I've decided to post the work I've done for my portfolio on the blog. I'll take feedback, constructive criticism, or plain old gushing affection.
The first client is 5 Gum, a hip, new-ish chewing gum brand from Wrigley.
Ad specs: Print, Full Page (8.5 x 11), 4 Color Things to note: it's sugar free, it comes in 7 ambiguously-named flavors, the package is shaped so that the sticks are arranged in a 3 x 5 box.
I chose to take an attitudinal positioning because, quite frankly, there are very few distinct product benefits for various brands of gum.
Special thanks to all my friends who posed for the ads:
A Christmas themed spot from my favorite campaign currently on TV came out recently. Perhaps you've seen it:
This just-plain-adorable spot places the iPhone on the Island of Misfit Toys, which you may recall from the classic 1965 claymation, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The phone is a misfit because, according to Verizon and the cute screwed up toys in the ad, the iPhones cool features are countered by the poor 3G coverage of AT&T.
It seemed so clever to me until I realized that this wasn't the first time a Rankin/Bass animation had been morphed into an ad. Please recall this spot from Christmas 2007:
The Aflac Duck, created by Kaplan Thaler Group and voiced by the incomparable Gilbert Gottfried, substitutes as the lead for Santa's sleigh in the stead of an incapacitated Rudolph.
A little disappointing that Verizon didn't do their homework on this one (or they didn't take into account that both commercials would appear during the same Thanksgiving Day Parade, as they did today). The spot is just so well done that I may forgive them on this one. At least it isn't Luke Wilson throwing postcards all over a map.
Regardless, hope you all enjoyed your turkey day. Gilbert wishes you all a Happy Black Friday:
Last week The NewHouse, the student ad agency I am a part of, took to the Quad to start a flash mob, that is, a spontaneous gathering of people in public used to garner attention from passers by for a cause.
The cause was to call attention to Hopenhagen, aka COP15, the United Nations Climate Change Conference which will convene in Denmark on December 7. We've since followed up with a connection to the online petition.
Several members of the agency (myself included, as evidenced in the horrifically pale image above) gathered on the Quad at 12:07 pm on Wednesday and removed our weather-appropriate attire for clothes (or lack thereof) more suited for the beach. We hope the message was clear: if we don't do something about climate change, the seasons as we know them could disappear.
The flash mob was an experiment in a lot of non-traditional methods, including viral (we used facebook to the point of over-hyping the event) and guerrilla marketing. Our event drew reporters from several campus publications and the campus TV station, increasing impressions exponentially at no cost to us.
There's a lot of potential in events like these and we may begin seeing them on a larger scale. Ray Lapena, a friend and contemporary at Syracuse, organized a similar event (although his involved more clothes and more dancing) to build hype for his campus organization, First Year Players.
It's only a matter of time before these advertising messages will be appearing more often as advertisers attempt to get around people's ever-developing filter towards traditional marketing.
It helped that it wasn't freezing, like we expected. It was a mild 50 degrees, which may represent the start of global warming in Syracuse. I'm used to snow at this time.
The reaction has to be mixed for this one. Some are amazed by the ability to pour 40 shots from one container of booze. Some probably find the spot and/or the campaign amusing if not hysterical. And others are just freaked out by the reverse ventriloquist.
While it may indeed be a great example of a "random act of creativity," the ad in general is great because the branding is pretty clear (plus "Calling All Captains" at the end, which has been a campaign going for most of 2009) and the USP is made known in the first 2 seconds of the ad.
Besides Captain Big Shot, there are also Captain Improv, Captain Keymaster, and for Halloween Captains Monster Party and Extra Mile:
Sometimes I forget about Reebok, and I feel bad about it. The little brother brand in the athletic footwear category seems like it's always playing third fiddle to Nike and adidas. They've been unsuccessful as of late in divergent brand efforts that have just clouded their own image.
Ads like this one are what Reebok should have always been about, political correctness be damned. Reebok started as a running shoe company (Reebok is an African term for Gazelle) and in the 50s began focusing on women's fitness, a category which they dominated while they stuck to it. This should be a remarkably large category, given that most women at least try to make an effort to exercise, and that most also have a thing for shoes. It would seem (and I'm basing this on anecdotal evidence) that women embrace traditional exercise (aerobics, running, etc) more than men, who would rather participate in competitive sports for their fitness.
This is why Reebok was foolish to ever diverge from this market in the first place. In the 21st century, Reebok has made deals with the NFL, NBA, and NHL to make exclusive apparel including jerseys. Reebok also created the "Rbk" brand, which they called a "street" inspired brand which would feature signature shoes for Jay-Z and 50 Cent. Don't get me started on the Rbk Hockey brand, because I don't understand how Ice Hockey and Jay-Z are related (except that the management of the NHL has 99 problems, wah wah wah).
Reebok was purchased by adidas in 2005 and started to get back on track, primarily because big brother's first goal was to eliminate competition with itself. This left the Hockey brands, which included a total redesign of the NHL's uniforms:
It also left the original focus of Reebok, women's fitness and running shoes designed for those people not striving to be elite athletes. This explains the recent Run Easy campaign, which used the tag "stay fit as you see fit." It was an excellent idea, although as a runner I was somewhat insulted that running could be called easy. Many more people would probably take up running (and, therefore, buy Reebok) if running were positioned as being easy.
So this brings us back to the woman's talking boobs. This is certainly the first effort I've seen by a shoe advertisement to say "they'll give you a better butt" outright. People will certainly complain that it's degrading to women, it's taking advantage of women's bodies, blah blah blah, except that the ad is designed for women. This isn't something for men to slobber over (although I admit I did stop and look when it was on TV).
Overall, I just think it's a cool concept and it's good to see Reebok focusing it's message on what I perceive to be the correct target. Now here's another one to gawk at:
Adam is a graduate Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Advertising '11. He likes to refer to himself in the third person, and he never metaphor he didn't like.
He is pursuing a career in account management. You know, in case you're hiring.
