Credit scores and swagger go together like…

Well, they probably haven't ever been used in the same sentence…until now. The latest campaign from Experian shows how you can "get your credit swagger on" by utilizing Experian's Credit Tracker.

Saving money to help folks live better is the heart and soul of the Walmart brand. And this holiday is no different as Walmart finds even more ways to spread joy this Christmas, starting with a song. 

If you want to save money on car insurance, you switch to GEICO. It’s what you do.

This new campaign explores other “it’s what you do’s” from popular culture in true GEICO fashion. Like say, if you’re in a horror movie, you make poor decisions. It’s what you do.

Joe Alexander, CCO of The Martin Agency, picks his Desert Island Ads

When you make a list like this, you inevitably leave off so much great stuff. Apologies.
I also didn’t include radio, digital, outdoor, social, etc. I stuck to print and TV – with one exception – to keep the list from getting unruly.
Two things I would say about everything here: One, the ideas and executions are timeless. They are just as relevant today as they were when they first appeared. Two, I wish I had them in my book.

VW: Snowplow
The most perfect campaign in ad history. Maybe I love this one so much because I grew up shoveling snow.

Canal+: The Bear
A bear rug turned into a walking, talking directing ass.
Yelling at the PA – gets me every time.

Rolling Stone: Perception vs. Reality
Fallon McElligott was always amazing at creating print constructs that had endless executions.

Economist: I never read the Economist.
David Abbott’s best.

Ikea: Lamp
The music. The edit. The rain. The crazy Swede. Spike Jonze crushed this one.

GEICO: Caveman Series
The contempt the cavemen had for present day humans. Brilliant twist on the cliché.

BMW Films: The Hire
Digital content, book one, chapter one, page one. The definition of gamechanger.

California Milk Processors: Got Milk/Aaron Burr
The strategic insight here – what happens when you take milk away? – one of the greatest of all time.

Apple: Think Different print series
When ads become art.

ESPN: SportsCenter
The very first “mockumentary-style” campaign. I’ve always loved how W&K just embraced the bad acting of the athletes and anchors.

Nike: Just Do It.
The very first time the line was used was in this spot. The humble beginnings of greatness.

Joe Alexander is managing partner and CCO of one of North America’s finest agencies The Martin Agency. Based in Richmond and New York, Alexander oversees a department of 200 creatives and producers. Major accounts include Walmart and Geico (see below). Martin has also won an Emmy for its work for The JFK Presidential Library, the first ad agency to be so awarded in the News and Documentary category. Martin is owned by Interpublic and recently opened its first office outside the US, in London.

Link to full article. 

Campaign US features the latest work for Stoli.

Link to full article. 

Credit scores and swagger go together like…

Well, they probably haven't ever been used in the same sentence…until now. The latest campaign from Experian shows how you can "get your credit swagger on" by utilizing Experian's Credit Tracker.

First of all, if you’re ever in a karaoke bar in Helsinki at 2 am in the depths of December, Duran Duran’s “Rio” is a huge crowd-pleaser. Second, if you’re slated to sing gentle Oreo songs in front of 250 people at 2 pm the next day, belting out 80’s tracks at the top of your lungs the night before is hugely stupid. Fortunately for me, a good portion of the audience at my Eurobest session seemed to have been in that karaoke bar with me, so when my voice cracked like a boy in the throes of puberty, it was met with sympathy. Maybe even approval. If there’s one thing the Finns admire, it’s the ability to drink whatever’s put in front of you.

But if there’s another thing they admire, it’s creativity. Finland—and really, the whole Nordic / Scandinavian region that includes Norway, Sweden, and Denmark too—is, at the moment, probably the most design-savvy, teched-up, dialed-in place in the universe, which made Helsinki an ideal place for a conference dedicated to showcasing the coolest work coming out of Europe. Held in the Aalto-designed Finlandia Hall, Eurobest was four solid days of meeting people with names that had no vowels (i.e., “Pyry”) and seeing work that I wish I’d done. Simple, elegant, brilliantly executed stuff that reminded me of why we do what we do.

