Rihanna’s fans had been waiting more than three years for her 8th studio album. But she had more than music to give them. She had a story to tell. 

Together, Samsung and Rihanna decided to reinvent the album launch. They created an experience that would take fans deeper into an artist’s world than they had ever gone before, making them part of the story itself. ANTIdiaRy created a social media frenzy as fans and entertainment lovers speculated when the album would drop, and how. The result, Rihanna’s “ANTI” became the fastest album to go platinum in history; 14 hours.  

Introducing the Beats Pills, voiced by Eminem, Chris Rock, Tichina Arnold and Corey Holcomb. A family of characters that defined the new wireless portable speaker from Beats - 'Small But Loud'. Launched by Nicki Minaj during American Idol and amplified during the VMAs, we created reactive commentary on events in pop culture around the world. The character was eventually turned into a real product and by Thanksgiving the Pill was number 1 in the wireless speaker category. Partnering with US headphone giants 'Beats by Dr. Dre' for the past year globally  across New York, London, Paris and Munich, we quickly came up with Pills character design, global launch and product development for the Beats Pill characters speaker holders.

The Beats Pills characters were created to bring the ‘Small but Loud’ credentials of Beats’ portable Pill speaker to life through a group of cheeky and outspoken cartoon figures ready to take on the news, relevant to the Beats audience, delivered with a sharp tone of voice.

We knew our social channels would be key to bringing this to life through reactive content. We pulled together a strategy to react to the news agenda in each market and followed up with a robust, localised editorial playbook that would keep the campaign consistent in often wildly differing news environments. We also needed to keep front of mind why we were doing this: what use is it to create branded ‘real time’ content if you can’t clearly demonstrate how you’re converting attention into sales?

"We wanted to give the characters distinct personalities whilst making them work as a team, essentially they come from the same ‘hood'". Studying performances of Eminem, Chris Rock, etc. "Animators we're able to capture the essential body language whilst bringing unique character specific to each scene. The great thing about Beats Pills is that they are subversive, animators can push the limits further than with conventional commercials."

Finally, we had to work out how to actually react and create content as quickly as needed across three different European markets. We gave ourselves an ambitious 1-hour turnaround from any event being spotted and brought to our client’s attention, to having a post ready to go.

With the help of the team at Beats and the wider cross-agency collective, our Beats Pills WhatsApp group became our daily newsreader. What would booty-shaking pop twiglet Miley Cyrus do next? Could Pharrell really be that Happy for 24 hours a day? It may also be the only point in my career that Kim Kardashian’s ‘cheeky’ selfies end up in a client email…

Locked and loaded and with a fresh stream of opportunities, our on-call copywriters and designers set about turning social chatter into the voice of the Pills to great effect, even bagging a ‘Tweet of the Week’ in France when our Paris team noticed that two French rappers were having a little more daily ‘beef’ than their average compatriots…

What did we learn? Firstly, by demonstrating a commitment to topical content our fans came to look out for and engage with Beats when something did happen. Secondly, by targeting the fans who had engaged with the campaign with relevant sales messaging in paid social posts, we drove an unprecedented amount of traffic from social to Beat’s online store, all helping the EMEA team to record their most successful Christmas sales period ever.

"The Beats Pills is an exciting project for us. It's a rare opportunity to work with a brief that's purposeful agenda is to break all the rules. The pills are not you're average product mascot. They have a life of their own. Unpredictable misfits that aren't afraid to say what they think." 

By the 2012-2013 holiday season, Beats Pills were #1 in the wireless speaker category and sales increased 222% the week of Thanksgiving due to the campaign and became the must have holiday gift of the season.

2014 Cannes Gold Lions Award

Inside.Chanel.com is an ambitious online project telling the story of the fashion house and its founder via a series of online documentaries

The website launched last autumn, and short films continue to be released on a monthly basis. Each combines striking black and white graphics with archive footage and photography to relate a different chapter in the story of Chanel, its brands and its founder.

Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel was fiercely independent. She wore trousers, cut her hair short, drove her own car, smoked in public, sunbathed in Biarritz, openly took lovers – all of which was totally at odds with the softly feminine ideal of the Frenchwoman at the turn of the century. Chanel’s designs freed women from constraints. She was the first to dress women in trousers, to make black chic and sexy for evening wear and to adapt men’s tailoring to a woman’s silhouette.

ABSOLUT VODKA announced its next groundbreaking global advertising campaign titled “In an ABSOLUT World.” The new advertising challenges the status quo by presenting a bold and optimistic world view. The global launch is supported by a fully-integrated marketing campaign, including print, broadcast, out-of-home, public relations, on-premise promotions and viral activity. Created by TBWA/Chiat/Day/New York, the campaign will break in the U.S during the week of May 15 with a broadcast spot and print executions in June weeklies.

The global campaign will also roll out in 12 international markets this year, beginning with a broadcast execution titled “Disco Moon” in Germany on April 27. Additionally, the campaign will be complemented with executions tailored to their niche market consumers along with an interactive experience at ABSOLUT.COM.

“In an ABSOLUT World” is a powerful campaign that provides a rich framework for the ABSOLUT brand that builds on the foundation established by ‘The Absolutes’ campaign last year. Our consumers are intelligent, and we hope they have a gut reaction that sparks conversations and challenges them to think about their vision of an “ABSOLUT World,” says Tim Murphy, Senior Brand Director, The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc.

The first U.S. broadcast spot, titled “Protest” depicts an epic scene that opens with a tense standoff between protesters and police. As the clash ensues, the viewers witness a massive, friendly pillow fight — demonstrating an alternate way to resolve conflicts. Filmed in Uruguay by Director Frederik Bond and Director of Photography Guillermo Navarro — an Academy(R) Award winning Cinematographer — this production was the largest in the country’s history.

The first U.S. print advertisement to launch is a photo of Times Square with iconic works of art installed in lieu of advertising. Other print executions include a factory emitting harmless bubbles instead of smoke, a pregnant man with his wife at a cocktail party and a bar scene where people wear buttons labeling their dating status and mindset.

“The new campaign visually answers the question: what if everything in the world was a little bit more Absolut? It’s not necessarily about perfection, but about making the world better by seeing it with fresh eyes. As the story unfolds you can expect commentary on topics and ideas big and small, serious and humorous, timeless and of the moment,” said Rob Smiley, Creative Director at TBWA/Chiat/Day/New York.

The new campaign also includes an industry-leading social responsibility broadcast spot. Titled “Taxi,” the spot illustrates a young couple exiting a club. As they press the key fob, instead of unlocking their car it signals a taxi, suggesting that in an “ABSOLUT World” people would always call a cab or use a designated driver after they drink. “The campaign speaks to consumers on multiple levels. The topics range in scale and tone but use the same clever voice ABSOLUT has used for more than 25 years,” adds Murphy.

“In an ABSOLUT World” will also be supported by viral elements that will bring the idea to life for consumers. On May 14, ABSOLUT will begin a week of guerrilla activities in New York that will make the city a better place for one week. Consumer activities include rickshaw rides in Soho and the Meatpacking District, music downloads in Union Square, Metro Card giveaways and VIP treatment at select downtown restaurants and clubs, all compliments of ABSOLUT.

The campaign will continued with customized out-of-home executions inNew York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Las Vegas and Chicago that speak directly to these geographic communities.

About the Ad Council 'Love Has No Labels' Campaign

According to the perception Institute, a vast majority of Americans (and other nationalities) consider themselves unprejudiced. However research shows that many of them unintentionally make snap judgments about people based on what we see—whether it’s race, age, gender, religion, sexuality, or disability.  The Ad Council launched the Love Has No Labels campaign with a simple message – rethink the biases you didn't even know you had. Ultimately, we sought to promote acceptance and appreciation of all communities regardless of race, religion, gender, sexuality, age and ability by raising awareness for implicit biases. Since we were launching a brand new campaign, our main goal was to create awareness about the issue and the campaign. We drove video viewers to http://LoveHasNoLabels.com which features a quiz where you can examine your own biases and find resources on how to get involved.

This may be a significant reason many people in the U.S. report they feel discriminated against. Subconscious prejudice—called “implicit bias”—has profound implications for how we view and interact with others who are different from us. It can hinder a person’s ability to find a job, secure a loan, rent an apartment, or get a fair trial, perpetuating disparities in American society. The challenge of the Love Has No Labels campaign was to open everyone’s eyes to bias and prejudice and work to stop it in ourselves, our friends, our families, and our colleagues.

As we’re all more biased than we think, the campaign aimed to reach the largest audience possible. The number of views and shares would measure the success.

Campaign Goals

We partnered with Upworthy for an exclusive debut of the initial campaign video on their Facebook channel to reach an audience who was inclined to like and share the video to help spread our campaign messages. The emotional video showed dancing skeletons behind a custom-built, simulated x-ray screen before revealing people from different backgrounds embracing to show that before anything else we are all human .

In addition to the online video, the integrated campaign included a website built on Tumblr featuring a quiz where visitors can examine their own biases and new social communities on Facebook and Twitter where audiences could find additional content on how to overcome those biases.

To extend the campaign, we tapped into celebrities and social media influencers to help spread our messages. Additionally, campaign outreach incorporated activations around key times of year, including Mother's Day, Hispanic Heritage Month, Pride Month and Fourth of July. We activated the campaign at NYC Pride 2015, marching in the parade and setting up gif and video booths for people to share their #lovehasnolabels stories.

Rather than lecture people about bias, a number of tactics launched on Facebook to demonstrate implicit bias and celebrate unconventional notions of love.

At the centre of the campaign a video launched on Facebook (Upworthy exclusivity) showed a large x-ray installation. It displayed skeletons kissing, hugging and dancing. Those looking on automatically filling in the blanks in their minds. When the people stepped out from behind the screen it created the perfect demonstration of implicit bias.

Rival brands (Coke and Pepsi, P&G and Unilever, Allstate and StateFarm) agreed to unite for the cause and supported the campaign on Facebook where they all have a massive presence (millions of fans).

To publically announce their support, they all removed their own labels on their Facebook pages, changed their profile picture to ‘the Love Has No Labels’ mark and posted all together a series of messages in favor of diversity and inclusion.

In addition, a Love Has No Labels Facebook page displaying content posted by multiple partners –(including 8 non-profit organizations and famous photographers such as Human of New York’s Brandon Standon) was created to help people learn more about prejudices and help them rethink their own bias.

Many people visited the Facebook page, commenting and sharing the content. An additional film simply showing the casting of the original video quickly hit 1 million views.

The campaign also gave people the opportunity to create their own ‘Love Has No Labels’ picture and share it on their Facebook wall. People could further rethink their bias by taking a test created by Harvard University.

Facebook was the key component in the campaign for two main reasons: the success would be measured in number of views and shares that only Facebook can help generate (in a short period of time). Also, the brands supporting the cause (Coke, Pepsi, P&G, Unilever, Allstate, StateFarm) have all millions of fans on Facebook the campaign can benefit from.

Campaign Performance

The success went beyond all expectations. The skeleton video launched on Upworthy’s Facebook wall went immediately viral (over 40 million views in two days). It became the 2nd most viral PSA in history after just 3 weeks. At time of entry, combined views exceeded 100 million and climbing.  The success was measured by social media engagement, visits to the website, quiz completion rates, online video views and earned media support, as well as overall awareness of the campaign.

