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Integrated brand campaign for a not-for-profit medical system with locations across North Carolina.
We knew that for a hospital to deliver both Empathy and Expertise might sound like a tall order to our audience, so we sought to show how it’s not that hard: NC towns combine disparate traits all the time.
This "town traits" approach also gave us a chance to build on local pride, which was important in making the statewide system feel like a system – to employees as well as to local residents. A fun bonus was that, in the process of making what turned out to be eight different spots, we got to explore all kinds of fascinating places in North Carolina.
My advice: If you're ever in Siler City, stop by the local hardware store. It's one part museum, one part town gathering hall. And they have the nicest staff on the planet. One gentleman, who you might spot at :24 in the "Artistic and Down-to-Earth" video, pulled me aside, nodded to my 6-year-old daughter, and asked if he could give her a wooden train whistle. It was a noisy car ride to the next town, but I didn't mind.
ADs: Kayce Lomas, Anne Mauser
CDs: Lindsey Bennett, Scott Ballew
Editor: Amanda Moreau - Beast, NYC
Integrated brand campaign for the most comprehensive academic health center in the Southeast. We wanted to show the benefit of research in healthcare – while acknowledging that this benefit isn’t always easy to spot.
Winner of a 2015 Clio Healthcare Award.
AD: Ryan Cuthriell
CDs: Lindsey Bennett, Scott Ballew
Director: Matt Ogens - Tool of North America
Editor: Amanda Moreau - Beast, NYC
Admissions campaign for some of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. These intrepid souls wade through seas of applications every year and do their best – which is very good indeed – to select the optimal incoming class. The admissions office's team of "readers" studies each potential Tar Heel, looking not just for SAT score and GPA, but individuality and passion. They weigh numbers against essays, and factor in glowing letters of recommendation. They discuss as needed, arguing the merits and drawbacks of borderline candidates. They drink a lot of coffee. Their proud, annual accomplishment is a First-Year class of students who will benefit from a UNC education while contributing to the culture there.
Our goal? Communicate the specialness: what makes this place different. And stand out from the avalanche of collateral received by your average bright young 17-year-old. It wouldn't have been right, or fair, to see UNC-CH using the standard, glossy, "three-and-a-tree" imagery and messaging that reflects pristine campuses and multicultural students. There's more to Carolina than that, of course, and we sought out the idea, imagery and language that would resonate with just the type of person our clients are looking for.
What we found in talking to students and graduates was that they almost universally felt they'd learned as much from their peers as from their professors – which fascinated me. "Wow," I thought. "How do we tell prospective applicants that some of the highlights of their time at Carolina... may not even have enrolled yet?"
We developed a web site - mobile-friendly, of course - videos and elements for sharing on social media, and an array of printed pieces for mailing. It was rewarding to collaborate with this client on the whole shebang: From the piece you'd receive as a high-school Freshman, which outlines the UNC philosophy in broad strokes, all the way through that reassuringly hefty envelope to be yanked out of the mailbox by excited young folks across the state and country. (Headline: "You're in.")
ADs: Kayce Lomas, Ryan Cuthriell
CD: Lindsey Bennett
Photographer: Jimmy Williams
To make the most of the Admissions department's budget, we worked with some of their students to develop a template for the "Decided" video series. It's built to accommodate an interesting peek into one student's journey toward finding a Major, and can be shot and recorded with an iPhone.
So NEEA has an ingenious initiative called Building Operator Certification. And what the BOC does is teach participants how to make a building more comfy and efficient by optimizing its systems.
I got to go out to Montana and Idaho to talk to a few folks who have done the training. Two Toms and a Dennis told us — and showed us — what they’d learned, and then we all went back inside to edit the story where it was warm.
Director/DP: Josh Sliffe, Austin Simmons
CD: Scott Ballew
Editor: Meredith Schmidt
Producer: Anson Burtch
Every bank client forces you to do rate ads — often with a big honking number dominating your headline. I was pleased that this client liked the idea of bracketing those big numbers with a little bit of charm.
AD: Ryon Edwards
CD: Cathy Monetti
You can’t tell people not to smoke around their kids. Most already know it’s bad, and the rest don’t want to listen. So instead of accusing parents, we made smoke the villain, letting the moms, dads and caregivers we're talking to assume the far preferable role of protector and hero.
Fairy tales, playground rhymes and other royalty-free references served as the basis, while “Secondhand smoke doesn’t belong in a kid’s world” completed the thought in billboards, posters, brochures, online materials and community grassroots outreach.
My favorite is probably the bus ad, but I also loved this gorgeous illustration for an outdoor board, done by the estimable Mr. Clint Hansen. I think he got the whole “precious storybook with something amiss” thing pretty much perfect.
AD: Kristen Wieczorek
CD: Lindsey Bennett
Illustrator: Clint Hansen
Eaton Corporation makes, among other things, power backup systems for corporations. We thought an ownable, memorable new category of “Eaton’s Laws” could strike a chord with their customers.
AD, CD: Scott Ballew
A Columbia institution celebrates 30 years, coincidentally right about when I turned 30 myself. Proudly anachronistic, Yesterdays offers a menu of regional classics and a location in the heart of Five Points. Try the meatloaf.
AD: Ryon Edwards
Community support series – you know, the type of ad you see in the back of the program while you wait for the show to start. It usually just says "Such and such is a proud sponsor of such and such."
We wanted each ad to really honor the work of the organization being sponsored – not try and steal the spotlight for the sponsor itself. IPL loved the idea.
AD: Ryan Noel
Illustrator/Typographer: Penelope Dullaghan
CD: Jennifer Berry
Ultra-streamlined print campaign announcing the launch of a consulting firm that knows IT, but also knows more than IT.
The target customer, the person reading the Wall Street Journal editions in which this appeared, was the busy CEO – someone who’d never slow down long enough to read body copy.
But hoo-boy, they can’t resist a good chart!
AD: Kevin Christie
CD: Charlie Hopper
A "nobody wants this" assignment I got as a Junior Writer that turned out to be so much fun, the Senior guy stole it from me the following year. I can't blame him.
Cam Cameron was a losing coach of a losing team, and it was understandably tough to attract crowds to his post-game Q&A sessions. Sensing that no poster campaign was going to convince hard-core sports fans of this man's brilliance as a tactician, Jason and I tried going for the general campus audience instead.
The draw: It's free, you don't have anything better to do after the game anyway (it's not like you'll be busy yanking down the goalposts on your way to the big Victory Rally), and hey - you can ask this guy anything.
ADs: Jason Lester, Jeff Morris
CD: Charlie Hopper