There was the “direct mail” campaign for Audi that sent mysterious cubes to prospects. Push a button, and a timer starts counting down from 90 minutes. When it hits zero, an Audi A8 arrives in your driveway and it’s yours for 24 hours (18% of prospects bought the $100,000+ car).

There was the Google stadium wrap for Manchester United that used webcams to broadcast the cheers of fans in distant lands directly to players on the pitch.

There was the branded content series out of Spain in which a fictional ad agency makes ads for real brands, who essentially bankroll the production—ads that are far more creative and edgy than the brands would normally be able to do.

And then, there were a couple old-school TV spots that were simply stunning. A spot called “The Leap” for Lacoste, out of Paris, brilliantly dramatized the inner struggle of a guy as he decides to tell a woman he loves her; it was simultaneously ultra-stylish and emotionally moving. Yep, a heartwarming fashion ad. That can happen.

Of course, since I was showing work, Eurobest was also a chance for me and Dean to see how the rest of the world reacts to the work we make here at Martin. I wish everyone could have seen the smiles on people’s faces when they saw the Oreo work animated down at Hue & Cry, or the new Walmart holiday spot that Deb Hagan CD’d (although, Finland being the birthplace of the Santa Claus legend, a good Christmas spot was bound to go over big). It’s always been a strength of Martin to make work that speaks to a broad audience, but you realize just how broad that audience really is when you’re making Estonians giggle.

Sadly, I didn’t make it to an authentic Finnish sauna. I didn’t eat reindeer meat, although we saw it on a menu or two. And while I did catch a glimpse of Santa—he was hanging out near a big H&M store—I can’t say with certainly that he wasn’t an imposter.

But I can say that inspiring, surprising, brave, innovative and delightful ideas are alive and well in the frozen north. And thankfully, back here at home too.

The Martin Agency announced it has been chosen by Ferrero U.S.A., Inc. as the new agency of record for the Tic Tac brand.

Link to Full Story. 

Saving money to help folks live better is the heart and soul of the Walmart brand. And this holiday is no different as Walmart finds even more ways to spread joy this Christmas, starting with a song. 

The Martin Agency is now lead creative agency for the Sabra Dipping Co. 

In selecting Martin, Sabra director of marketing Eric Greifenberger cited the shop's "keen understanding of our consumer, the fresh dips category, and Sabra's brand potential," adding that it provides a "depth and breadth of talent uniquely suited for supporting our needs going forward." Martin CEO Matt Williams, in turn, described Sabra as an "amazing brand."

Link to full article.

Brewing a Movement: Being Heard When Your Voice is the Smallest
By Corey Lane, Account Supervisor

The Fulton community just wanted a seat at the table.

The community had heard about the corner lot at the foot of Fulton Hill that was being eyed as a site for Stone Brewing Company’s first East Coast operation, a mammoth production facility that would effectively double Virginia’s annual beer production. They’d heard about the social media groups of beer enthusiasts that had bubbled up by the thousands practically overnight to voice support for the proposal. They’d heard the rumors about closed-door pitches and confidential meetings between City and State officials, clamoring for job creation, tax revenue and neighborhood revitalization.

But what the community did not hear was an invitation to weigh in. And to the community of Greater Fulton, this silence is deafening. Once a thriving blue-collar working neighborhood at the turn of the 20th century, it declined steadily as riverfront jobs dried up and sprawl pulled more Fultonites to the suburbs. In the 1960s, Richmond officials enacted Jim Crow-era legislature, citing the right for cities to “serve public welfare” and “challenge blight” by buying out and relocating citizens from under-resourced neighborhoods. Low-income persons in Fulton were displaced, and their homes were razed under the promise of shiny new development that never fully came to fruition.

But the people of Fulton were and remain to be a dynamic and close-knit community, balancing the stoic patience that comes from generations of hard working laborers with an indulgent flair for culture, music and art. When Stone Brewing Company ultimately did choose the corner lot at the foot of Fulton Hill for their facility, the Fulton community heartily—albeit cautiously—made the collective decision to roll out the welcome mat for their highly sought after new neighbors in an attempt to establish partnership early on. 

