P&G came to WK with a huge experiment; what would happen if our very different cultures worked together?
With Axe at the time nipping at Old Spice's heels, and using sex as their strategy, what could we do? Old Spice was old. It was all sailor-y. It wasn't cool. We encouraged P&G to embrace all of that, and to find strength in their authentic selves. With a fantastic client, willing to take risks, we collaborated on an approach that respected P&G's packaged goods expertise, and W+K's love of finding a brand's voice and really connecting with the consumer.
Writers: Jessica Vacek, Mark Fitzloff
Designer: Chris Larson, Nik Daum, Monica Taylor,
Creatives: Jason Bagley, Eric Baldwin, Michael Illick, Aaron Allen
The first brand spot for the "new" Old Spice. Bruce Campbell!
Ms. Faye Dunaway was kind enough to let us use this image of her from "The Thomas Crowne Affair" for one of the first brand ads for Old Spice and P&G.
A fabulous co-opportunity with Will Ferrell and his flick -"Semi-Pro".
The scripts Jason Bagley & Eric Baldwin wrote were funnier than the movie. Mr Ferrell promised us a few hours. He stayed for 8 hours, he was having such a good time.
Will. Ferrell & deodorant.
The brief was for body wash, 50% cleansing & 50% moisturizing. "Double Impact". We said we didn't want to see any cars crashing. Of course Michael Illick brings us a centaur. It's two things.
Nope.
Having fun with P&G conventions. Good clients.
Bruce Campbell, Duran Duran, and body spray. AD: Aaron Allen
(more coming soon)
To show consumers that you didn't have to be a superstar to be an athlete, we encouraged people to play. We made up games, and plastered the names of those games - along with their rules - in print, OOH takeovers, posters, and broadcast. CW: Mike Byrne
I designed a "campaign logo" that would appear only on this campaign. This gave Nike freedom to talk to "regular" people who were not athletes and still be Nike. CW: Mike Byrne
I was interested in pushing the way the product - the shoe - could be treated. The idea, not shown fully here, was to use extreme cropping in consecutive, concurrent pieces of communication. The consumer would see the entire shoe, but not all at once. It really fetishized the details on these shoes, which were beautiful, like cars.
CW: Mike Byrne
“Tag” won the 2002 Grand Prix and 4 Gold Lions at Cannes.
Director: Frank Budgen
CW: Mike Byrne Kash Sree
AD: Monica Taylor Andy Fackrell
Another game for “Play” - a runner runs only in the shadows on a sunny day. Director: Frank Budgen
Another game for “Play” - “Tailgating”.
CW Mike Byrne and I came up with the larger "Play" positioning, because we didn't like the brief we were given. Nike called it the “best positioning in ten years”.
Nike was launching a new shoe. The brief was "a t-shirt for your feet". That lead nowhere good. CW Dylan Lee and I decided to create a shoe name and a character for each colorway. We did 12 of them, and they were animated for :15 sec broadcast. (coming soon).
CW: Dylan Lee
Designer: Monica Taylor
Although it wasn't my original intention, Nike ended up using my illustrations for all 12 characters. I wish I could have done 12 more.
We never got to sell "Sapsucker 747".
This insert appeared in running and fashion magazines. Each character was a sticker, and underneath the sticker, is the shoe shot. Collect all 12. Low-fi & analog.
CW: Dylan Lee
Illustrator/Designer: Monica Taylor
This shoe makes you feel like you’re running barefoot. Who did that best? The lads in “Chariots of Fire”. Hard-core runners loved this spot. They recognized the Olympian runners we had running in the pack with our hero.
CW: Derek Barnes
(coming soon)
The brief was "Speed". We decided to let the human maybe not be the star of this one. You can always have more speed. Nike embraced our idea of not presenting their athlete, the fastest man in the world, or even the shoe, and just celebrate the idea of "Speed", and pushing yourself to be faster.
This was one of the spots that helped David Fincher win the Director's Guild of America's Award for Outstanding Achievement in Commercials.
CW: Dylan Lee
All the apparel in a pack of elite runners. Running Magazine (bitd) called it “a running spot for runners”.
CW: Mike Byrne
Director: Gerard DeThame
Showing off the apparel in a low-key, filmic way. CW: Mike Byrne
Bernard Lagat was the 2nd (?) fastest man in the world when we shot this spot with Errol Morris for Nike running. He didn't need us, at all.
Kathryn Martin is a champion athlete that started late, in her 30s. She’s one of the most decorated runners in the US. At age 65, she broke the world record for the fastest woman in her age category to ever run the mile. Here, she was only 51. She’s still running competitively today, at 70.
Marla Runyan, is the first legally blind athlete to compete in the Olympics. We were not worthy. Dir: Erroll Morris
Myzel will run, and he will beat you. CW: Mike Byrne
CD: "Tennis. Low budget. You have to use stock photography."
Me: I'm fine with that.
CW: Dylan Lee / Kash Sree
Print campaign about the mental game of tennis, for Nike.
CW: Dylan Lee / Kash Sree
The huddle of a future superstar. CW Alison Rusen and I wanted to shoot kids with respect, as athletes. Because when you’re playing, you mean it. CW: Alison Rusen
Writer Risa Mickenberg and I had a ball writing a campaign about women's relationship with their bodies. Except this time, the body s doing the talking. And yeah, it's like a real relationship.