National and international TV networks picked it up (CNN, ABC World News, BBC, Fox, M6, Australian world news, ect), as well as iconic TV shows (Good Morning America) and Newspapers, websites and blogs (Washington Post, The guardian, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Huffington Post, Die Welt, Yahoo News, Mashable, Buzzfeed, MinuteBuzz to name a few).

A number of celebrities including the First Lady Of The United States Michelle Obama re-tweeted the campaign. Funny or Die created a hilarious parody helping the film become part of culture. Last but not least, a large number of couples used the “Love Has No Labels” online toolkit and posted pictures showing their love on their wall, some of these people finding in the campaign an opportunity to courageously post a message to tell friends and family that they were gay. 

In time for 2015 Valentine’s Day, an unprecedented collaboration of leading brands, including The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, P&G, Unilever, Allstate and State Farm, have joined the Ad Council and leading non-profit organizations to launch “Love Has No Labels,”a public service communications effort to promote diversity and inclusion along with acceptance. Brands will kick off the campaign by replacing their social media profile pictures with the “Love Has No Labels” icon and distributing content across their channels. Additionally, new public service advertisements (PSAs) will be filmed in L.A. on February 14th at a live installation event and distributed to media outlets nationwide in March. The campaign directs audiences to a new website, Error! Hyperlink reference not valid., developed with support from eight leading non-profits,including the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The launch received strong earned media support with placements across press and broadcast valued at $6.4 million in coverage. High profile broadcast coverage includes ABC's World News Tonight, Good Morning America and CNN. Influential press outlets include The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Mashable, Adweek, Ad Age, LA Times, and others. In total, the campaign has generated more than 1 billion media impression to raise awareness of implicit bias.

Since the initial video debuted exclusively on Upworthy's Facebook page, it has been viewed over 160 million times making it the 2nd most viewed video of 2015. Additionally, it was the 2nd most viral video on Facebook, the 4th most viewed on YouTube and one of the best performing Upworthy videos of all time. It is the second most viewed social activism video ever behind Kony 2012.

To date, there were more than 2.7 million visits to http://LoveHasNoLabels.com. The campaign also encourages audiences to use Faces of Love, a social tool on the campaign website, to upload a picture showing how their love has no labels. More than 1,000 personal stories have been shared in the social gallery of the website and the hashtag has been used over 30,000 times generating over 110 million potential impressions.

 “Implicit bias refers to the way people unconsciously and sometimes unwillingly exhibit bias towards other individuals and groups,” said Rachel Godsil, Co-founder and Director of Research of the Perception Institute. “It doesn't mean that people are hiding their racial prejudices, instead, people who actively reject prejudice may still unknowingly carry around some degree of bias or stereotypes about others. The good news is that once we are aware of our biases, we can begin to take action to reduce the effects they can have on our behavior and ultimately, to reduce the biases themselves.”  

“Our nation is making great progress in promoting equality and reducing acts of discrimination, but there is still much to do. As long as people continue to endure harassment; as long as they do not or cannot feel safe being themselves in our schools, our workplaces and our communities, our work is incomplete,” said Lisa Sherman,President and CEO of the Ad Council. “We are proud to partner with these iconic brands in asking all Americans to think about their own beliefs and perceptions and to shine a brighter spotlight on the need for greater acceptance and equality in our country.”  

In addition to funding the year-long campaign, leading brand partner companies will show their support throughout the year. Each partner company was identified based on their demonstrated commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion within and beyond their organizations. To learn more about how the partners are addressing these issues, visit Error! Hyperlink reference not valid..

The integrated campaign will include television, print and digital PSAs,as well as an extensive social media program. The Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. features a quiz where visitors can examine their own biases and find resources on how to overcome those biases. The PSAs also direct audiences to new social communities on Facebook and Twitter for additional content supported by the non-profit partners. The campaign taps into the expertise of eight leading non-profit organizations in each of the discriminated classes. Partnering non-profit organizations include: Anti-Defamation League, Southern Poverty Law Center,National Women’s Law Center, Human Rights Campaign, American Association of People with Disabilities, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Muslim Advocates and AARP. The campaign website will connect visitors to the partnering non-profits where they can sign pledges, report bullying incidents and participate in other activities. 

To show support through their own social channels, audiences can replace their profile picture with the“Love Has No Labels” logo and use the hashtag #LoveHasNoLabels. Campaign outreach will include an emphasis on key times of year such as Pride Month,Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month.

“Awareness is the first step in helping to challenge prejudice and prevent the escalation to hate,”said Barry Curtiss-Lusher, ADL National Chair. “As an organization charged with fighting anti-Semitism and bias and bigotry of all kinds, we are pleased to work with the Ad Council, sponsorship partners, and others to raise awareness about the harm of unconscious bias.” 

“This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and we've made great progress in ensuring equal opportunity and access to millions of Americans with disabilities. Despite best intentions, the unconscious judgments we hold towards people with disabilities still play out with serious consequences – employment disparities is just one example,” said Mark Perriello, President and CEO of AAPD. “That’s why we’re joining the Ad Council in asking Americans to examine and challenge their own implicit biases as first steps towards greater acceptance for all.”

Love Has No Labels Launches ‘We Are America’ on Independence Day 2016 sharing that to Love America is to Love All Americans

To coincide with Independence Day, the Ad Council, R/GA and an unprecedented group of brands launched “We Are America,” an extension of the iconic Love Has No Labels campaign, explaining that love for country is love for the people who make up this country. The new PSAs, featuring WWE Superstar John Cena, continue to further the campaign message of acceptance of all communities regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age and ability. Love Has No Labels encourages audiences to recognize their implicit bias –biases that live in our subconscious – in order to promote inclusion. “We Are America” invites everyone to submit their photos to demonstrate the true diversity that makes up America. Upworthy, a 2015 campaign launch partner, shared “We Are America” on its social platforms and will be creating a series of videos launching in the coming months to help further the campaign message.

“I am proud to be part of the Ad Council’s Love Has No Labels campaign, ‘We Are America’,” said WWE Superstar John Cena. “This campaign sends an important message of acceptance that truly embodies the spirit of America.

The new PSAs encourage people to define their love of country as love of all Americans. The long-form video and TV spot feature Cena walking through a diverse neighborhood while talking about how the real average American is likely different than the person viewers may imagine. By enumerating some of the many labels Americans proudly use to define themselves– Latino, disabled, gay, lesbian, Muslim, senior citizen, African American and others – the video concludes that to love America is to love all Americans. An advisory board of nonprofit partners, including The Perception Institute, Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti-Defamation League, lent their expertise to ensure that the PSAs represented diverse perspectives and addressed the issue of implicit bias. In addition to the television and online videos, the integrated campaign includes out of home and print advertising, all of which are running entirely in time and space donated by the media.

“At a time when it feels hard for our country to find common ground, we need to remind audiences that to celebrate America is to celebrate all Americans. We’re so proud to continue the Love Has No Labels message as part of the July 4th holiday and throughout the year,” said Lisa Sherman, president and CEO of the Ad Council. “‘We Are America’ illuminates what we already know – that Americans today cover the full spectrum of age, sexuality, ability, race and religion. And this message is just as important now as ever.”

To accompany the PSAs, the campaign launched a Portrait of America photo tool allowing users to create custom gifs that highlight the diversity of America. Love Has No Labels encourages users to submit their own photos which are combined with other users’ images to create an animated sequence of portraits. The gifs will reflect the true diversity that makes up America today and users are encouraged to share them across social channels with #WeAreAmerica. The gif generator is prominently featured on the redesigned campaign website.  Through Stackla, a content marketing platform, the new homepage aggregates and highlights portraits of Americans from all backgrounds. HelpsGood, a social good-focused digital agency, will post messaging on the campaign’s social channels to encourage users to share stories representing “We Are America” on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The campaign brand partners, including founding partners The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, P&G, Unilever and State Farm®, and recent partners, Google and Johnson & Johnson, are supporting “We Are America” by promoting content across their channels. In time for the launch of “We Are America,” Google joins this group of brand partners to advance the reach and impact of the PSAs. In addition to funding the campaign, brand partners will show their support during the year through on and offline activations including, social influencer programs, social messaging, employee engagement, events and more.

Upworthy featured “We Are America” on its social channels and will be producing a series of additional videos celebrating the diversity of America throughout the year.

“Upworthy is thrilled to support the Love Has No Labels campaign again this year. Our mission is to change what the world is paying attention to, and this campaign helps draw attention to the diversity at the heart of America. We are all America, and we are all part of the same story,” said Eli Pariser, co-Founder of Upworthy.

The fully integrated campaign also includes support from key partners including Facebook,Twitter, Buzzfeed and WWE. Through a Facebook ad unit, people can participate in the campaign directly from Facebook. People will be able to visit LoveHasNoLabels.com and share their #WeAreAmerica photo from within the ad unit after watching the video. Additionally, Twitter launched a new custom Love Has No Labels emoji (available through August 4th) for #WeAreAmerica or #LoveHasNoLabels. When the hashtags are used in a tweet, a custom emoji of diverse holding hands will appear representing unity, love and the diversity of Americans. Twitter will also promote the emoji through donated media support. As part of a content series around the campaign message, Buzzfeed will develop posts that aim to inspire all Americans to reflect on their own assumptions of what the “average American” looks like. In addition to John Cena’s participation, WWE will also utilize its global platforms including WWE Network, television broadcasts, live events, and digital and social media to support the campaign.

160M combined views
Second most viewed PSA in history after just 3 weeks
Over 1.5B media impressions

Awards

2016 Emmy Award – Outstanding Commercial

2015 Gold Cannes Lions - Direct: Public Health & Safety, Public Awareness Messages

2015 Silver Cannes Lions – Direct, Targeted Ambient Media – Large Scale

2015 Silver Cannes Lions – Direct, Use of Digital Advertising

2015 Silver Cannes Lions – Outdoor, Live Advertising & Events

2015 Bronze Cannes Lions – Titanium & Integrated

2015 Bronze Cannes Lions – Cyber, Online Video – Social Video

2015 Bronze Cannes Lions – Cyber, Spatial Tech

2015 Bronze Cannes Lions – Cyber, Web Campaign – Charities, Public Health & Safety, Public Awareness Messages

2015 Gold One Show Award – Best In Show

2015 Mashie Awards - Best Public Service Announcement

2015 Mashie Awards – Best Use of Long-Form Video

2015 Shorty Award – Social Good Campaign

THE WORLD'S MOST IMMERSIVE DIGITAL CYCLING EXPERIENCE

2016 Gold Cannes Lion

CAMPAIGN SUMMARY

Exercise brand Equinox was losing members of its indoor cycling classes to boutique brands like SoulCycle and Flywheel, which offered a more compelling cycling experience. By leveraging mobile technology, Equinox created “The Pursuit,” an interactive cycling course that reported members’ biometrics in real time and set up competitions, both individually and team-based, to motivate better performances. The new, innovative experience helped increase class sizes and drove member retention.

STRATEGY

Objective and Context:

Equinox prides itself on being an innovator in the fitness category. The brand positions itself as a lifestyle brand for people who are laser-focused, type-A, and always in pursuit of being fitter, faster, and stronger.

As the fitness landscape evolves, companies like SoulCycle and Flywheel are taking members away from traditional gyms with compelling indoor cycling offerings. Equinox was challenged with relaunching its indoor cycling experience in a way that reaffirmed the brand’s reputation as an innovation leader.

The objectives were four-fold:

Tap into gaming ideologies to update the gym’s signature class structure

Empower instructors to deliver an inspiring workout by equipping them with real-time rider data

Give riders an easy and meaningful way to measure their performance

Immerse riders in a “tribe” mentality by creating a strong digital community

To measure the initiative’s success, Equinox looked at the increase in the number of members who were cycling at brand locations and compared the number of class sign-ups and attendance pre- and post-campaign.

