Kabuto Noodles, a food brand launching its first marketing activity this week, has bravely staged the world’s first live improvised ad break to get the cut-through required to succeed in a competitive market.
Kabuto Noodles is an upmarket noodle snack bridging the gap between good quality, healthy Asian food and instant noodles found in supermarkets. The brand was founded by Crispin Busk in 2011.
Kabuto Noodles partnered with Viacom Media to secure ad space on Comedy Central to air the live improvised ad and worked with 18 Feet & Rising to create a unique and exciting concept for a TV ad that would make its launch memorable and create a buzz for the brand.
Yesterday (Monday, June 17th), live on prime time Comedy Central to 1 million viewers, four comedians were presented with a pot of Kabuto Noodles, and given an entire ad break to improvise comedy skits, using the pot as a prop.
With comedian host Rob Carter hosting the proceedings, the comedians, from improv group Mischief Theatre, improvised comedy skits live on television and in front of a studio audience.
The live three-minute TV ad, directed by live broadcast director James Russell, aired at 9.10pm on Monday night on Comedy Central. It will be followed by 30-second cut-downs of the ad featuring individual skits.
Crispin Busk, Founder Kabuto Noodles said: “We took a risk leaving our jobs to create something new and now we're taking a risk with our first TV ad. We always wanted to do things that were fun and different so we're really excited."
Jonathan Trimble, CEO of 18 Feet & Rising, said: “Kabuto are about the tastiest noodles you can make in a moment — so trying to make an advert happen live in the same amount of time has proved hair-raising with all credit to the team at Kabuto for having the balls to go for it.”
Peter Dale, Business Development Manager for BeViacom and Comedy Central said: “More so now than ever, it’s essential for a brand’s message to stand out from the crowd. This idea brings together a daring brand alongside Comedy Central’s heritage in stand-up, to create an innovative partnership for the live advert and beyond”.
Kabuto Noodles is stocked in Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Ocado and independents across the UK. In addition Kabuto exports its products to Ireland, Holland, Germany & Russia.
It has grown from 100K in the first year to 750K in 2012, and is set to continue its growth with the introduction of marketing support throughout 2013.
Credits: Improvisation group: Mischief Theatre featuring Henry Lewis, Jonathan Burke, Dave Hearn & Nancy Wallinger Host: Rob Carter Live Broadcast Director: James Russell Creatives: Anna Carpen & Alex Delaney Concept Director: Jake Mavity for Tantrum Producer: Emily Hodgson Account Director: Adrienne Little Production Company Producer: Vicki Betihavas (Live producer @ Nineteen Fifteen) and Jeannine Mansell (Producer @ Tantrum) Production Company: Nineteen Fifteen & Tantrum Composer/Music Supervisor: Sie Medway-Smith @ The Sound Works DOP: Nick Wheeler
After 25 successful years in Canada, Corona Extra is proud to launch their new brand campaign encouraging consumers to step outside of their comfort zone, lead an extraordinary life and ‘Live Mas Fina’.
Created by Toronto based agency of record Zulu Alpha Kilo, the new positioning reaches out to attract new Corona drinkers with a rallying cry of Live Mas Fina (Live the Finer Life). The new tagline is inspired by the heritage and message emblazoned on the beer’s iconic ceramic label since 1925, La Cerveza Mas Fina.
“The campaign is a challenge to live life on your own terms and never accept ordinary.” says Drew Munro, President & CEO at Modelo Molson Imports L.P, “Corona Extra is no ordinary beer, it is the original Cerveza with the unique lime ritual, sold in over 180 countries around the world — it’s time for everyone to get out there and experience it.”
“You can live on the sidelines, be beige, boring and never take any risks. Or you can choose to Live Mas Fina and live in an extraordinary way,” explains Zak Mroueh, Chief Creative Officer and President at Zulu Alpha Kilo. “You can choose to be interesting, inspired and follow your own path, not someone else’s.”
The campaign launched online last week with a 60-second commercial that was previewed to the brands Facebook community, asking consumers to reflect on how they’ve been living. Phase 1 of the brand’s new website went live simultaneously at www.LiveMasFina.com along with Twitter #LiveMasFina and YouTube channels. National broadcast support began on Monday, March 18th.
