WESTIN - SENSES
The Challenge: Westin is positioned as a sensory experience, with the tagline “This is how it should feel.” Give prospective guests that feeling through a traditionally cold, unfeeling medium.
The Idea: Illustrate each amenity through simple, allegorical interactions. Extend the experiences in ads and branded digital experiences. It's much more fun when you try it yourself at westin.com/senses.
ALL DETERGENT - LAUNDRY FAIRY
The Challenge: All Detergent was being featured on the Celebrity Apprentice. Cool, right? Well, in the hands of celebrities, the product didn't come off in the best light.
The Idea: To make lemonade, we created a program where contestants Joan and Melissa Rivers each created videos that could make them and, most importantly All, look a little better. A vote for either video gave visitors a chance to win a trip to the Apprentice finale, plus each vote donated money to charity. We even created a TV spot to drive to the promotion online. Laundry fairies even showed up at the BlogHer conference, an audience with whom we knew the program had been well received. Want pictures? Just check Flickr.
MERCEDES-BENZ - 2010 E-CLASS
The Challenge: How do you launch one of the most technologically advanced cars in the world in a recession where no one wants to buy luxury vehicles?
The Idea: Get back to the basics. A wide-scale web campaign concentrated on the details of the new technologies with simple messages and demonstrations. Using plenty of rich media and powerful, visual placements, we were able to educate prospects on several of the specific benefits of the E-Class without even asking them to go to a site.
DELTA AIR LINES - ATLANTA TO THE WORLD
The Challenge: Produce a 15-second Flash piece touting their Atlanta Braves sponsorship that would run on the Jumbotron at Turner Field.
The Idea: Add some strategy (promote their global expansion) and pitch it as a 60-second spot instead. They found the money to produce it, as well as money for a small online program to support it. Our senior client called it the best spot that Delta had done in at least 10 years.
PARTNERSHIP FOR A DRUG-FREE AMERICA - DON'T SOUND LIKE YOUR PARENTS
The Challenge: The Partnership for a Drug-Free America has always been known for anti-drug messages, but they want to evolve into a key resource for parents. Because the fact is, a lot of the kids who grew up with their ads are now parents and need help talking to their own kids about drugs.
The Idea: It’s all based on a simple insight that no one wants to be as inept at “the drug talk” as their parents were. To help parents realize they’re much better equipped, we created a 70’s basement where it's ok for kids to sit around and share stories about how square their parents are. It's just that those kids happen to be parents themselves.
Go play and share a story at DontSoundLikeYourParents.org.
MORE TO LOOK AT: [ banner 1 | banner 2 | banner 3 ]
MORGAN STANLEY - MATRIX
The Challenge: Matrix was a game-changing client trading and communication interface, but nobody seemed to care. Simply, it needed an identity and teaser campaign to make it matter.
The Idea: We gave the Matrix identity a high-tech overhaul (within brand regulations, of course.) Everything was based on connecting to new ideas, or in the case of the ID, a single point of light. Then we went low-tech with physical installations in the Morgan Stanley London offices. They were simple demonstrations of how technological advances connect you to new ideas and make the old norm look like garbage. We're probably the first and last group to ever put stacks of garbage in every elevator bay in their building and get away with it.
We also planned gala events with individualized digital invitations, as well as a mobile Matrix experience as the launch expended to other cities and countries. Unfortunately world economic collapse usurped our grand plans.
DELTA AIR LINES - SITESEER
The Idea: Video destination guides that take advantage of their international expansion and new brand to get the people front and center. After all, who knows the destinations better than people who live and work there? I'm bummed that it's been taken off of delta.com, but the videos are still alive and well on the YouTube, TripAdvisor and elsewhere.
The idea even spawned an Amazing Race-like promotion called the Siteseer Challenge, where teams selected through video submissions traveled the world creating their own Siteseer videos. Each week, thousands of SkyMiles members voted, and the least liked team got the boot. It was an amazing SkyMiles acquisition campaign, disguised as a fun, truly entertaining brand experience. Even the Cranky Flier seemed touched.
HEINEKEN DRAUGHTKEG - FUTURISTIC DELIVERY SYSTEM
The Challenge: The Heineken Draughtkeg is truly a feat of engineering. It's easy to use, tastes great, and it's different than anything out there. So where's the challenge? The tv spot was already sold, featuring a female robot birthing a draughtkeg from her abdomen...Huh?
The Idea: The old upload-your-face-to-a-dancing-robot-and-make-it-a-viral-video bit. It was a few years ago. But it did get the word out. And a lot of people spent a lot of time with the brand and its great new product. Plus if you take a look around the site, you'll find some of the other stuff is really nice. Take a gander.
THERE'S MORE TO SEE
The Idea: Get a look at the rest of my portfolio for additional banners, sites, TV, print and more. It's worth the trip.