Target Audience:

Equinox’s core values are rooted in the idea of “high-performance living.” The brand encourages its members to push their physical limits, so for the new immersive experience, it targeted its wellness-obsessed community. Since spin classes traditionally skew female, Equinox focused its efforts on developing a program that would appeal to both male and female riders.

Creative Strategy:

Equinox members live for competition, both personal and team-based. This insight helped the brand design its new experience, “The Pursuit.” The Pursuit offers two engaging, motivational class experiences that take data from studio bicycles and give riders visualizations of their performance as they complete a variety of games. The experiences offer individual, team-based, and collaborative elements, all of which build on the energy of the class, pushing individual riders towards their goals while making them feel like part of a community.

Members are able to track their individual performance and push themselves harder as their watts (power) and RPMs (speed) are reflected in real-time on a “second screen.” Also, since many of the games require partnering up with another rider or working as a larger team, riders are drawn to one another, creating a sense of class community. Finally, the instructor is able to engage with the class by offering encouragement in a meaningful way, and gauge the energy of the class to make informed decisions about which games they should play.

EXECUTION

Overall Campaign Execution:

The Pursuit goes beyond speed and wattage tracking to visualize rider performance on a large display screen. This data is then mirrored on the rider’s mobile device, which replaces the exercise bike’s traditional console to become a real-time responsive second screen. The data is simultaneously streamed to an instructor console on an iPad, giving him/her the snapshot needed to effectively coach and encourage the class. This full-circle of data communication and delivery has helped to empower both riders and instructors to improve performance.

Mobile Execution:

Thirty percent of the overall campaign budget went to mobile execution. Equinox’s overall marketing strategy was to provide riders with over 500,000 pieces of real-time feedback, showing them that data is invaluable to improving their performance. Mobile allowed the brand to appeal to two kinds of riders: those who wanted to compete with the class (by watching the main screen) and those who wanted to compete with themselves (by watching their bike’s individual console).

RESULTS (INCLUDING CONTEXT, EVALUATION, AND MARKET IMPACT)

Context

This was the first year of the campaign. The Pursuit was inspired by the fact that, for a long time, people have been attending spin classes without knowing how their performance compared to their fellow riders. Equinox wanted to present this data for the first time, and empower members to get more out of their workout.

Before The Pursuit launched, Equinox was not competing with boutique cycling studios by serving up riders’ performance data in an innovative way. Additionally, member data collection was very manual. If riders wanted to track their performance, they would need to record their total watts and speed after every class (using the bike console) and analyze it for patterns of improvement.

Evaluation

With The Pursuit, riders’ performance information is streamed to their second screen in real time, and automatically synced to their Equinox account after class. After class, they can also more easily share their results on social media.

Mobile technology has assisted Equinox in training its less experienced cycling instructors. To coach more effectively, they can use the real-time data that’s streamed on their iPads to better engage with riders and motivate the class.

Members are saying that they’re getting their best-ever cycling results, generating higher wattage and cycling farther than they do in Equinox’s signature cycling classes.

Market Impact

Since the introduction of The Pursuit, attendance for cycling classes has increased 25 percent at Equinox overall. Specifically, in the 13 clubs where The Pursuit has been introduced, there has been an 18 percent increase in members who are now cycling at Equinox. This means that The Pursuit is both introducing new members to the sport of indoor cycling and shifting some members’ existing cycling activity from boutique studios to Equinox. Studies show that participation in group fitness classes directly correlates to member retention, making this a significant shift for Equinox’s business.

CAMPAIGN

A steadfast passion for artistry and commitment to engineering has always been at the core of Sony Electronics, thereby achieving Sony's goal in delivering "WOW" and moving people emotionally. It's with this longstanding history of merging art and engineering into its products and services that Sony Electronics today unveils an integrated brand campaign, called One Sony "BE MOVED."  

Sometimes things start out a little messy. But that doesn’t always have to mean they will end up that way. Sometimes it all comes together. That’s what happened with the Sony Be Moved site, and here’s how it went down.

The site had to be cool enough to catch the attention of hardcore fans of electronics and entertainment. It had to house the campaign spots and digital executions. It had to speak to the products featured in the campaign. And it had to be emotionally engaging. After all, the campaign itself was focused on how Sony products enable direct emotional connections with the things that we care about.

There were a variety of stories on the table from Sony. Some spoke generally to their product-development process, and some focused on individual products. They were stories of innovation, collaboration and the pursuit of quality. There were additional ideas about how the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And finally, the narrative of artists and engineers working together emerged as another pillar on the Be Moved platform.

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

We started pushing all the loose story threads through the artists and engineers filter. We established a mood that was emotionally rich, but still sophisticated and cool. And as for the UX, we decided that we would flip the normal hierarchy of a brand site. Instead of a story leading to the products, we would let the products lead you into the story. The sum-of-the-parts idea informed the way products exploded and reassembled. It showed how diverse and sometimes seemingly disparate pieces can add up to something great. We agreed to use this mechanic as the spine of the site.

We shared concept boards and laid out the content in wireframes to show the hierarchy and sequence of the stories. We hacked together a quick motion study in Keynote to show how the experience would unfold.

The smaller stories sprinkled throughout the experience were the subject of much debate. They were ultimately presented as hot spots that would appear and disappear like fireflies. We talked about bringing them forward more explicitly and leveling out the hierarchy, but felt that would damage the focus and simplicity of the experience. We instead used them to show there was more to learn, adding some depth and mystery to the experience.

The key frames showed the main story behind each product. We had long deliberations about how the interaction would work for these frames. Dialing in the pace of the scroll interaction here was important. We went back and forth about the balance between user control and physics. It was important to provide some emphasis in these moments without totally taking away the feeling of control from the user.

The side navigation was also a hot topic. It was absent in our initial versions, which used scrolling as the only way to move through the experience. The nav forced us to look at the relationship between the products and the stories again. We stuck with the concept here, letting users peek into the stories through interesting lines instead of using obscure product names as labels.

STRATEGY

We were focused on using a simple, natural behavior to move through a beautifully told story. Scrolling was the right technique for the job. Knowing it would be a heavy site, we needed to avoid any janky performance as much as possible. Sequencing the way the initial copy built in bought us some time to load images. Sure, the tech nerds among us geek out on server requests and page weights. We can get pretty dogmatic about best practices and bandwidth. But as regular people, we all experience media through an emotional filter. Since our goal was to change the conversation about Sony by immersing visitors in an emotional experience, the trade-off was made without much hesitation.

We wanted to push the mobile experience as far as we could so it would be equally engaging. Because we were using image sequences with a defined aspect ratio, the portrait mode was problematic. By using the landscape mode, we were able to maintain the rich interaction and imagery of the desktop site.

SONY 'BE MOVED' GLOBAL SITE TRANSFORMATION LAUNCH CAMPAIGN & SITE

The campaign highlights Sony's "One Sony" corporate philosophy and includes elements from all sister companies, spanning Electronics, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Music and Sony Mobile. Across the broadcast and digital executions, the campaign features a number of stories from interviews with Sony engineers and highlights the innovative products as proof of Sony's contribution to challenge the status quo.  

"Technology is an extension of how we live our lives and the One Sony 'Be Moved' campaign tells individual stories of artists and engineers coming together to create experiences that make you feel more," said Michael Fasulo, president and COO of Sony Electronics.

The debut creative for the campaign includes a 90-second broadcast spot, called "Join Together," that takes viewers through some of Sony Electronics' greatest achievements. Directed by Stacy Wall and filmed on location in Los Angeles, New York and Tokyo, this broadcast spot features acclaimed director Spike Lee (filming with Sony's F55 4K professional camera), Academy Award-nominated actress Quvenzhane Wallis (starring in Sony Pictures' "Annie"), actor Grizz Chapman ("30 Rock") and Columbia Music artist DJ Cassidy.

The spot premiered January 12th during the 71st annual Golden Globe Awards. The campaign will continue with high-impact, culturally-connected entertainment properties, including the 56th annual Grammy Awards, entertainment and social website takeovers and a robust television schedule. Deep integrations with key online and social partners such as Twitter, Gawker and Buzzfeed were added to drive the story and extend the conversation about the brand.  In total the campaign is expected to reach over 1.5 billion advertising impressions.

The campaign will be supported by a robust online destination. The "BE MOVED" brand experience site (Sony.com/BEMOVED) allows users to interact with rich Sony product stories, and provides a look inside some of Sony's fan-favorite products. Each experience is contained in discrete vertical sections that elegantly snap into place as the users scroll down through the content. Additionally, tech and navigational elements subtly float into place, with relation to the background, creating an immersive and vibrant experience.

Several digital executions supporting the One Sony "BE MOVED" campaign will also be launching in the coming weeks.

All the creative elements for the "BE MOVED" brand campaign reinforce Sony Electronics' unique position as more than a technology company. Sony is a group of engineers, musicians, directors, actors and artists together working as one to make the impossible, possible.

2014 ANDY Awards

2014 Silver Cannes Lions Global

Nike tasked R/GA with raising awareness for the Nike+ brand without using traditional media throughout Europe.  I was tasked with leading the discovery, strategy and launch of this project.  

Nike 'True City' has taken crowdsourcing to the next level, galvanising Nike devotees across Europe with a revolutionary new iPhone app.

Nike 'True City' ‘make the hidden visible’ created a platform for influential networks of Nike insiders such as Gallows front man Steph Carter, BKRW’s Jay Smith and proffesional blogger Nalden to share unique city insights. We also teamed up with Vice magazine who became our content partners giving us unexpected and unique insights into a city which very few see.

At the same time, they inspire users to tag and broadcast their own view of the city. Updated in real time by real people, the app makes the most of iPhone geo-tagging and Facebook Connect technology. The app also pinpoints access to the latest – and most exclusive – Nike product launches and VIP events.

At the same time, they inspire users to tag and broadcast their own view of the city. Updated in real time by real people, the app makes the most of iPhone geo-tagging and Facebook Connect technology. The app also pinpoints access to the latest – and most exclusive – Nike product launches and VIP events.

The Nike True City campaign launched with iphone app called “True City” in six cities in Europe including London, Paris, Berlin, Milan, Amsterdam and Barcelona. This campaign shows that Nike did very well in mobile marketing with social media component. Nowadays, people love sharing and they will update what happens around them by their mobiles.

“True City” provides you a channel to share your insights in food, music, shopping in your own city by a local map with icons. Nike allows you to update and gather the information everywhere by using your iphone. On the other hand, Nike has another element in this campaign which is the “Make the Hidden Visible”. It is related to their upcoming products. People can get the information of their newest products before launch by finding decipher special codes in city. Besides, Nike has chosen some designated people which are the forward – looking people in Europe and called “Nike Insider”. Public can use their iphone to find out their alternative tastes. “True City” achieved the goal of mobile marketing which using the wireless network to connect with consumers.

Euro Best: Grand Prix, Mobile
Cannes Lion: Illustration and Graphic Design
IAB Creative Showcase

Objectives

HBO has long been known as a creator and provider of unique, creative entertainment. Its cutting-edge programming has garnered a cult following around shows and characters that continue to live on in feature films and other media. When HBO approached us, it was looking for ways to capitalize on digital and stay on pace with streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. 

