride from the south side to the United Center reflects Rose’s journey from the streets of Englewood, through adversity, to the NBA. The scenes then change to the present day, with the recently injured Bulls point guard drinking a Powerade courtside. Copy flashes, “We’re all just a kid from somewhere,” and the spot ends with a Rose wearing a “Just a kid from Chicago” sweatshirt.

The #powerthrough hashtag seems poignant in light of Rose’s recent injuries. And of course, using lines from “The Rose That Grew Through Concrete” is almost too lovely and perfect.

CREDITS
Client: Powerade
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy
Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Jaron Albertin

Tiger Woods has been having a rough time for about half a decade. He’s been stuck on 14 major championships since 2008, but it’s good to know he can poke a little fun at himself.

Tiger gives his pursuit of No. 15 a quick, humorous mention in this very entertaining Nike Golf spot from Wieden + Kennedy, which also stars Rory McIlroy, Michelle Wie, Charles Barkley and Bo Jackson (who utters a certain familiar phrase from an old, old, old W+K campaign for Nike). Comedian Keegan-Michael Key provides the voiceover.

The ad, for Nike’s Vapor driver, takes a humorous look at why golfers of all skill levels might want to change their driver.

CREDITS
Client: Nike Golf
Project: There’s Always Better

—TV
Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Directors: Chris Groom / Stuart Brown
Copywriter: Brock Kirby
Art Director: Derrick Ho
Producer: Jeff Selis
Interactive Strategy: Reid Schilperoort
Strategic Planning: Andy Lindblade / Brandon Thornton
Media/Comms Planning: Alex Dobson / Jocelyn Reist
Account Team: Alyssa Ramsey / Rob Archibald / Heather Morba / Ramiro Del-Cid
Business Affaires: Dusty Slowik
Project Management: Nancy Rea
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples / Mark Fizloff
Head of Production: Ben Grylewicz

Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks
Director: Steve Rogers
Executive Producer: Holly Vega
Line Producer: Vincent Landay
Director of Photography: Nicolas Karakatsanis

Editorial Company: Joint Editorial
Editor: Matthew Hilber,
Post Producer: Leslie Carthy
Post Executive Producer: Patty Brebner

VFX Company: The Mill
VFX Supervisor: Tim Davies
VFX Producer: Will Lemmon

Music+Sound Company: Barking Owl

—Digital/Interactive

Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland, Ore.
Creative Director: Chris Groom / Stuart Brown
Copywriter: Brock Kirby
Art Director: Derrick Ho
Producer: Jeff Selis
Interactive Strategy: Reid Schilperoort
Strategic Planning: Andy Lindblade / Brandon Thornton
Media/Comms Planning: Alex Dobson / Jocelyn Reist
Account Team: Alyssa Ramsey / Rob Archibald / Heather Morba / Ramiro Del-Cid
Executive Creative Directors: Joe Staples / Mark Fitzloff
Agency Executive Producer: Ben Grylewicz
Digital Designer: Rob Mumford
Exec Interactive Producer: Patrick Marzullo
Content Producer : Byron Oshiro / Sarah Gamazo
Broadcast: Jeff Selis
Art Buying: Amy Berriochoa
Photographer: Henrique Plantikow
Interactive Studio Artist: Adam Sirkin, Oliver Rokoff

W+K London tests viewers speed reading abilities in a series of unconventional ads for Honda.

Entitled “Keep Up,” “Keep Up (Faster)” and “Keep Up (Even Faster,” the spots are inspired by speed reading apps that function by, as Adweek puts it, “displaying a single word on the screen at a time, one right after another in rapid succession,” along the reader to “not just beat but destroy the average reading pace of 220 words per minute.” W+K London employs the same tactic here, with words flashing by in quick succession, ending by asking the viewer, “Think you can push your limits even further?” before linking them to the next video, where the words scroll by even faster.

The main video has amassed over 150,000 views, and since the other two have almost as many it seems safe to say most viewers are taking Honda up on the challenge. W+K London does a good job of marrying the concept to the idea of pushing personal boundaries and finds a way to stand out in the crowded auto space.

Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam announced the appointment of Blake Harrop as managing director, replacing Clay Mills, who left for an opportunity in the UK. Harrop will join Executive Creative Directors Eric Quennoy and Mark Bernath, who took over in 2010.

Harrop arrives from W+K Tokyo, where he has served as managing director for four year. While at W+K Tokyo he worked with clients including Nike, Facebook and Ben & Jerry’s and is credited with helping to grow the independent agency, which was named Independent Agency of the Year in 2014 by Campaign Asia. Prior to W+K, Harrop spent two years as senior vice president of Digitas New York. He has also served as global strategist and global head of interactive marketing for Samsung.

“Our Amsterdam office has always been a global powerhouse and Blake’s DNA makes him the perfect fit for the office,” said W+K President and Partner Dave Luhr, in a statement. “I don’t know too many Managing Directors out there who have lived in every region of the world, speak five languages, have proven digital chops, is a Judo master and knows how to inspire creativity. I can’t wait to see what our trio of Eric, Mark and Blake in Amsterdam will do.”

Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam goes big in its new work for Booking.com, with a 60-second spot that tells the epic story of a “booking hero” whose knack for finding the perfect accommodations helps him not enjoy have a great vacation—it helps him fulfill his destiny.

We follow the guy’s whole life, from a chance encounter with his future wife in a hostel through a romantic proposal at a chateau—and then through the downs, and mostly ups, of family life and professional success.

Four 30-second spots, with 15-second cut downs, will also roll out soon, along with five contextual online films that match user Google keyword searches.

brightcove.createExperiences();

We spoke with Genevieve Hoey, creative director at W+K Amsterdam, about the campaign.

AdFreak: What made you choose the idea of heroism for this campaign?
Genevieve Hoey: It’s a relatable, human insight—which is our currency for Booking.com. We know people have a small amount of vacation days each year, so it’s vital to get vacation accommodation more than “just right.” Understandably, people want to absolutely nail their vacation, and that’s what this campaign is all about—how Booking.com helps people to get it booking right, leaving them feeling like accommodation heroes. Booking.com’s aim is to make every precious trip, booking right. And as you’ll see in this year’s work, the right accommodation can even be life changing.

Why follow one guy through a series of life changes?
Dennis is an everyman, likable and relatable. Following one guy allows us to dramatize the epic results of a lifetime of well-booked accommodations. We want people to see the potential for themselves to be accommodation heroes and embark on their own journey though Booking.com’s vast range of incredible properties.

How outlandish did you want to get with the plot?
We’re always writing and honing until the very last minute, working closely with our Booking.com clients. The work this year is definitely dramatized but not exaggerated—it’s all in the realm of possibilities. The idea behind each script is rooted in either a Booking customer review or an interesting Booking.com data point. Ultimately we’re hoping to delight our fans with the most relatable and entertaining Booking.com work possible.

What was the biggest challenge on this production?
We always shoot in Booking.com locations. The biggest challenge is choosing which ones from their 600,000 properties across the world. This year we wanted to show Booking’s wide variety—they have 25 different property types. So, to excite people with the life-changing possibilities at their fingertips, we shot in medieval castles, rustic log cabins, on rooftop infinity pools, in historic penthouse suites and so forth. We worked with A-list director Dante Ariola to create sweeping cinematic odes to vacation greatness, to show people the rewards of getting accommodation booking right, with Booking.com.

Right Shark and Left Shark had great time at the Super Bowl in Arizona. (Well, one of them had a better time than the other.) But now it’s back to the grind. And that means returning to the ESPN offices in snowy Bristol, Conn., and getting back to their day jobs—next to every other athlete, mascot and halftime-show dance partner in the world.

And here, we even get to see who’s underneath those suddenly famous fish costumes.

Wieden + Kennedy New York’s “This Is SportsCenter” campaign is always pretty fresh and memorable, but it’s great to see them jumping on this topic—which fits the campaign’s goofy humor so well.