It's in the can.

I just wrapped production in New York on a new Qwest Business spot. It was fun despite being an overnight shoot. And despite the fact I had to get on a plane at 6 am the following morning so I could make a 10:30 am meeting in Chicago. Not sure if it was the lack of sleep or what, but I'm pretty sure Dick Gephardt was eating dinner next to us in O'Hare. I'll post the spot when it's done.

Southern Comfort Site Transition

What fun is it to launch a new site if the process is like switching on and off a light? To help announce the launch of the redesigned Southern Comfort site we decided to do something different. We decided to "reward" loyal SoCo site visitors by allowing them to adopt the old site. Complete with a personalized adoption certificate.

Polaris Rich Media Banners

These are from a few years ago but I still think they're fun. Our task from Polaris was to create banners highlighting the unique strengths its two flagship snowmobiles. So we came up with two rich media banners. Each with a game that emphasized the focus of each sled. The RMK was about power so we created the Chalet Climb where you jump from rooftop to rooftop. The Fusion was about control so we created Dust 'Em where you have to avoid obstacles and carve to rack up points. These had a limited media schedule but they resonated with enthusiasts so much that those who found them passed them on and challenged others on snowmobile forums.

Bimmerworld Print

This is my favorite of three print campaigns Bob Ranew and I did for Bimmerworld (a BMW performance and race prep shop in southern Virginia). They run a professional race team in the Speed World Touring Car Championship. Their claim is that before they suggest a part or modification to customers, they race-test it on the track. So, in a way the the Bimmerworld cars are like studs for customer cars. Hence the stud farm concept we played with here. Of course, the client chose a "safer" campaign. Not like this is way out. Baby steps. Baby steps. I'll post the chosen campaign once we shoot it and produce the final mechs.

SouthernComfort.com Redesign

With the advent of SoCo Lime, Southern Comfort saw its popularity rise. So they needed to update the SoCo site and create a fresh brand experience for the new SoCo loyal. The task was to get the brand off the porch and the target out of the apartment. The concept for the redesign was borrowed from the bulletin boards and kiosks found in bars and in cities around the globe.

See the redesigned site here: http://www.southerncomfort.com/

SoCo Night Institute

Maybe you've seen it already. Maybe you haven't. But we launched a new site for SoCo called the Night Institute. Think of it as a "YouTube"-esque site where the focus is on people sharing their nightlife know-how, skills, etc. The goal? Help every night become a legendary night. The campaign so far has included banners, the site (duh), print and e-mail. Some of our content partners included MAXIM, Pandora, Drink of the Week, and Rhapsody. It's still in its infancy but the plan is to continuously tweak it and grow the community. The next few posts show some of the work. Here's a link to the site: www.soconightinstitute.com

Qwest Business Banners

These pieces are from a little banner campaign we did for Qwest Business that is producing big results. The banners were intended to be an extension of our “Sand Art” TV work. Despite being “brand” work, there is evidence they are generating sales. You can see the TV work as well as the animations used in the banner at this address: www.qwest.com/business/

Qwest Mobile Broadband

Qwest was finally able to offer its business customers access to mobile broadband Internet. Beyond the gee whiz factor, the real benefit to small and midsize businesses was the ability to stay productive without staying in the office. A lot of these businesses have staff on the go around the country. With Qwest mobile broadband, they could virtually take their office with them. We played it up a bit more literally.

NASDAQ Up Tick

The current campaign for NASDAQ began with a holiday wish. A very simple holiday card concept to be precise. A concept that used a common icon from the investment world to indicate the things that should be trending up or down during the holiday season. That idea then became the basis of a much broader campaign that included print, online, and 17, yes 17, TV spots. The goal was to show investors, financial analysts, and listing decision makers that NASDAQ is the market for companies that are creating change.

Although I didn’t create the spots, I thought you might like to see them. So here's a link.
www.nasdaq.com/reference/nasdaq_commercial.stm

Audi TT Intro Ads

This is a set of print ads Jen Matthews and I did for the launch of the new Audi TT. Sadly, it was one of the last advertising assignments we did for Audi. Our goal was to make Audi regret their decision to leave McKinney. I like to think we achieved that goal. The middle idea ran, the others were equally loved by the client but the buy only allowed for one to hit books.

Audi Pitch Work Print

The following work is just some stuff I thought I’d share. It's some pitch work for Audi. My AD at the time, Jen Matthews, and I came up with it for the pitch. Audi was a long-time client of our agency until early 2007. I didn’t work on the account regularly, but when a change in the CMO office precipitated an agency review, Jen and I were asked to help lead the pitch. This work is just the tip of the iceberg. But I think it says a lot about Audi's mindset when they’re willing to walk away from the kind of thinking the pitch team put together.

Audi Pitch Work Outdoor

More from the pitch.

TSC Bird Feeding Tutorial

Backyard bird feeding is one of the most popular past times. Really, it is. I think gardening is #1. TSC is the source for products and advice for the rural lifestyle, "the stuff you need out here". So when we redesigned the site (represented in the first image) we created online tutorials designed to help educate customers about popular topics. Like backyard bird feeding. Not only is backyard bird feeding big business for TSC, it resulted in a cool tutorial.

Cub Scouts Sign-Up

The Cub Scouts asked us to create an online recruitment campaign. The problem is, you can't e-mail kids directly. So we took a two tiered approach. We e-mailed Scout parents and included a link to a viral game for the kids. The idea was to get current Scouts to play with the game and pass it along to their friends, exposing them to the world of Cub Scouts. The game let kids build and run a Pinewood Derby car. They could send it to a friend and challenge them to build a better car. The results were much better than expected.

Porsche New Boxster Banner

A Porsche redesign is more like an evolution. The changes can be are somewhat subtle. So when Porsche redesigned the Boxter in '05, our task was to show just how extensive the changes actually were. This rich media banner served as a trail head to a landing page featuring a video that offered a nape-of-the-earth view of the new car and clickable overlays that paused the experience to present more in-depth info. The page also featured desktop widget inspired by the Boxter's dash chronometer. The widget was a clock, stopwatch and weather station in one. However, instead of displaying a sun or clouds to indicate conditions, it used a top-up or top-down Boxster to let you know what kind of day to expect.

Porsche 911 40th Banner

We did scads of 40th anniversary banners and e-mails and contests and stuff. However, for the sake of this blo-folio, I'm just gonna share one banner. The one I think captured the spirit of the 40th anniversary milestone and the nature of the 911 with an appropriate touch of humor. Bob Saget Full House humor, not Bob Saget stand-up humor. There's a big difference.

Porsche Pre-Owned Banners

Don't you just love the term Pre-Owned? It's kind of redundant. Actually, pre-owned would be new. Wouldn't it? Anyway, these banners were created for the debut of the Porsche of Pre-Owned programs. Like a lot of their amazing technologies, Porsche gave this program a mouthful of a name: Porsche Approved Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles. I'm not kidding. The one with the red 911 allows the user to actually polish the car.

Porsche Cayenne Reveal "Spot"

I call this a spot partly because it was subject to the production and approval gauntlet reserved for broadcast. And partly because it was the first spot-like object produced for the launch of the Cayenne. My partner and I cobbled it together from stills, pre-pro footage, and stock music. The VO recording was piggybacked with a session for a "real" spot. This ran on the Yahoo! home page and auto enthusiast sites the day the Cayenne debuted in Paris. Interesting aside, when this was presented to the client, he loved the payoff line so much, he made it the overall positioning line for the Cayenne.