Process

We aimed to strategically build off HBO’s inherent strength: not only is it the purveyor of compelling content, but it is also the owner and creator, affording it liberties and opportunities that other media aggregators cannot rival. And when we spoke to users, it was clear they wanted one thing: more access to the shows they love.

The new HBO.com and HBO GO app leverages HBO’s library of award-winning and acclaimed original programming and hit films. The app provides HBO subscribers with instant access to thousands of titles, including every episode of every season of the best HBO shows.

We were determined to deliver the most compelling, intuitive design and established a flexible working relationship that allowed our designers and engineers to take an iterative, agile approach to making HBO GO. Our integrated strategy, design and user experience teams sketched every idea that came out of brainstorming, whether it applied to one page or the entire platform. Our technologists quickly turned these ideas into usable prototypes, which we then tested with actual users and shared with HBO. We looked at 28 different versions of the home screen, and sometimes created three prototypes in the same day.

Ultimately, we realized that we really wanted to do was create an immersive experience that takes the user directly to the content. We wanted the new HBO.com and HBO GO to change the medium for watching TV and alter viewers’ cognitive habits.

The main interface of the HBO GO app features a stunning, mosaic-like grid of captivating images from various HBO programs. The app allows viewers to begin watching the full-length content within the initial experience, minimizing click-through and maximizing usability across various devices. The display permits users to both view the entire breadth of content and easily immerse themselves in their desired selection.

Alongside the app’s video capabilities, Huge also designed an interactive viewing feature that provides users with access to relevant content to enhance the viewing experience. Interactive viewing launched in conjunction with the highly popular show Game of Thrones and allowed users to view maps of the show’s fantasy world, character profiles and other background information.

Results

The suite of HBO GO mobile apps launched in April 2011—free of charge and available to HBO subscribers through participating television providers. On the first day of its release, the app made its way to the top-ranked position in Apple’s iTunes Store, and received 3 million downloads within the first month. To date, HBO GO is available on iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android (phones and tablets), Roku, Xbox, Samsung TV and Amazon Kindle Fire and has exceed 8 million downloads—which means it reaches 90% of all HBO subscribers. At HBO’s request, we extended the concept for HBO GO to create MAX GO, a similar platform for HBO’s affiliate, Cinemax.

HBO GO continues to receive positive feedback from users and media alike—winning dozens of awards in multiple categories—and has dramatically shifted the viewing behaviors of HBO subscribers. The next step has been to carefully monitor the way users interact with the various versions of the app and collect relevant, instructive data to inform subsequent improvements and optimizations. These learnings are also influencing the design of new versions of the app for additional platforms, which are currently under development in preparation for launch in 2013. Interactive viewing experiences for more shows are forthcoming as well.

2009 One Show Silver Pencil
2009 Webby's People's Choice Awards
2009 LIAA
2009 Cannes Short List
2009 Clios Short LIst

I led the creation of NIKE ID back in 1999, that's 17 years ago and although I don't work with R/GA any l onger I still often get asked to work on special projects for Nike and other acconts that I've brought to life through my time while at the agency.  Nike is in the midst of opening up a series of Immersive Retail Flaship Stores arond the globe and it's this gave me the opportnity to do what I love to do most, come up with an innovative new customer based experience.  Research shows in CXO & Nielsen that there's been a significant shift with CMO's.  CMO's are spending less time defining personas and spendin more time creating personized consumer experiences that are going to increase spend times in-store, on-site, mobile traffice, increase consumers to share contents, etc by creating content and experiences that is truly engaging.  ANd I fel likke I've accomplished this with my new Virtual Realty (VR) Immersive Retail Nike ID Experience available at 8 Nike global flagship locaitons at the moment.   Just click on the case study viieo (top video) and it will walk you through the experience I created.

NIKEiD is a service provided by the sportswear company NIKE allowing customers to customize clothing purchased from Nike. The customer becomes the designer as they change and add a personal look and feel to a selected item. The service can be accessed online, mobile and in-store. The service was launched initially in 1999 and could only be accessed through their website. It provided customers the ability to choose from a limited range of different material and colors to develop their own style of tennis shoe.

When Nike iD first launched we couldn't find a software partner that could provide the graphics of each section of the show at  a high enough standard that we were looking for.  I was just about to sign on with a gaming publisher when Adobe came to us with a brand new product which was brand new called  'Adobe CQ6' which was perfect and provided  the exact level of detail and allowed users to the option to change the colors of each option and save each design to what we called their 'Locker Room' as they moved along' and share it to social media to rate their design with friends.  Nike monitored the most popular designs and once a month would make a limited edtion run of the design with the most votes.

After the first year of Nike iD, we launched a program for 'High Schools' and 'colleges' and other 'institutes of higher education', https://niketeam.nike.com/us/en_US/.  It elimated schools from having to work with a number of the more conservative options that didn't give schools or students any creativity when designing their teams outfits, unfiforms, band uniforms, campus apparel, etc. and gave you complete freedom to be as creative as you wanted to be with a complete catalogue of everything I mentioned above, shoes, jackets, apparel and so mcuh more.  It's taken the Nike iD vertical to it's own revenue generating vertical within the company. 

NIKE iD partnered with Adobe Experience and CQ5 to manage using their Visual Configurator model to create a superior experience and their online community has recently reached 15 million people. In the same period Nike’s market share has grown from 48-61%. The most interesting fact is that I learned recently is that NIKE iD now is 20% of store revenue.

NIKE ID IMMERSIVE MOBILE TAKEOVER OF REUTER'S BILLBOARD IN TIMES SQUARE

In 2011, Nike iD took over the 23 story Reuter's billboard in Times Square for a month-long interactive promotion of the Nike iD sneaker and apparel customization tool.  The campaign was teased throughout social media and the blogosphere to be there on the launch day of the campaign.  By dialing a number, the user would be given an MMS code that allowed them to interact with Nike iD live on the Reuter's billboard. Nike gave away 3000 pairs of shoes in this promotion and was able to engage their audience by making the customer the designer, allowing the public to engage and add a personal look and feel to a selected shoe item.  

This value based relationship which would allow Nike further access to the customer, provided the quality of the content was maintained. Throughout the promotion, consumers in Times Square flooded the phone lines of the interactive billboard to interact with NIKEiD billboard.

Throughout the month-long campaign, consumers in Times Square flooded the phone lines of the interactive billboard to interact with the NikeiD introduced a brand new Virtual Reality (VR) Immersive Reality based Retail Experience in several global flagship stores launching in Buneos Aries, Brazil and Soho, NYC  in Q1 2017.  I led the creative development and discovery team in 1999 at R/GA.  17 years later Nike iD has been imitated by jjust about every top consumer apparel brand in the market while Nike continues to grow the vertical and it's now more vertical than it's ever been in it's history.  Nike iD now offers both mens and womens apparel and works with college and high school teams directly with a program launched roughly 8 years ago called 'Team Builder' that allows schools and higher education establishments to be as creative as they want to be to create uniforms for all sports, band uniforms, jerseys, shoes and apparel all branded with any global school.  

Although I don't work directly with R/GA any longer, I do still consult with Nike quite a bit and was asked to interview wtih Nike at the beginning of Q1 to lead all of their innovation and new product development which was a bit of a dream  job.  The timing just wasn't right at the moment but we're staying in close touch.  In my opinion, Nike as a client was always opien to my opinions as our head innovation officer.  I also played a number of other roles.  

I started a publication while at R/GA called Future Vision back in 2008 which originally was meant to be a way to share the latest technology and innovation with all of our employees which was loosely based on 'Pentagram's Pape's' which were a series of design books if you remember them.  

Colleagues, clients and peers seek me out when they want to learn about the latest in innovative, experiential and new technologies. Over the last 23 years, I have established an expertise in pioneering strategic global omni-channel marketing plans, leading immersive digital experiences, creative development and introducing new products and software to motivate target audiences to take action that launched Nike iD's 'True City' Augmented Reality Geo-Targeted Gaming (ARG).  After the huge giveaway on day 1 of the campaign, Nike successfully delivered more than 21,200 unique NIKEiD wallpapers to consumers during throughout the remainder of the campaign. An SMS was then sent to the phone to either a purchase or to share your design with friends via email or MMS.

I read in Adweek just last week that one of there is a new trend this year (2017) that JWT, Huge and a few other shops are starting to publish their own publications based on the idea of knowlede sharing which I started back in 2008 for employees and because of the value, started printing them and sharing them with the clients by the end of the year 2008.  The content and knowledge is now open to the public.  All you need to do is open up a free account and the information you'll get is well worth the minute it takes to sign up.  It's completely free and I'm ver proud of the project and still contribute on many occations. 

The Pottermore global launch was the brainchild of a partnership between Sony and  J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter novels that have become an entertainment phenomenon over the past 15 years. Sony & Rowling decided to build a website and series of eBooks on Sony's new eReader as a way to give back to her fans, who have purchased more than 450 million books and 5 billion movie tickets since the first Harry Potter book was released in 1997.

The site currently features activity and text based on the storyline of the first Harry Potter novel, additional material from J.K. Rowling, and highly interactive elements such as the ability to make comments, earn house points, learn spells, mix potions, and duel with other fans.  

The initial site, which launched in beta in July 2011, was built using Windows Server, but Pottermore needed a different solution to meet the needs of its fan base. “Both demand for the site and the way people interacted with the site blew away our expectations,” Thomas says. “As a result, we hit a wall technically with the performance and scalability of the site.”

On April 14, Pottermore launched the new site with just a single tweet @pottermore “we’re opening to everyone.” “Literally within minutes, the traffic started to flood in,” Thomas says. “The demand was just enormous, but the site continued to work properly, running on Windows Azure.” 

For its part, Pottermore says the content on its new website is just the beginning. The company is planning to translate the site into more languages and to make it available from a variety of mobile devices. It is also working on new content and interactive experiences to accompany the launch of the second book on the site, which will again trigger a big spike in demand.

Pottermore decided to cap the beta at 1 million users until it could figure out a more scalable solution. “They simply did not have the database or Web capacity to manage the demand in a cost-effective manner,” says Fran Dougherty, chief technology officer for Incubation within the Microsoft Enterprise Partner Group.

Pottermore is the online reading experience for the Harry Potter books housing the eBook store. We launched the beta site globally in five languages, amidst the release of the final Harry Potter film.

We achieved 33 per cent awareness of Pottermore in the UK and US, over just two months, with no ATL media spend or ‘traditional’ advertising. ‘Pottermore’ trended third on Twitter globally over the launch period. The announcement film has been viewed 5.9 million times and there were 7,000 launch-day visits per second.

Statistics Since Launch

- Pottermore attracted 1 billion page views in a little over two weeks

- More than 10 million unique users to date have visited the site

- The average user visits 43 pages and spends 20 minutes on the site

- Nearly 3 million users have completed the journey across Pottermore

- The site continues to attract 25,000 new account sign-ups daily

Verizon Action Hero
With Verizon Broadband, you don't just watch movies—
you star in them.  Probably the most technically ambitious
thing I've done in 20 years in digital. Upload your photo and
get transformed into a 3D Action Hero.  Sorry for the horrible
case study video, we hadn't figured that out yet.  