Credits: Spot Title: Live Mas Fina Client: Modelo Molson Imports L.P. Clients: Drew Munroe, Stewart Priddle, Lindsay Wilson Product: Corona Extra Agency: Zulu Alpha Kilo Creative Director: Zak Mroueh Creative Director: Shane Ogilvie Art Director: Mooren Bofill Writer: Erin Beaupre Agency Producer: Melanie Lambertsen Group Account Director: Kate Torrance Account Director: Dic Dickerson Strategic Planner: Shari Walczak Production Company: Boxer Films / Frank Content Director: Jonathan Hyde Executive Producers: Beth George, Danielle Kappy Line Producer: Maeliosa Tiernan Director of Photography: Jonathan Hyde Post Production: The Vanity Music & Sound Design: Pirate Music Director: Chris Tait Sound Engineer: Keith Ohman Producer: Kate Freed Song: Lightning Tent Artist: Wildlife
The NBA "Live Forever" TNT commercial that first aired on Christmas Day is driving basketball fans crazy with excitement. A really heart felt spot that tugs on every fans emotions all set the beautiful music of Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors and their song "Live Forever."
Lyrics to the NBA Live Forever ad: Take Courage, when the road is long Don't ever forget that You are never alone Some people say faith is a childish game Play on, children, like it's Christmas day I want you to live forever Underneath the sky so blue I want you to live forever Underneath the sky so blue Oh yeah, I want you to live forever Underneath the sky so blue Oh, I want you to live forever Underneath the sky so blue...
Here is a sneak peek into The Perrier Secret Place campaign that brilliantly combines modern day marketing strategies. We received our preview invite kit today which included the stamp to get in, and we were also given a special invite code to share with our visitors here at Great-Ads, find it and the link after the campaign Q&A's and credits below.
Perrier Secret Place Premise: If you were at a Secret and Exclusive party and you wanted to party as long as possible, you’d make sure you were as refreshed as possible. And no one can throw a party and ensure you are refreshed to party as long as you can like Perrier.
Q. Tell us about this latest digital initiative for Perrier? Perrier Secret Place puts you in the shoes of a guest who goes to a very very special evening party. A hidden place in an alley in Paris, behind a laundry mat. An evening where all guests will have the opportunity to live their craziest fantasies. And you'll have the best seat in the house to enjoy since all the characters that you see on the screen are clickable. With one click you find yourself in their skin. Living their fantasy.
Q. How did you come up with this idea? We started from the following insight: drinking Perrier during the evening party is the best way to take full advantage of all the opportunities available to you… and until the end of the night. In Secret Place, not only are you at the Ultimate Party living out the experience of the Ultimate Party Guest from the beginning, but you also live out the ultimate evening of 60 other guests who are in the apartment.
Q. And there is something to win, right? Yes. At the ultimate party, we’ve hidden a very special bottle of Perrier. 5 clues are hidden in the rooms of the apartment. They will lead you to the bottle where you are entered into a drawing to win an exclusive invitation to the wildest night of the world party in St Tropez, New Year in Sydney, Miami Art Basel, Carnival in Rio and the closing of the season Ibiza. Only the most experienced gamers will succeed, believe me... Among thousands of different scenarios during the evening, only one leads to the bottle.
Q. So, it’s a game or an interactive film? Both! This project mixes Brand Entertainment and Gaming. We produced 1 hour and 20 minutes of content that allows all users to experience a unique evening scenario. We also used digital interactivity to inject this dimension of Gaming. This involves the quest of finding the bottle and the opportunity to live the lives of all guests by clicking on them.
Q. Why Secret Place? This was inspired by the emerging phenomenon of speak easy. A party venue at the rear façade that has absolutely nothing to do with the place. This is quite in line with Perrier. Completely unexpected.
Q. How are you using social networks to amplify this experience? In partnership with the agency Buzzman, we worked on a social strategy: Become a fan on Perrier Facebook and regularly you will get tips to find clues that will lead you to the secret Perrier bottle. We'll give you a little tip. Slip into the skin of the young man who looks through the keyhole and live out his fantasy. Or play a game of "Pillow Fight" (Sounds weird, but it is Perrier!)
Q. How will the experience function on the mobile? We have specifically developed an application that runs on iPhone / Android / iPad. This is not a replication of the desktop experience but a concept designed for specifically for the mobile device. By downloading the application you enter the rooms of the Perrier apartment and you can navigate through each room. The challenge: find the Secret hidden bottle of Perrier in the apartment.
