The truth pours out.
Heineken has been true to its original recipe since 1886. So our team pitched and won on a platform of authenticity: A sense of history. Iconography. And true conversations heard over a Heineken, including this one particular phone call I had with my wife.
Murphy's is an even older brewery with limited US presence. So our team's conceit was "We're really great brewers but really naïve marketers." Hence the slightly offbeat headlines and media placements like the one seen here.
"Fish where the fish are."
In advertising, we like to intercept people where they live, show them their life as it is, then show them how it can be better with the product we're selling. That's what we did with these two brand extension launch ads that hit home with consumers nationwide.
For Bounty Napkins, we started with a universal truth: Cheap napkins are terrible. We just needed to show that in an interesting way. The result was a light, convincing spot that everyone could laugh with, without feeling laughed at.
For Bounty In A Box, P&G asked hundreds of people why they didn’t keep a roll of paper towels everywhere. The answer, more or less, was, “Are you kidding?” That's the story we told in the commercial. I wish I could take credit for the brilliant but equally obvious tagline.
Copywriters love visual solutions.
After all, why write a thousand words, when a picture is worth just as much? In this telegraphic launch ad for Nicorette Orange, one image erased any doubt that a flavored stop-smoking solution could be just as effective as the original.
In a time when Nicorette was forcing itself to tell a very complicated story, the fact that we could do something this simple was a real coup.
It may be my favorite headline yet.
Charm, disarm, and convince.
OXY was going through a sales slump, amid an identity crisis and heavy competition from more beauty-oriented products.
So we decided to stop playing in the beauty arena and get back to killing acne bacteria. But how could we convince cynical teens? By showing one reacting to the science.
By animating the characters and giving them an adult to laugh at, teens embraced the message, and sales again soared. (Even as our happy scientist plummeted.)
They say that radio is a visual medium.
It's also a great opportunity to experiment (with client approval, of course). These are some of my favorites: my first produced ad ever (for Liberty Mutual), my first celebrity-voiced campaign (written specifically for the great Rip Torn for Sheraton), one based on Sun Tzu's The Art of War for TAG Heuer, and one from a fun man-on-the-street campaign for Milestone Scientific's dental device called The Wand, Take a look.
Sometimes the competition isn't a product but a mindset.
People with high "bad" cholesterol often have good intentions, yet they have the wrong idea about how they got high cholesterol in the first place, so they don't know the right thing to do to lower it.
Moreover, the market leader was running commercials portraying beautiful people with high cholesterol as buffoons. So we set out to do it differently: to recognize our audience's good intentions and debunk the old ideas . To tell a charming tale and change the paradigm, in rhyme.
This was by far the largest broadcast production I've been involved in, shooting in Argentina, editing in Madrid and New York, and recording with Patrick Stewart in Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo.
To sell a product, first sell an idea.
The wrong idea can cause people to run away. But the right idea is a magnet.
The years we spend baking in the sun can result in precancerous spots called actinic keratosis or AK. But instead of expressing regret and having our audience change the channel, our team reimagined AK as souvenirs of a life well-lived. We pitched and won the 3M skincare business with one campaign, tested it, and ran it. Website hits surpassed all expectations. Memorable indeed.
Some products need to be experienced to be believed.
Such is the case with diabetes test strips. Our charge was to convince people who tested their blood 8 times a day that this strip was different. And we did, by showing someone being convinced right before their eyes.
The result? Sales through the roof, and the highest-testing commercials in that category's history to date. Also gratifying was that, on set, we were able to discover and work with the client to develop new opportunities to expand their reach.
Rebrand, refresh, renew, revive.
Pleasantville, NY, really is as the name suggests. Always something going on. Always an opportunity for someone to lend a hand.
The Pleasantville Music Festival had been one of my favorite annual events for a decade. Yet it seemed like its heyday was fading. So, I led a team to revive it.
We built a new organization and reimagined the entire experience as “New York’s Backyard Jam.” Then we convinced loyalists and early adaptors to buy deeply discounted tickets based on the experience, before they knew the line-up, allowing us to pay for higher-earning bands.
We expanded our marketing plan with a completely revamped website, sponsorship kit, press releases, an e-newsletter, radio and online, print and posters, social media, and new partnerships. The result was immediate 3x growth, a re-polished reputation, and increased attendance for years.
The Pleasantville Farmers Market was a nice place to grab fresh produce, with potential to be so much more. So my friends and I expanded the layout, added weekly music and events, increase vendors, and turned it into the place to get together on Saturday mornings. Attendance quadrupled.
But we didn't stop there. We formed our own not-for-profit, ebranded the entire experience, created a complete marketing campaign, and turned the Pleasantville Farmers Market into the biggest, most lively, most award-winning market in the county. We call it "a delicious good time."
Then, when everyone was stuck inside during the pandemic, my friends and I found a way to get people out and about safely by creating The Pleasantville Puzzle Hunt, a set of pencil puzzles that led villagers to clues and answers all around the community. People got outside! They waved hello through masks. And they felt gratitude and connection to each other and to the village. Participation has increased year after year, making it a Thanksgiving weekend tradition.