2007 Cannes Cyberlion Silver
2007 LIAA Silver
2007 FWA Site of the Day
2008 One Show Short List

'Absolut Andy' & 'Absolut Andy Warhol Art Exchange' Global Integrated Campaigns, Bottle Designs

2015 Silver Cannes Lions, Integrated Marketing Campaign

ABSOLUT VODKA countered intensifying competition from other vodka brands as well as a revival of interest in "brown spirits" like bourbon  by launching a new bottle and campaign launching on October 1, 2014 based on a collaboration in the 1980's with the artist, Andy Warhol.  The campaign is called "Absolut Andy" and also involves and interactive art exchange component called "Absolut Andy: Art Exchange".  The campaign will carry the theme "Make The Holidays Pop" - invoking Warhol's  status as a master of "Pop Art" and encouraging drinkiers to stock up on the limited edition Absolut "Andy Warhol" bottle for the holidays.  The ads and campaign will refer to the "In An Absolut World" campaign from mid 2000's launched by TBWA Chiat Day.

In celebration of the new Andy Warhol Edition, Absolut invites people from all around the globe to unleash their creativity by creating and exchanging digital art. Sign up for The Andy Warhol Art Exchange at http://absolut.com/artexchange You could even win an original Andy Warhol Artwork. #AbsolutWarhol

Legend has it that sometime in the mid-'80s, Andy Warhol fell in love amid the pulsing lights and throbbing beats at ultra-chic New York disco Studio 54. Gazing across the bar, Warhol spied a bottle of Absolut Vodka. Modeled on classic Swedish medicine vials traditionally sold at pharmacies along with spirits, its design was simple yet elegant, the perfect fusion of form and function. Soon, the object of the pop artist's affection would become an objet d'art (and commerce) itself, epitomizing the Reagan/Bush-era obsession with artsy glamour and chic consumption in much the same way Campbell's Soup cans—a Warhol fling two decades before—came to represent the consumer culture of the Kennedy and Johnson years. 

Some call the Studio 54 story into question. Perhaps Michel Roux, CEO of Crillon Importers, which introduced Absolut to the U.S. in 1979, simply commissioned Warhol to create some artwork around the brand. "I love the bottle, I want to do something," is all Andy ever said on the subject. And still, there's no doubt that Warhol's involvement, along with subsequent contributions from other artists and celebrities, helped elevate Absolut to dizzying heights.

By the time "Absolut Warhol"–a typically playful piece from the master appeared in slick magazines in 1986, the brand had already been worming itself into the public consciousness for half a decade thanks to clever ads from TBWA. Art director Geoff Hayes is credited with developing the iconic template. Richard W. Lewis, who ran the business at the New York agency during its glory years from 1987 to 2003 and later penned two books about the campaign, distilled the format as: "A bottle, two words, and a little bit of wit."

Said bottles, stylized in various eye-catching ways, would be teamed up with playful, two-word headlines. (An early classic, "Absolut Perfection," used a halo and spotlight to memorable effect.) Later, objects of every sort—from lunar reflections on water to an overhead shot of Central Park—were cast in the shape of Absolut bottles. "These looked more like covers of The New Yorker than advertisements," said Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, while the poetic quality of the minimalist text was in a realm all its own.

Four million Absolut bottles are to be introduced around the world in a limited-edition look that recreates a bottle created by Warhol for a print ad, titled “Absolut Warhol,” from 1985 (or 1986; the dates differ in the Absolut archives). The bottles, priced the same as regular bottles of Absolut, are being produced through a partnership between Pernod Ricard, which owns Absolut, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts who will receive a portion of the profits from the royalties.

The “Absolut Warhol” ad was significant because it began a relationship between the vodka and the arts that continued for decades. It initially involved artists like Warhol, Keith Haring, Ed Ruscha and Kenny Scharf and was subsequently expanded to include photographers like Annie Leibovitz, film directors like Spike Lee and musicians like Lady Gaga. The current campaign for Absolut, introduced by Sid Lee last September and carrying the theme “Transform today,” features young, contemporary artists.

The arts angle for Absolut marketing was the brainchild of Michel Roux, who led Carillon Importers — the company that originally brought the brand into the United States from Sweden — and TBWA, the lead creative agency for Absolut from 1980 to 2012. The idea helped the brand become the nation’s best-selling imported vodka and one of the biggest success stories in selling premium-priced products.

But as the vodka market became crowded with dozens of new names, Absolut has struggled to recapture the sales growth it enjoyed a decade or two ago. That challenge has been compounded by an unexpected shift in purchasing patterns among drinkers 21 to 34: People those ages during the last 30 years favored “white” liquors like vodka over spirits like bourbon and whiskey, but the so-called millennials are embracing brown spirits.

The campaign will also be infused with modern elements, including the  “Absolut Andy Warhol Online Art Exchange” on a section of the brand’s website; consumers will be able to submit digital art and in return receive art from other consumers. There will also be events with artists, a public relations campaign by Weber Shandwick and a presence in social media like Twitter.

“Warhol is an icon and Absolut has a fantastic heritage of collaborating with him,” “This is not about being back in the past, rummaging in the past. It’s about looking forward, reinventing.”

“Brands with a story, with a heritage, are going to resonate,” said John Esposito, president of the Stolichnaya Group USA. “Like anything else, the strong will survive.”

Invoking heritage has become a popular marketing trend. In addition to Absolut, examples include Boodles gin, Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, Jockey underwear, Jolly Time popcorn, Snuggle fabric softener and Tater Tots frozen potatoes. Such comfort marketing is common during uncertain economic times, when consumers perceive a brand’s longevity as a signal it may offer value.

"Over a sustained period of time, the Absolut brand has kept us in a state of sustained delight," said Judy AUstin, a marketing professor at Boston University.  "The team intuitively chose to tap into the vibrancy and immediacy of the avant-garde artistic culture.  And their timing was perfect."

Streaming music services lack heart. Algorithms aren’t enough to deliver the perfect music—you need people driven by a passion for music.  That was the brief  Jimmy Iovine and Trent Reznor gave us:  design a revolutionary new steaming music service that combines human curation with technology,  and create a new way to experience music. And, once it’s built, launch it to a mass U.S. market.  The result is Beats Music.  We tackled the entire problem from branding and naming, to designing the user experience and interface, to marketing in digital, retail, social, events, and broadcast, including the super bowl.

Mashable captures the laid-back vibe of shoemaker Converse in an interview with Geoff Cotrill, the company’s chief marketing officer, who attributes his brand’s social-media prowess to a willingness to “do nothing.”

When Cottrill discovered that Converse had 8 million fans on Facebook, he says his original reaction was to keep the status quo, he tells Mashable:

“By doing nothing, I meant doing nothing special. Our philosophy in social media has been to bring our voice to the medium, which includes acting like a good party guest — we bring something to the table, and we listen more than we talk. It also means not bringing campaigns from other channels verbatim to a platform that’s about conversation.”

Likening social media to a dinner party is an apt metaphor, one that has served Converse well. The brand’s official Facebook page boasts more than 15 million fans. That’s four times more than Nike (its parent company) and eight times more than competitor Adidas.

Many strategies the company deploys across its social platforms are organic, coming out of what the fans are talking about and what’s trending online that week in pop culture. For some brands, that’s the marketing equivalent to flying without a net.

The ability—and the willingness—to adapt to and create campaigns from what fans are talking about or engaged in shows an innate understanding of the merger of commerce and social platforms. While Facebook ads continue in their struggle for real traction, companies able to meet fans where they live, so to speak, are showing tremendous success.

The number of fans of your social channels is less important that the kind of engagement you’re able to create. As Converse has shown, listening and participating in the conversation like an excellent party guest would will grow your following organically.

The Sampler

Curious to see what those limited-edition Chucks look on your feet? Now you can try on Converse classics and other collections virtually with The Sampler mobile app. After browsing the collections and picking your favorite model, position your camera to frame your foot, scale the shoe to fit, then snap a pic to add it to your gallery. Need a second opinion? You can share the look with friends on Facebook to get their reactions. When you’ve reached a decision, you can buy the shoes through the app.

Converse Music Tumblr

Converse has always been a blank canvas for culture. We wanted to continue that tradition in social.

So we turned to the only hub that respects the art community as much as we do—Tumblr—using it the way it was meant to be. By partnering with net artists to create stuff people actually care about. The only rule: post like a human. It paid off, with three of our collaborations shattering world records for most engaged sponsored post of all time. And now, Tumblr uses our site as a model for other brands on how to do it right.

Beats wanted the 2012 launch of their new colored headphones to make a big impact and bring people together. We knew that the target audience had one thing in common: their cherished individuality.

Starting with a launch in the midst of the London Games in 2012, we kickstarted a culture around sound and self-expression that took the world by storm. The result was an additional 1.7 million fans joining the Beats Army, including a 76% growth in Instagram followers and a 57% increase in YouTube subscribers.

As a result of the campaign, Beats by Dr Dre accounted for 80% of all premium headphone sales in the US during the holiday season in 2012, plus 50% of all headphone sales during the same period. Reaching 180 countries, the #showyourcolor campaign was an astronomical success — making Beats by Dr Dre the #1 audio brand and creating just the big impact they wanted.

AWARDS
Digital Impact Awards: Gold for Best Corporate Campaign
Brand Impact: Winner of Fashion Campaign Award.
AICP Next Awards: Shortlisted in both Experiential and Social categories.
IAB MIXX Awards: Finalist Viral/Word Of Mouth.
CICLOPE Festival of Craft: Finalist for Live Experience.
Drum Awards: Event Marketing of the Year, Best Sports Social Media Campaign, Best FMCG Campaign, Use of Social Media, Integrated Campaign.

Over 350,00 tweets are sent every minute and you can’t escape the fear of missing out and with feeds bursting with information it’s impossible to choose. 

Heineken wanted to help people discover the best night out so we created a digital service built on a human truth; that moment you ask, ‘Where Next’? @WhereNext connects with the pulse of your city in real time.  It works by tapping into platforms that people are already using to create a snapshot of the social scene and it all begins with a tweet @WhereNext.

Our data scientists built an algorithm that constantly gathers real time social media data sorting through what’s happening on Foursquare, Instagram and Twitter and delivering the bars and clubs most relevant to you in a matter of seconds showing you where to go next.

We created a web service to take this even further; a live heat map to show where’s buzzing and a look through the eyes of an insider.  One glance and you know exactly where to go.

The research also showed how consumers from different cities seek a different ‘social currency’ in each urban environment.  People who live in them want to break from routine, experience new places and embark on urban adventures that will add to their ‘social currency’.  For example, New Yorkers see ‘making it’ as the ultimate ‘social currency’ whereas people from Rio de Janeiro see happiness as the absolute mark of achievement.  For Londoners, it’s all about personal development and defining success for themselves.l

“Our world-class marketing campaigns are global, integrated and digitally-driven as everything we do is inspired by and oriented towards our fans.”  The success of the Heineken brand is rooted in a commitment to continuous innovation.

We boldly break away from traditional beer marketing approaches to create stories that inspire people to be courageous and aspirational.  @WhereNext and ‘Cities of the World’ is the latest iteration of Heineken strategy, using rich consumer insights to respond to their desires to explore the great adventures in their cities.

@WhereNext on the go recommendations powered by real people on real nights out and it works anywhere in the world.

The service launched in 32 markets across 6 major cities including Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, Shanghai, New York, London and Amsterdam. 

One tweet unlocked the night.  Seamless twitter integration, contextual activity tracker, real time social aggregator.  So…. Where Next?

The New NIKE.COM Global Site,

A single systematic platform that will bring product, services and brand inspiration together in one place for fast, easy access by all and we built it to be accessible to everyone, on any device, anywhere in the world.

Campaigns and commerce now live together as part of one unified brand store, visualized through a common design language shared by active communities like Nike Plus and premium services like Nike iD.