This campaign was then translated into Chinese. Our compatriots overseas swear it was a huge success. But will we ever really know?
(more executions to come)
Writers: Risa Mickenberg / Monica Taylor
1998. SuperBowl. The dot.com boom. We only had 8 weeks, which was probably a blessing. They killed the first spot we sold them. Definitely a blessing.
Writer: Dylan Lee
Director: Bryan Buckley
1999 Super Bowl Director: Bryan Buckley Writer: Dylan Lee
Fewer and fewer people were drinking Diet Coke. Where was it cool?
I felt that Diet Coke was still a hot commodity in creative places - late night writer's rooms, shoots, sets, etc. That's where you'd see piles of empties. Perfect for the media buy - The Academy Awards.
Diet Coke sent a love-letter to the people behind the scenes who make the films we all love.
A love-letter to the crews & backstage pros who make movies, for the Academy Awards.
Director: Ellen Kuras
During my time as CD on Target we grew 400%, and became Target's first sole AOR. Luckily, more help arrived! But great clients and a dedicated team helped us produce an enormous amount of work in a short time.
Even Santa know's where to go.
How do you showcase the breadth and diversity of what Target offers without doing a typical "montage" spot?
We made over 100+ :15 second spots, each showcasing an individual product. Then we strung them together like pearls. The client could now mix and match and create :30s, :60s, online content, Instagram, etc.
Executions came with price, and without price. So Target could customize when needed.
We introduced a new ramp line "Life's a moving target", romancing the bullseye with an animated mnemonic.
Maria Bamford helped us get ready for The 2-Day Sale. She's crazy in a good way.
We ran messaging right up until a few hours before the sale started, so to avoid repeat, we made more spots than the budget allowed. This was one of the weirder ones, but super effective, in the larger narrative.
More love for The 2-Day Sale.
The brief was "Value". How to say "Value" and still showcase desirable style? What if the fact that your gifts look expensive created unexpected problems?
http://creativity-online.com/work/careerbuildercom-national-gruntledness-index/2128
So how do you like your job? Well, if you're not sure, head on over to Wieden + Kennedy, Portland's site for Careerbuilder.com, which gives your professional life a numerical value based on its "Gruntledness Index."
After selecting from a variety of backing music including jazz-funk and celtic hip-hop, visitors can measure themselves with a personal gruntledness index, or PGI, which is a graphically-enhanced series of cheeky queries that range from how much you make an hour to your preferred after-work activity and even the type of coffee you drink. After all is said and done, the index tallies up a percentage on how "gruntled" you are. And if you're so inclined, a national gruntledness index is provided that breaks down percentages depending on industry and region, letting one know how they stack up against the rest of the national labor force.�
As an added bonus, one can also BCC the email addresspositivefeedback@careerbuilder.com,� type in something self-congratulatory and send if off to co-workers for some bonafied positive reinforcement.
Victorinox made a few watches once for a promo, and the watches became their brand. How do you blend Victorinox the Swiss Army Knife brand, with Swiss Army, more of a fashion brand?
I created a "label" that married both brands, yet kept them autonomous. We went on to develop a campaign that re-claimed their heritage. Vintage, modern, romantic, practical, and able to hold a lot of retail information.
Thank you to John McPhee, and his book "La Place de la Concorde Suisse". It gave writer Dylan Lee and I a lot of inspiration about the actual Swiss Army.
Kelly Awards, Communication Arts' "Best Campaigns in Past 40 Years".
Alta Vista was once a serious research tool, with amazing depth for it's time. This campaign used real photos, and asked big questions of this new "oracle" tool.
Kelly Award: for Outstanding Magazine Advertising, Grand Prize.
Copywriter: Derek Barnes
Chuck Taylor All-Stars are eternal. Every few decades they become hot again to a new set of young people. The brief was to make ads that would not look like, or be considered by the target to be, ads.
We used underground animators and comic artists to appeal to our teen target. This got the artists excited to participate. They loved the brand, and they loved the way we handled them as artists.
We entered them into the “Sick and Twisted Animation Festival” as legit animated shorts, not as ads, to good reviews.
The Jack Purcell "Gazebo" ad was included in a textbook on marketing to teens.
Copywriter: DeMane Davis
Agency: Houston Herstek Favat, Boston
Pro-bono project with Enso LA, to help pass the Equal Rights Amendment. Lucky to be part of an amazing team of creatives - Ginger Robinson, Jessica Vacek, Julia Blackburn & Stephanie Sigg. And we presented to Ms. Jane Fonda - #careergoals
Poise / ADLOB / Copywriting / Brand Voice
Copywriting / Art Direction / Tagline/ Brand Voice
Copywriting / Art Direction / Tagline/ Brand Voice
Copywriting / Art Direction / Tagline/ Brand Voice
NikeGo was a Nike program that promoted sports programs and physical fitness for children. The brief gave us data that proved participation in sports at a young age leads to success outside of sports as well. We used "Dick and Jane" to own the word "Go", and to create ads as full of energy as the kids themselves.
CW: Ginger Robinson / Monica Taylor