The challenge for the people of Fulton was being heard among the many voices competing for Stone Brewing Company’s attention. A task force was formed to speak on behalf of Greater Fulton, consisting of civic association leaders, community organizers, and business owners. They looked at the efforts from other cities—rowdy block parties, bikini model contests—and decided that they were going to cut through the noise by being true to their collective identity. They were going to get Stone Brewing Company’s attention by being welcoming neighbors.

They worked with a local artist to design an installation 40 feet in diameter: a frosty mug of beer made from branches, hay and—of course—stones, with the hashtag #STONE2RVA, which had been popular with the fervent social media groups. Over 50 Fultonites came together on a Saturday afternoon to assemble the installation on the future site of Stone Brewing Company. Cathartically, they wrote their hopes, fears and well wishes to Stone Brewing Company on the very stones that made up the installation. An aerial photographer captured imagery from a drone and local news stations came out to cover the event.

Footage and interviews from the event were made into a short video, which was posted on the websites and social media pages of various Fulton community groups. Shortly thereafter, it was picked up by beer enthusiast groups via the #STONE2RVA hashtag. Ultimately, it caught the attention of Stone Brewing Company itself, where it was reposted onto their Facebook page, receiving 95,000 impressions and over 700 video views in the first week it was posted. On the video’s YouTube page, Stone Brewing Company left a heartfelt thanks to the people of Greater Fulton and the CEO commented from his personal account a commitment to meet or exceed the expectations that the neighborhood has from his company.

On October 28th, just four days after the video was posted, executives from Stone Brewing Company visited Richmond to meet with City officials, making a special stop at a Fulton community center to meet with neighbors one on one for over two hours. Many factors are at play with the negotiations between Stone Brewing Cmpany and the City of Richmond, but it was clear that the community’s efforts had struck a chord with brewery’s owners.

The community of Greater Fulton successfully circumnavigated the political machine and formed a relationship with Stone Brewing Company because they created a mini-movement. They engaged residents by tapping into the passions at the heart of Fulton: art, music, history and camaraderie. They broke through the clutter by being authentically raw, with intentional choices made in their communication channels, partners, production value, and music. At the same time, they introduced touches of excitement, like cutting edge drone photography and high profile media partnerships that helped amplify the organizers’ energy. Even the simple act of residents expressing themselves on the stones and collaboratively creating art helped individuals feel invested in the cause, and tapping into existing social media activity helped scale that investment.

In less than a month, and with no media spend whatsoever, the community of Greater Fulton avoided being relegated to history’s sidelines once again and took their rightful seat at the table, right beside the founders of Stone Brewing Company. That’s an accomplishment to which we can all raise a glass.

*Corey Lane serves on an advisory board for Virginia Local Initiative Support Corporation, a community development nonprofit heavily invested in Fulton. 

Photo Credit: Scott Strimple, CinemAerial Visuals

Production Cost-Cutting: How Low Can We Go? Five Tips to Help Save the Budget and Concept
Steve Humble for Ad Age, October 31

As marketers increasingly use video to engage with customers and work to keep a steady stream of relevant and engaging content in the marketplace, conversations about production costs are reaching a fever pitch.

With advances in technology, marketers are seeing amateur camera buffs capturing some pretty impressive footage with their smartphones, GoPros and remote-control drones. So why aren’t ad agency and content provider production costs going down faster?

Ad Age reported recently, for example, that in an effort to trim more than $1 billion from its marketing budget, P&G had reached out to NASA “seeking a new way to produce moving images for TV commercials and digital video at costs significantly lower than today’s averages.”