Then, translated into over 55 languages and cultural contexts; a consistent experience no matter where you are in the world.

Media giant Google is joining forces with the outdoor world as it launches a pilot scheme across the city of London in 2013, involving the arrival of  digital screens at 100 bus shelters and 60 tube stations.

Under the moniker "Google Outside", the project utilises the current Google Now smartphone technology to prompt geographically relevant information, with displayed content even tailored to consider the London weather. For example, a sunny day could see screens guiding the public towards the city's parks, whereas a thunderstorm could quickly force cinema or indoor retail areas onto the platform.

Welcomed by Transport for London as the most innovative concept to feature on their sites to date, Google Outside will provide useful, real-time data for both city locals and the vast tourism audience. Google explained how the sites will "anticipate people’s needs and make their lives easier", bringing Google's digital search technology to outdoor media sites and thus allowing the public to "enjoy Google wherever they are". 

Search has become such a natural part of our lives that many of us have a tendency to take it for granted. So we set out to remind people just how magical Google Search can be. To do this we gave Search a whole new context and took it to a place where people would look at it afresh and remember how extraordinary Google can be. For the first time, Google Search went outside. We took over 160 digital outdoor locations across London and made each screen unique, smart and aware of its context. This meant that millions of people on the street had useful information in front of them at just the right time. Google Outside generated a significant improvement in brand sentiment. 81% of people saw Google as an innovative company in the wake of the campaign. The project also received widespread media recognition. The London Evening Standard sung its praises in print and Transport for London hailed it as ‘the most innovative campaign ever run on our placements’.

Google 'Outside' 2014

Google 'Outside' 2013 was received so positively, that the outdoor 'search' focused campaign was refreshed in 2014 showcasing complex, contextually-dynamic content, delivering the magic of search.

The campaign took place in London, UK again, but went from From 160 sites to over 1,240 sites for pedestrians to interact with and learn from. Each day approx 2,300 unique stories were in circulation around the cities network.

Over 1,000,000 spots were managed and delivered via OpenLoop.

2014 - Bronze Cyber Lion

2014 D&AD Gold - Digital Installations

On Monday November 28, 2011, Nokia Lumia 800 with Windows phone brought deadmau5 and the world's most advanced 4D technology together and created an amazing free light show at Millbank Tower, London. 

Millbank was plunged into darkness with the iconic tower acting as the canvas for a never-before-seen spectacular. Each of the 120 meter high building's 800 windows were covered with vinyl as 16 powerful Barco events projectors, stationed 300 meters away on the other side of the river, beamed 3D images onto the structure. Huge butterflies flew across the London skyline and the tower was twisted, pulsated and even fell down. Billed as the "future of live events" the spectacular show was accompanied by music from super producer deadmau5, who created exclusive remixes for the performance -- adding the 4th dimension.  

The Nokia Lumia Live project celebrated the launch of the new Nokia Lumia 800, created in collaboration with Windows. Lasting for 37 minutes the extravaganza was viewed by thousands of spectators along the banks of the Thames, as well as via Nokia UK’s Facebook page where it was broadcast live.

Accompanied by a live and exclusive performance from producer Deadmau5 the production, saw 16 projectors beaming images onto the 387 foot high building from across the Thames, which necessitated the covering of 800 windows with vinyl wrap.

GOALS

- Prevent intimate teen dating abuse in the digital landscape through an interactive 360 campaign

- Develop an online presence and targeted website to serve as the hub of the campaign

- Provide an engaging forum for ongoing conversations between teens

APPROACH

- The Ad Council and Google teamed with R/GA to design a digital media campaign and produce all creative

- Used Google’s Content Network to precisely target and reach their teen audience

- Created an immersive experience by fully integrating a YouTube Channel into the thatsnotcool.com website

- Verified demographics and usage on an ongoing basis with YouTube Insight and Google Analytics

RESULTS

- Increased site traffic by 1,550%

- Reached over 18M users

- Received 1,143,877 total page views and 135,935 total videos viewed in a 3 month campaign, with traffic still increasing to date

- Drove 89% of impressions from social

Capturing the attention of a teenager is no easy task. When the Ad Council and the Family Violence Prevention Fund wanted to develop a campaign to prevent intimate dating abuse among teens, they needed to start with a compelling message precisely targeted to 13- to 17-year-olds. They also knew that success depended on distributing the message via media that today’s teenagers actively use the most— websites, videos, text messages, and social networks.

For this project, the Family Violence Prevention Fund and the Ad Council partnered with worldwide interactive agency R/GA to develop all aspects of a 360-degree campaign that would engage teens and encourage them to “draw their digital line.” R/GA created the campaign, “That’s Not Cool,” and developed the thatsnotcool.com website as the hub of the campaign. R/GA also knew that YouTube would be an integral part of the campaign in order to reach teens “where they were already having conversations.” 

By creating a “That’s Not Cool” YouTubeTM Channel, a centralized location to host all the campaign’s videos and comments, R/GA greatly increased the campaign’s online presence.   Tapping into the Google Content Network and You Tube helped R/GA to reach 18M young minds and starting dialogues between teens about this important issue

The thatsnotcool.com site features embedded videos from the “That’s Not Cool” YouTube Channel; links to popular social media sites; callout cards that can be shared via email, Facebook, and MySpace; an interactive conversation portal called “Talk it Out;” and videos on topics such as “textual harassment,” “pic pressure,” and “email stalkers.” R/GA also produced all creative for TV, radio, outdoor, and mobile advertising.

“Our goal was to connect with teens where they were already talking with each other. This meant creating not just a single website, but an immersive experience that combined web, video, texting, as well as TV, radio, and print."

For 67 years, the Ad Council has created public service campaigns that raise awareness, inspire action, and ultimately change lives. “People know us for icons and slogans that reflect decades of American culture—characters like Smokey Bear and Rosie the Riveter, and slogans such as ‘Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk,” says Barbara Shimaitis, senior vice president, Interactive Services, for the Ad Council. A private, non-profit organization, the Ad Council follows a donated media model, bringing together volunteer talent and resources from leading advertising agencies and the media.

Right on target

Promoting the site through search ads with Google AdWordsTM was a vital part of the campaign. But early on, all three parties also saw the advantages of using the Google Content NetworkTM to identify and target websites that digitally-savvy teens were likely to visit. The effects of adding eye-catching display ads on the Content Network were powerful: within two days of launching this piece of the campaign, traffic to the site increased 1,550 percent. Further, the Content Network campaign reached over 18 million viewers, providing precise targeting to an extensive audience.

And by connecting with leading social media sites across the Google Content Network, the campaign generated even more traffic—with Facebook, MySpace, and similar sites comprising 89 percent of total impressions during the campaign.

Watching and learning

With guidance from Google, the team also fully integrated YouTube capabilities into the thatsnotcool.com website via the YouTube API, allowing them to host YouTube videos in a customized player and extend the reach of their YouTube Channel. The videos on the site received over 135,000 total views during the three months the campaign was live, and both the site and videos continue to receive significant traffic. “We were amazed,” recalls Shimaitis. “With Google support and the YouTube Channel, visits to the site were tremendous. Daily numbers at times hit 40,000— very high compared to any campaign we’ve ever run.”

Integrating YouTube also enabled them to easily capture data around the effectiveness and reach of videos posted. YouTube Insight, a free analytics and reporting tool, allowed the Ad Council and R/GA to view detailed statistics about visitors to the site, including viewer demographics and viewing activity by region over selected time periods. Through YouTube Insight, the Ad Council confirmed that it had reached its targeted demographic. Nearly half of their traffic was from 13- to 17-year-olds, with 78 percent female and 22 percent male. And with Google Analytics, a free web analytics program, the Ad Council and R/GA were able to monitor and intricately analyze all the traffic to the thatsnotcool.com site.

Both the Ad Council and R/GA see the value of integrating Google products into future ad campaigns. “Working closely with Google from the very start gave us ideas that were crucial to the project. If we could incorporate a YouTube Channel and the Google Content Network into every future campaign, we would,” 

The Alfisti community around the world is huge and the "Alfisti's" are extremely passionate about their favorite car brand. Alfa Romeo's problem was that these communities, literally are spread around the world with campaigns living around them.

What they were looking for was a global platform that could gather all their communities in to one place. What we created was a rich, sophisticated and immersive social media platform with a unique brand language and design that combines both the muscles from the most fervent petrol heads to the extravagance of the Italian style and heritage.

Nike Fuel Band

Nike has introduced the Nike Fuel Band built for  us to realize an idea: a common, universal metric called Fuel for every active body out there and a device that tracks all your daily activity. The Nike+ FuelBand tracks your activity, so anyone who's active can compare their activity with others - no matter who they are or what they do. Until the launch of FuelBand and Fuel, there had never been a way to measure activity or performance. Calories aren't accurate since people burn them at different rates depending on their body type and metabolism. They asked us to design and build the entire user experience.

The Nike+ FuelBand is the gateway to the Fuel experience: on your wrist, iPhone and PC. To create a truly intuitive and seamless user experience, we ensured ease of use: set your goal and track your progress as the LED lights go from red to green. We created Bluetooth sync technology so that when you finish your day, the Fuel you’ve earned is wirelessly uploaded to the platform. Data visualizations break down where you were most active daily, weekly, monthly and beyond. Integrating social and a dynamic leaderboard provides even more motivation. Everything is driven by technology.

The basis for the campaign is that everything you do counts. The simple wristband lets people track the "fuel" they use in every activity during the day through a single button, measuring calories, steps and timing, and tracking their performance on the Nike+ platform.

Nike Fuelband, winner of the Cyber Grand Prix at Cannes International Festival of Creativity, along with Curators of Sweden, is a Nike+ wrist strap device that tracks your daily activity using a common, universal metric called Fuel. The user experience was designed to ensure that active users are easily able to set goals and get from red to green. If you meet your goal, animations celebrate your performance. Hit a streak and Fuelie shows up to cheer you on. Data visualisations show where you were most active daily, weekly, monthly, and beyond. Bluetooth synch technology makes it possible to wirelessly sync the Fuel data to a range of platforms. “NikeFuel levels the playing field, and fits into your life”.

The FuelBand concept has been marketed with the concept of “#Counts”. “Life is a sport. Make it count”. Click on the image below to play the Counts commercial in YouTube (HD)

Nike Fuel Fest Event

To kick off the Games in London, Nike wanted to stage a first-of-its-kind event that demonstrated the power of Nike Fuel. With NIKE+ FUELFEST we transformed a gig into a game and harnessed the energy of a night out, showing London’s young, urban audience that when it comes to Nike Fuel, everything counts.

Our real-time data visualization at Battersea Power Station, framed as a friendly competition between boys and girls, encouraged the crowd to reach beyond their limits. 4,000 guests moved to the beat of performances from some of the biggest names in music. The harder the crowd danced, the more points were earned, powering the experience with live, real-time data aggregated from each person’s Nike+ FuelBand.

Over half a million fuel points generated made NIKE+ FUELFEST a world first that showed London how to #MAKEITCOUNT.

Concept

In late 2008, I led the complete digital redesign of CHANEL from brand strategy to user experience as a key project for the Brand Development group. The challenge was to tie together disparate entities across both USA and France content, for both product / ecommerce to brand expression / art. The digital platform at the time did not do justice to the brand.

A re-examination of the brand essence yielded a simple brand behavior unique to CHANEL, the Reflection. Inspired by the business savvy (product/commerce) and depth of character (brand expression) of both Coco Chanel and Karl Lagerfeld, every interaction in the new platform would interlink via two sides of the same coin, the fusion of objects to meaning, from product to inspiration and back.