Q. What was the biggest challenge to pull off this experience? This is the most ambitious project to carry. We spent 18 months writing lots and lots of different scenarios. Produced a film in which we choreographed each scene so that it is connecting with one another when the user clicks on the characters. Sound design work has also been a real challenge. Imagine having to reproduce the sound of a bottle on a bar as many times as there are people in the room who can hear it.
Q. Where will Secret Place be launched? The experience will be available worldwide but open to 20 countries to play in the major markets for Perrier France, United States and Canada. This is the first time that Perrier launches a project of this magnitude in the United States. The challenge is enormous. Positioning is also a little different there. Much more premium. We really hope that the French touch--its audacious content-- is embraced well there.
Q. What results do you expect? There is a counter on the site that counts the number of lives that all users worldwide will live on the site. 1 life = 1 click on a character. I want to hear from Perrier that this idea made 10 million lives by the end of week five of the experience’ launch.
Q. How is this truly innovative? We believe Secret Place is truly a digital first. Not because it’s the first time you can click on something and enter into his point of view. But, the ambition was really to say: Imagine you enter in any movie theater, have the quality screenwriting and the direction of cinema but also to have permanent control over the course of the story.
Q. What kind of partner did you work with to make this type of project? Fighting Fish is our production partner based in Paris. This is the first time that we’ve made a digital experience for Perrier conducted by the French. This is an opportunity to remind the world that France is in a good position on Digital Excellence.
Beyond the fact that Fighting Fish is based in Paris, it was able to fulfill the requirements demanded by this project. The team assembled to deliver this feature was made up of an interactive-hybrid. On the team was Lawrence King, the director of the experience and who is currently working on his own film. Arnaud XXX is the production designer and there were the script writers. Franck Marchal oversaw the sound design – having conducted several reputable orchestras before working with us. Fighting Fish puts digital at the heart of its "production thinking" and Ogilvy Paris thinks the same way. This allows a real synergy between the film's producers and those who are thinking through its interactivity.
Q. Why is Secret Place the right creative approach for Perrier now? Digital and social are playing an increasing role in Perrier's Communications strategy. They have an important, specific role: communicating the edgier, younger, hottest facet of the brand. Reaffirming that Perrier is a must have brand and product when it comes to partying and socialising. And proving, again and again, that the brand loooooves creativity, surprise and inventiveness. This is what Secret Place brilliantly does in my mind. – Benoit de Fleurian, Managing Director | Ogilvy&Mather Advertising. The digital space has opened up a new opportunity for brands. It's solved a contradiction that exists in the real world. Physically, you can't make an exclusive experience accessible to everybody. But with Secret Place, that's exactly what we've achieved. We give people the opportunity to live an experience they wouldn't normally live, but have always dreamed about. Like those exclusive parties you've always longed to be invited to. And thanks to Perrier, you can live it not once, but multiple times, through the eyes of multiple characters. This is an idea that is only possible thanks to the technology we have at our disposal today, and a bit of creative thinking. — Chris Garbutt, Chief Creative Officer | Ogilvy&Mather Paris, Group
Q. The Director is who? And why did you choose this director? Laurent King. We chose him because of his ability to manage this kind of project: half movie, half digital and interactive experience. It's really important to have this kind of new director that knows how to direct with all the constraints that a digital experience impose.
Q. Where did you shoot and tell me one challenge with organizing the shoot or a challenge that arrived at the shoot? How did you overcome the challenge? We filmed in an amazing appartement in Paris that was almost a piece of art by itself. We loved the parisian kind of architecture of it, with lovely rooms, very different to each other. It's very rare to find a place with different moods and atmosphere in it. Moreover, we were looking for a place where you can imagine secret parties happening in it. The biggest challenge was to choreograph all the action of the 60 guests. It was a real challenge because every character had a link to each other in terms of scenario.
Q. Is there a music track? The track of the experience is played live by the group called "TOYZ".
Q. Would love to hear from one of the party-go’ers at this Ultimate Party... The Host: All Secret Places have their secrets. You understand why I'll keep this one...