Looking to a different industry for fresh ideas is interesting in theory, but great commercials and content won’t come from Excel spreadsheets and process documents. Rocket scientists are clearly some of the smartest people around, but  finding the right balance between cost and quality really comes down to these five simple areas:

1. Trust the client/agency relationship. Our best client relationships have a high degree of trust. Some of our best, most cost-effective experiences are when we work with the client at the beginning of the year and develop and work with their year-long budget together. Oreo is a great example of a client that approaches production budgeting this way. We work the brand at the start of the year and plan out the production budget based on the marketing and media calendar. We bucket money for specific initiatives, discussing where we can make creative choices that can save money in some areas to make sure we fund others. We even budget for working with musical artists, such as Owl City, Kacey Musgraves, Tegan and Sara, Chiddy Bang and others. Working this way, we took the client’s previous budget and doubled the number of executions.
2. Create tight concepts. We regularly try to focus on ideas that are based on one location and can be shot in one day to try to contain costs. Our most cost-efficient productions come from getting specific parameters in the beginning and then letting our creative teams concept accordingly. But even when parameters are tight, our best clients allow us some flexibility on set to take advantage of impromptu takes and grab additional content as it presents itself.
3. Remember that spending less means more risk. Choosing to work with tight production budgets often leads to more risk in the finished product. Opting to go with a director who has been shooting for years and has a track record of success is more expensive than choosing a novice just out of film school to direct.  Can that new director shoot an amazing spot? Hopefully. Will you save money shooting with him or her? Yes, but the amount of risk you and the client take on goes up with this approach. We can make choices with our clients to reduce budgets, but everyone needs to be clear about the risks that come with those choices at the beginning.
4. Know that change orders are expensive. If you’ve ever been involved in a construction project, you know that contractors use a little device known as a change order for each deviation from the original plan. One change order for every single change, including the additional cost. Big changes at the pre-pro meeting or on set are expensive, too. Changing the script at the last minute puts everyone in a risky position to be able to do the best work and bring the spot in on budget.
5. Crew size can affect the work and the cost. Some believe that the fastest way to save money on production is to reduce the crew size. But this choice typically results in one of two things -- a spot that looks less polished because there were fewer people to light and tweak the set, or fewer options in the final edit because you had to agree to fewer shots and fewer camera setups. Some creative concepts work fine with a smaller crew -- just make sure you’re choosing crew size for the right reasons.

Great content comes from talented people understanding a core insight for a brand and communicating it in a way that connects with its target audience. How something is executed and how much you spend is a choice the agency and clients do have more control over than they think.

Getting to know: Jorge Calleja Acuna from The Martin Agency

Title: Executive creative director at Richmond-based The Martin Agency

Born: April 12, 1974, Mexico City

Education: Attended Universidad del Nuevo Mundo

Career: Leche Mexico (1998-2001); Six Foot Studios, art director (2001-2002); Juxt Interactive, art director (2002-2004); Exopolis, associate creative director (2004-2005); Goodby Silverstein & Partners, associate creative director (2005-2007); Wieden+Kennedy, creative director (2007-2010); Sid Lee Amsterdam, executive creative director (2010-2012); The Martin Agency, global group creative director (2012-September 2014), executive creative director (September 2014–present)

In which part of town do you live: Richmond’s West End

Best business decision: “Selling my design shop in Mexico. In 1997, I started Leche, a multimedia design shop focused on digital experimentation (The Mexperimental Project). And I loved it. But in 2001 after 9/11, the economy crashed and I wanted to see more of the world, to expand my creative journey beyond what I knew at the time. So (I) sold the shop and I moved to Houston to work at Six Foot Studios.”

Worst business decision: “Selling my design shop in Mexico. I love this global journey I have set out on and, truthfully, wouldn’t trade it if given the chance. But there is part of me that wishes I had held on to that shop. We did some great work in the short time it was open. And Mexico, of course, will always have my heart.”

Mistake you learned the most from: “I can’t name one mistake. In fact, making mistakes has become a hobby of mine. Failure can become a virtue under the right lens. If you are willing to embrace it and understand that it’s just a part of learning, I assure you, you will become relentless. Long live adversity.”

What is the biggest challenge/opportunity in the next two to five years: “For the past 50 years, The Martin Agency has done amazing work primarily in the U.S. market. My challenge now is to create world-class work that travels — work that has a global impact and a worldwide perspective.”