In addition to creating a new site and ecommerce experience, we developed technology that debuted in the Chanel Soho NYC store for 'Fashion's Night Out' 2010.  Guests were met with interactive display windows outside the store that they could spray with virtual grafitti cans.  The interactive experience continued in-store where display screens were developed throughout the store that allowed consumers to engage with the screens and understand the concepts behind each collection.

Both interaction and visual language were inspired deeply by the stark and confident CHANEL palette of black and white, as well as the presence of the square and modularity as the form most employed in CHANEL properties from art / fashion to retail / product. What resulted was a dramatic expression of the brand that we felt was uniquely CHANEL. It won the business for the agency.

Focus:
Brand Research
User Research
Concept Development

System

For such a strong brand, with such a uniquely simple and consistent brand language, even the process for interaction design was to fit. Stripping out all extraneous detail was the result of countless iterations, culminating in an interaction system that was modular and allowed for the linkage from Product to Experience from virtually any piece of content —via the Reflection. The square, manifested itself at 3 points of scale throughout the user interface, from navigation to content. This discipline ensured large square hit areas for that would also allow for rich visual expression.

The following are key points in the wireframing and prototyping process, an excerpt of the final deliverable.

Focus
Concept Development
Design Iterations
Prototyping

Expression

The generous grid was pushed to its full potential in both Catalog and Experience modes. What resulted from these iterations was the interplay between black and white units, thus allowing for hybrid states where both Catalog and Experience would intermingle (ideal for special events, retail features, and what otherwise would be too experimental for the straight Catalog).
In further iterations, the grid size would be tightened further, and the navigation system prototyped in motion. With today's technology, a responsive sizing for the units and typography would allow better performance in the auto-scaling of the units.

Focus:
Concept Development
Design Iterations
Prototyping

Inside.Chanel.com

What are the advantages of a good marketing strategy based on storytelling? I propose to analyze the advertising campaign Inside Chanel: a brilliant case study that makes a great use of the contemporary multimedia technologies to tell the story of the brand.

Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. (Coco Chanel)

The main domain of the brand Chanel contains links to two other secondary sites: Chanel News, which refers to special contents related to fashion shows – such as files, interviews and behind-the-scenes – and the site Inside Chanel, which tells the story of the fashion house and is the space that the brand has dedicated to its storytelling strategy.

Inside Chanel is structured in twelve chapters that feature the most relevant moments of Chanel’s past, which are also included in the timeline that, as you scroll down, shows these fragments of history. The story develops through short videos with authentic historical images, sketches or digital drawings. Some of the chapters offer, in addition to the films, additional content organized in a photo gallery or another video.

Here is the structure of the site, chapter by chapter:

N°5 (The Film and Advertising)

Marilyn and N°5 (The Film and Photo Gallery)

The Diamond (The Film and Film from Pathé archives)

The Jacket (The Film and Karl Lagerfeld sketches)

Coco (The Film)

Mademoiselle (The Film)

Gabrielle Chanel (The Film)

Coco by Karl (The Film)

Chanel by Karl (The Film)

The lion (The Film and Photo Gallery)

The colors of Chanel (The Film)

Paris by Chanel (The Film and Photo Gallery)

Characters, places and symbols: these are the subjects of the short stories, which compose the brand identity and represent the emotions perceived by consumers at their very best. Who buys Chanel doesn’t only rely upon quality and excellent craftsmanship, but also on a huge symbolic baggage, full of meanings and messages, which communicate authenticity, elegance and sophistication.

The Inside Chanel campaign invites the user to discover the unexplored brand’s soul and establishes itself as a manifesto of the quality and the unmistakable style of Chanel production. Chapter by chapter, the story takes shape and is enriched with a great value, immediately perceivable by the user,  who finds himself immersed in a tale that is more than 100 years old.

A fashion that does not reach the streets is not a fashion. (Coco Chanel)

The ability to involve the reader in the brand’s life, on the Parisian streets, is made possible thanks to the excellent quality of the videos and the choice of the words that accompany authentic and timeless pictures. The first chapters are devoted to the true symbol of the brand: the perfume Chanel N°5, the embodiment of the strong personality of the “double C”. Three chapters are dedicated to the founder, with three different moments of her life and aspects of her complex personality. In Coco the first years of her life and youth, in Mademoiselle the first part of her fashion life and, finally, Gabrielle Chanel features the years of the re-opening of her studio in rue Cambon, where she worked until her death, on January 10th in 1971.

Fashion changes, only style endures. (Coco Chanel)

The following chapters are dedicated to monsieur Karl Lagerfeld, the only true artistic successor of Gabrielle Chanel, who over the years reinvented and enhanced the unique style of the fashion house. Chanel has been a revolutionary icon of the 20th Century, able to transform a change into a great classic. Her strength is expressed by the lion, her zodiac sign and symbol of several creations with the double C sign, to which a whole Inside Chanel chapter is dedicated.

It is, however, the chapter about Chanel color chart the one that emanates the true essence of the symbolism and the baggage of values related to the brand. People, concepts, places, symbols and moods represent the cultural heritage, expressed in the choice of colors, emblem of the Chanel production.

That a brand with a secular fame manages to make storytelling a strong point might seem obvious. But doing it while still preserving its elegance, sophistication and authority, without falling into awkward and ordinary is something that should not be taken for granted. Inside Chanel is definitely an example of storytelling-based content marketing that leaves no room for doubt in terms of professionalism and quality. An example like this could be an inspiration for smaller and younger firms with a story to tell and emotions to convey. Every story is unique and, therefore, exclusive and precious.

“In order to be irreplaceable one must be different.” (Coco Chanel)

Getty Images came to us with the task of changing people’s perception of them.  While they remained one of the undisputed leaders of editorial images, they were seen as a brand that was cold and exclusive

We set out to alter the most iconic thing about Getty Images, its logo. Our strategy was simple, change to the Watermark and then let word of mouth and PR do the rest. By altering the Watermark, we wanted to make the brand more sympathetic to the needs of the online community and embrace Getty Image’s contributors.

But instead of just altering the logo design, we made the Watermark useful by embedding a behaviour in it, in the form of a quick link to purchase. We took Getty’s core digital footprint, it’s Watermark, and changed it into a digital asset that could be utilised for clients and consumers. Digital was at the heart of design and creativity for this project.

The new Getty Images watermark used on all stock photos is worth talking about! It is innovative, informative and different. All stock photo agencies have a watermark that is placed on their stock photos to protect unauthorized use of their stock photo inventory before it is purchased. This new watermark highlights not the agency but the photographer with reference to the agency that is selling the stock photo. Now that is cool!

New Getty Images watermark give more credit to photographers

Getty Images is giving credit where credit is due, the photographer who dreamed up and took the photo, not the agency who sells the photo. Each stock photo agency uses a watermark that highlights their agency, with text credit given to each photographer. As digital images become more popular, photographers will also become more popular. Personal branding is where it is at online, and Getty is making sure that photographers are assisted in that personal branding message.

Highlighted information on the new Getty Images Watermark

The new watermark will:

Display custom URLs which incorporates image number codes along  with the URL, which offers customers a simple resource to find the image

Celebrate our photographers and contributors

Enable the image to be viewed as a whole, transforming a barrier into a benefit

Streamline image sourcing for customers

GETTY IMAGES 'THE FEED'

Getty Images has partnered with R/GA to launch a new social media site called The Feed, a service that scans trending topics across the world and automatically pulls in photos from across its wire service as it happens.

The Feed uses Getty's Connect API to scans through the trending topics on Twitter, matching them up to the metadata tags in Getty's database and flowing in galleries of images of events even as they happen that other sites can pick up. 

There's also a Twitter account, @FeedMeGetty, which pumps out the most popular image of the top trending topic on the hour, every hour. If you tweet at it with a word, it will return a photograph of that word.

For over 500 drink recipes, there's our Drinkspiration app. Because sometimes it's necessary to have a world-class bartender in your pocket. 

Maybe you're not sure what cocktails to decide on for your party, or you're simply looking for some drink inspiration. Enter: Drinkspiration. 

In the same way that a great bartender can read you like a book, the Drinkspiration app learns your taste over time and can guide you into new territory as time goes by. 

With over 500 drinks based on vodka, gin, whisky, rum and tequila, you'll also be able to scroll to your heart's content through a plethora of pre-party cocktails and the classiest of classics. 

If it's a last-minute situation, tick the ingredients you have on hand at home and learn what you can make using what you've got. 

Absolut Vodka has expanded Drinkspiration, an application combining the latest mobile technology with GPS, Twitter and Facebook, to Google’s Android operating system to create buzz among mobile consumers.

Drinkspiration is an interactive encyclopedia of recipes that helps users find and share personalized drink recommendations based on taste, weather, time of day, bar vibe, sound volume and real-time drink trends. Drinkspiration by Absolut for Android is available for free in the Android Market, and there is also a free version of the application in Apple’s App Store.

“We wanted Drinkspiration by Absolut to be available for a larger audience, and not only for iPhone users,” said Fredrick Tallroth, senior manager of interactive marketing at the Absolut Co., Stockholm, Sweden. 

“The target demographic is both men and women above the legal drinking age who enjoy ordering a drink when socializing with friends in bars,” he said.

Absolut Vodka is the third-largest brand of alcoholic spirits in the world after Bacardi and Smirnoff, and is marketed in 126 countries.

Absolut promotes its various flavors within the app

Absolut wants to create the first interactive spirits application of its kind, combining top-of-the line mobile technology with social media interaction and user-generated content.

Drinkspiration features hundreds of vividly illustrated drink recipes to satisfy every drink preference.

The user can browse recipes or get personalized drink recommendations based on personal taste, location or occasion.

The application is designed for bar guests wanting to try something new, according to Absolut.

Another of Absolut’s key goals is for Drinkspiration to serve as an inspirational tool for both people who mix cocktails at home and professional bartenders.

Drinkspiration lets users share their location and real-time drink choices through Facebook and Twitter integration, which spreads the word about the application virally.

Combined with GPS capabilities, a status update generated by the application could be, for example, “John is having a Bloody Mary in Buenos Aires.”

The mobile application also integrates withhttp://www.absolutdrinks.com.

Consumers can sign up for an account so that the drinks ordered in their mobile application automatically creates top lists in their profile.

Taken, not stirred
From Absolutdrinks.com, users can also download badges to place on their blog or homepage that are automatically updated with their favorite drinks.

In addition, the application gives users a glimpse of the international nightlife scene, letting them see what drinks are ordered worldwide in real-time, highlighting global drink trends and top-cocktail lists—all made possible by GPS technology.

Absolut also recently updated the version of Drinkspiration for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch.

NOKIA VINE

CAMPAIGN

Nokia viNe is a breakthrough mobile application that records photos, videos, and music while geotagging them to a multimedia map of the user’s life.

Now, it’s easier than ever to preserve daily experiences. And, while users are documenting their lives, they are sharing the Nokia brand.

STRATEGY

Nokia viNe represents a new way of approaching branding, in which name, design, and functional interface are seamlessly combined—the first time intuitive brand design has served both as the branding and the interface of an application.

AWARDS

- Webby Awards 2010 Winner ‘Best Use of GPS’, 'Innovation & Experimental'
- Cannes Lions 2009 Design - Gold 'Corporate Identity Schemes' Large scale
- Communication Arts 2009 50th Anniversary Annual
- 365: AIGA Annual Design Competitions -  'Brading 2009' Website business; for-profit, either corporate communications or ecommce sites
- Creative Review - The Annual - Winner, Interactive/Digital Media 2009

NOKIA VINE - URBANISTA DIARIES

CAMPAIGN

Urbanista Diaries was an extensive three-phase campaign that engaged bloggers, journalists and every day people to take photos of their adventures.  The powerful N82 tags each photo to a specific location through location based GPS, so users could simultaneously share their experiences with anyone.

For Phase 1, 4 influential bloggers were sent across the globe to record their journeys and share them with guests on the site. For Phase 2, Nokia partnered with several top media sites including Wallpaper, Lonely Planet, National Geographic, CNN and Salomon to document major world events in real time via journalists, artists and scientists.  Phase 3 opened up the experience to anyone with a GPS enabled Nokia device.  It's another example of how Nokia is changing the way people share the stories that make up their lives.

STRATEGY / STORYTELLING REDISCOVERED

The Urbanista Diaries tracked a team of 4 global explorers as they undertook an 8 week relay race across the globe using a Nokia N82 as the baton.  The Urbanista Diaries website tracked their progress as they moved from New York to London including 22 stops along the way.  The Urbanistas told the stories of their adventures through the lens of their Nokia N82.

Using Nokia Sports Tracker mobile application, every element of the Urbanistas progress and was tracked via GPS to show where they were in their journey or look at images marked on a global map and the places they were taken so consumers could track the bloggers daily and share in the adventure.

AWARDS

- GSMA Global Mobile Awards - Best Mobile Brand Campaign 2009         - Mobile Marketing Association - Best Use of Mobile Marketing, Relationship Building, 2008

NOKIA NSERIES N95 'OPEN TO ANYTHING' NATIONAL FULLY INTEGRATED CAMPAIGN

CAMPAIGN / STRATEGY

Nokia launched the Nokia N Series 'N95' smartphone against the Apple iPhone in mid-2007.  The iPhone raised one main concern with critics & consumers alike, it wasn't open to developers at that point and no SDK kit had been announced.

The Nokia N95 however was open-source which became the strategy behind our fully integrated national campaign.  The N95  featured GPS, an 8mp camera, audio recorder and high resolution screen.  This phone came as a prelude to any Android device and the campaign was a huge success for Nokia.  

Nokia was re-introduced into all national mobile carriers retail locations & sales increased 26% in the first quarter following the campaign.  The campaign also received a great deal of brand awareness throughout the blogosphere.

BARNES & NOBLE GLOBAL REBRANDING AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND LAUNCH OF 'NOOK'

Due to the overwhelming success of the Barnes & Noble Global Site (BN.COM) and Commerce redesign, they turned to our team to help brand, name and develop their smart tablet / reader appropriately named 'Nook' by our team.

NOOK by Barnes&Noble, top 3 in the US tablet/ eReader market, is expanding their business in European tablet/ eReader market. With the product launch of brand new NOOK HD and NOOK HD+, NOOK.com need a total facelift to bring the customers a fresh look and feel of the brand and also the product. I helped Barnes & Noble create their international website with responsive web, which automatically adjust the layout of the website to fit in both desktop and mobile browsing experience.

Skill used:
•    User Observation and Interview
•    Competitor Research
•    Content Strategy
•    Persona and Scenario
•    Wireframe, Sitemap, and User Flow

2009 Cannes Design Lions Bronze
2009 One Show Design Silver

What do you call 20 sensory-overloaded minutes fashioned out of 60+ dancers, an original visual program created by Daft Punk’s light designers, a new pop symphony from one-half of N.A.S.A., and over 155 rooms of New York’s Standard Hotel? You could start with “Spectacular,” but even that seems limiting. This one-time-only show for Target’s 2010 fall apparel collection is just about the coolest and most unique event ever produced aligned closely with the opening of the iconic Standard Hotel in New York City!

Target’s Kaleidoscope Fashion Spectacular, run on the side of the Standard Hotel in New York in 2010, has won Gold at The One Show 2011. The light and fashion extravaganza, featuring 133 dancers, was played out in the windows of 156 rooms with 44,640 LED bulbs, and original music from Sam Spiegel. On the street below models wore new autumn fashion from Target outfitters including Mossimo, Merona, Converse and Liz Lange.

The show was designed to entertain the masses and was viewable from the southern entrance of the High Line Park. The 20-minute performance was accompanied by an original soundtrack by Squeak E. Clean, aka Sam Spiegel, performed by a 30-piece orchestra and 10-person chorus. Viewers who could see the show but were not close enough to hear the music could call into a special number (866-500-5046) for the audio.

For those not in the vicinity, or New York for that matter, Target also featured the event on its Facebook page, with online teaser videos, an embedded Twitter application, and a photo gallery to share fashion pics and four live streams of the event, enabling a guest to select his or her view. After the event, the experience showcased each featured look from the show with links to an online shopping site.

Cannes Lions Grand Prix Winner - 2008

Launched in the summer of 2007, HBO Voyeur was a multimedia brand campaign preceding projection mapping. Using the concept of voyeurism, the team created a series of fictional, interconnected characters and stories set within a NY apartment block and these were expanded to create a multiplatform brand experience.

‘It had been a long time since HBO launched a brand campaign, so it was important that the team assembled was able to articulate a refined brand strategy that truly captured the essence of the brand, into high quality, innovative and break-through creative,’ recalls Cindy Matero, director of brand strategy at HBO. ‘HBO Voyeur at its core was a brand initiative and our long-term relationship with BBDO meant they have a deep and firm understanding of the HBO brand and our innovative communication strategies, as well as the nuances of the relationship with our consumer.’

The creative team was selected because of its mastery in communicating brand messages in a non-traditional way that leverage all forms of media. 

HBO shared work and project details on a consistent, at times daily, basis. The client also consistently demonstrated tremendous respect and support for the creative team and its work.

‘In fact, because of the magnitude of the project and all the different moving parts, at times it was as if we were one with the client, all working closely together, hand-in-hand to get things done,’. ‘Our challenge was twofold; to ignite the passion of HBO super-fans without leveraging the brand’s most powerful asset, its programming, and also to demonstrate the evolution of the brand across multiple platforms. Although the project grew in scope, this initial focus never changed.’

The main focus of the campaign was a silent film showing the residences and residents of a fictional urban apartment block in New York City. The campaign’s stellar launch saw crowds gather on the corner of Broome Street and Ludlow Street when the four-minute film was beamed onto the side of a nearby whitewashed apartment building.

Divided into 12 moving parts, the film mimicked a cross-section of the building’s infrastructure, allowing it to show the interiors of all eight apartments simultaneously, as well as the stairwell. Onlookers instantly became voyeurs.

For Matero, seeing the film projected life-size onto the side of a building in Manhattan was the most memorable moment of the campaign. ‘Everyone who worked on the project attended this very successful event and represented all of the hard work and collaboration on the project,’ she recalls.

Creatively developing eight interconnected stories that could play out, fully synchronised, in four minutes was a considerable challenge for the creative team. In addition to developing over 30 different characters, they also mapped, timed and choreographed all the characters’ movements.

The actors had to learn the technical elements of their roles before finding a way to inject characterisation. Part of the challenge for the actors was to portray character and emotion from a distance, while steering clear of pantomime.

The cast and crew were brought together in a mass workshop to perfect the performance. The core film was shot on two sound stages and filmed one ‘floor’ at a time, including activity in the stairwell.

While one floor was being shot, the other side of the sound stage was being dressed. With no dialogue, shot entirely from the perspective of the voyeur, the film required the actors to perform as though they were on a theatre stage.

Each element was carefully choreographed and later meticulously stitched together in post-production. The final film represents an entirely new concept.

In addition to being projected onto the building, the film was also extended to hbovoyeur.com, HBO On Demand and HBO Mobile, as well as other media-sharing platforms such as Flickr and YouTube.

Along with additional interactive content, viewers were able to find more information about the individual characters and their lives, by looking both online and in the real world. This further heightened the experience for those keen to get more involved.

While many campaigns begin and end with the creation of a single character, HBO Voyeur reaches an entirely new level. It is a startling achievement for a single campaign, from the creation of multiple characters, each complete with their own story, to the way in which their lives are cleverly intertwined, to the outstanding direction of the filmed sequences, to the perfect choice of music, to the innovative use of multiple platforms.

Moreover, by incorporating multiple platforms with specific content created to optimise each one, yet never to the detriment of another, HBO Voyeur encapsulates where the advertising industry should be right now.

‘HBO Voyeur was a multi-platform initiative with original content developed for each,’ notes Matero. ‘The creation and implementation, as well as the complex marketing plan behind the project, was nine months in the making. This level of detail required constant communication and many conference calls and meetings every week.’

The complexity of the project and range of skills required meant there were also a number of additional collaborators on the project. These included RSA for film production, Asylum for visual effects, Search Party for music, Big Spaceship for online development and Butcherfor editorial.

A team of account managers and client partners led by Brad O'Brien were responsible for managing and overseeing the entire project, ensuring everything was carried out professionally, from developing the strategic thinking behind the project to securing the location to ensuring the media plan was working.

The team’s tasks included liaising between the client and the agency project team; researching, securing and managing outside companies as partners (including PR and event marketing specialists and an online agency); working with the New York City authorities to secure the necessary approvals for the projection location; and generally tackling entirely new concepts in a creative manner.

HBO Voyeur was a complicated project with many different facets. A number of its elements had never previously been attempted, so the project’s account managers needed to be open-minded and creative.

One of the biggest obstacles for the creative team was finding and securing the location. It was crucial to find a building that would work with the creative concept – a stripped-away wall – in a location that could both accommodate an audience and was visible to passers by.

The building used was almost as much of a character in the tale as its inhabitants. For this reason, and to ensure the film was shown in context, Manhattan’s Lower East Side was chosen. Finding an appropriate space there was not an easy task. In the end, a location scout was hired to find the right venue, but the complications did not end there.

‘Our perfect building was adjacent to a Department of Transportation parking lot, which required approval from the city at a time when projecting on the sides of buildings was very controversial. ‘We worked with seven different NYC government offices to secure permission to use the space. It was the positive relationships we developed with decision makers and influencers, as well as our passion and persistence for the project, that ultimately allowed us to bring it to life in the location we had chosen.’

Four Floors, Eight Stories

Also, as the project developed, elements were added or extended, which also resulted in budget increases. However, these were always discussed by the full team (agency, client and partner) and agreed upon in advance.

‘We faced an unusual challenge in that the project evolved and grew over time, with an endless number of tentacles and ideas – the only thing standing in our way at times was budget!’ says Matero. In fact, were she to repeat the project, this is the one element Matero would alter, allocating more money to expose many more people to the outdoor film in more cities.

For the creative team, the key lesson from this project was that anything is possible for an agency that is truly committed at all levels to create and produce a unique and amazing project, no matter what the obstacles, working alongside clients who are equally committed.

‘It is possible to communicate a strong and succinct brand message in a non-traditional form, and still have it connect deeply with consumers and elevate the perception of the brand,’ concludes Matero.

The HBO Voyeur website received a record number of hits: 1.2 million in the first four weeks, with an average time spent on site of nine minutes. The original content on all HBO platforms, including HBO On Demand, HBO Mobile and HBO on iTunes, also garnered above-average usage.

Additional post-campaign research revealed that HBO Voyeur communicated a strong and positive brand message. This was a resoundingly successful campaign by any standards.