First job after college: “I was an assistant director for Simón Bross, a famous Mexican director and producer. He recruited me right out of college to help him create TV spots. Interestingly enough, I decided to forgo my fourth and final year of college to work for Simón. The dean of my university said I had two choices: fill a portfolio or graduate with a title. He encouraged me to chase after my portfolio and I’ve never once wished that I stayed.”

If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently: “Easy, I would become a professional ‘fútbol’ player (that’s soccer in North America).”

Book/movie that inspired you the most: “That is a tough one-answer question. My favorite directors of all time would have to be Alfonso Cuarón (mine all time mexi-hero), Pedro Almodóvar for his art direction and Roman Polanski for his theatrical story-telling. My favorite writers are Hermann Hesse, Henry Miller and Octavio Paz.”

Favorite/least favorite subject in school: “My favorite school subject would have to be art. But surprisingly, I’ve always had a passion for physics and mathematics. I really enjoy problem solving; it’s part of my daily life. My least favorite was always related to law. Rules are no strength of mine.”

If you want to save money on car insurance, you switch to GEICO. It’s what you do.

This new campaign explores other “it’s what you do’s” from popular culture in true GEICO fashion. Like say, if you’re in a horror movie, you make poor decisions. It’s what you do.

To prove the toughness of BFGoodrich’s new All-Terrain T/A KO2 tires, we dropped a set from a plane. The tires not only endured, they made an awesome video.

Creative Technologist John McClaire's talks 5 lessons you need to know to fight of a mob of clients....or zombies. 

Link to full story. 

Forbes featured The Martin Agency as an example in their latest article on "Why More Marketers Are Working With Companies That Actually Make Stuff."

"They define it as their “make it and take it” culture and try as often as possible to present a finished piece to a client rather that a rough idea. Putting their own resources behind an idea also shows to a client the commitment the agency has to an idea: 'If we put our heart, soul, talents, our craft into it, it endears us to clients. We become more partners than vendors.'"

Link to story. 

"We are excited about the opportunity to engage Martin on the U.S. Ritz business, a priority and iconic brand in our portfolio. We look forward to working with them on what's next for the brand in 2015 and beyond," said the Mondelez spokeswoman.

Link to story. 

For the past 80 years, there’s one brand that has stayed true to its character. One brand that is considered the original. One brand that has earned the right to be called "the." That brand is Stoli. It’s not just "a" vodka...it’s THE Vodka. The original, the archetype, the one. And because THE Vodka speaks for itself, we’ll stop and let the work do the rest.

In this video, David Vogeleer and Jeff MacDonald talk creative technology, getting your hands dirty and all things Martin Lab. 

Former pro NFL player Ickey Woods will celebrate almost anything, cold cuts included. And now with ickeyfy.com, you can, too.  Because nothing says “good luck on that thing you did” like sending a shuffling Ickey to a friend.

Richmond, Virginia – September 4, 2014 – The Martin Agency announced today that Jorge Calleja has been promoted to executive creative director. Calleja joined the agency in 2012 as a group creative director and was immediately instrumental in bringing in the OREO business with the creation of the Wonderfilled campaign.

“Jorge is a world-class combination of talent, brains and passion,” said Joe Alexander, chief creative officer of The Martin Agency. “He’s especially adept at creating iconic campaigns, like Wonderfilled. And on top of it all, he’s a joy to be around. We’re lucky to have him.”

Calleja will remain the lead on the OREO account in the U.S. and across the globe. In addition, he will continue to play a big role in new business. His guidance helped Martin win Chips Ahoy! and Stolichnaya vodka. He will continue to work with these two accounts in his new role as ECD.

Calleja has won every major ad award, including two Cannes Lions and two One Show pencils in 2014. Prior to joining The Martin Agency, Calleja worked on the Coca-Cola “Open Happiness” campaign at Wieden+Kennedy as well as on Honda, Adidas, Nike and LEGO in Europe.

For years, Benjamin Moore has been painting The Monster green. And with the new Fenway Collection, you can too. Yea, that includes fire hydrants, satellite dishes, garage doors and swing sets.

And for every gallon sold, Benjamin Moore will help renovate youth league ballparks in the Boston area—bringing the spirit of Fenway to where it matters most.

monstereverywhere.com