Credits: Secret Place, a campaign imagined by Ogilvy, produced by Fighting fish while Buzzman was in charge of the Social Media and PR strategy. Format: Digital/Brand Entertainement Chief Creative Officer: Chris Garbutt Creative Director: Frederic Levron, Thierry Chiumino Copywriter: Baptiste Clinet, Nicolas Lautier, Florian Bodet Art Director: Baptiste Clinet, Nicolas Lautier, Florian Bodet, Chris Rowson, Global Business Leader: Constance Capy Baudeau Account Supervisor: Stanislas Vert Film Producer: Diane de Bretteville Digital producer: Hugo Diaz, Cyril Duval, Sandra Petrus Production company: Fighting Fish, Olivier Dormerc, Cyril Couve de Murvil, Adrien Moisson, Benjamin Przelspolewski Sound Design: Le COMPTOIR DU SON / Franck MARCHAL & Alexandre POIRIER Film Director: Laurent King Story development: Olivier Domerc Story editor: Benjamin Bloch Production manager: Caroline Petruccelli Production designer: Arnaud Roth Director of Photography: Frédéric Martial Wetter Line Producer: Vincent RIVIER Location manager: Timothée TALANDIER Main title music: Toys Client: NWFB head of marketing and category, Muriel Koch. Sparkling Brand Director, Fabienne Bravard. Perrier International Brand Manager Armelle Roulland Social Media & ePR Strategy Buzzman: Georges Mohammed-Chérif (CEO & DC) Hubert Munyazikwiye (Head of Social Media & PR) Nicolas David (Social Media Manager)
Visit www.perriersecretplace.com and use the invite code "PE757 " enjoy the party.
American Express moves into the gaming world with a co-branded experience with your Xbox Live console. You can sync your eligible American Express® Card with your Xbox LIVE Gamertag on Xbox 360 for exclusive content, offers and more. You can also unlock special experiences and additional offers from American Express by reaching specific achievements in Halo 4. Amex takes its Card Sync technology to Microsoft's Xbox LIVE's "Halo 4" where members can unlock content and for offers...Register...Sync...Unloock. More HERE.
Coca-Cola and the ad agency MRM/MaCann incorporates live Tweets into it's newest TV commercials that began airing in Romania this week. The ad transforms a regional spot into a local integrated campaign with live Twitter interaction while it airs.
In order to localize and create conversation about family meals, Coca-Cola teamed up with ProTV, Romania’s leading TV Channel, to create a unique integrated experience: consumers were asked to post tweets about their family meals, and the tweets are collected live and broadcast on top of the TVC while its aired. Every time the TV spot is aired – different tweets from the recent hours is implemented and appear within the spot, creating diverse social content on TV and ignite local conversation.
Credits: Digital Advertising Agency: MRM/McCann, Bucharest, Romania GM: Nir Refuah CD: Ioana Filip, Adrian Preda Copywriter: Mihaela Coman, Nir Refuah Art Director: Bogdan Dinu
The Sevens, launched today on Secret Location’s website, is a multi-layered narrative experience will also live online at www.whatarethesevens.com and can be enjoyed on a number of levels: as a short film, an interactive game or a fully immersive mystery in which users can participate.
“The interactive film is the start of a larger narrative that we’ll continue to build on over the next year and beyond,” explains company founder James Milward. “A lot of the time the most experimental ideas we have aren’t appropriate or are too risky to hinge the success of our clients on. As a result, we built this experience as a sandbox for us to play in and experiment with ideas, techniques and technology in a way that will prove concept with real users.”
For the past four years, Secret Location has produced several experimental interactive experiences, including Rookie Blue: Interrogation Room, Stanfield’s Guy At Home and Endgame Interactive, which won an International Digital Emmy® in 2012. The Sevens begins with a phone call and contains three puzzles for viewers to solve. In a suburban home, a young girl named Julie is confronted with a series of mysterious symbols that, once arranged in a particular order, unlock a phone number and passcode. If users solve the puzzles and dial the number, they are taken deeper into the story’s narrative by being given a chance to solve one final puzzle in order to reveal an alternative ending.
“The nature of the story is that it keeps drawing you in further and further, making you more vulnerable. It’s the classic Alice In Wonderland rabbit hole scenario,” says Pietro Gagliano, creative director and partner at Secret Location. “We want people to feel shaken up by how deeply immersive the experience feels at the end.” The idea evolved from Secret Location’s portfolio launch four years ago. Set up as a Choose Your Own Adventure-type narrative, the site drove 120,000 people through the portfolio in the first three months. Incidentally, the designers posted a phone number on the bottom of the site for potential clients to call but visitors assumed it was part of the game. “We received nearly 100,000 phone calls in the first six months,” says Gagliano. “Suffice it to say, it was annoying but it did give us an idea and proved that people would call if we asked them to – or even if we didn’t ask them to.”
The team began brainstorming and writing The Sevens in November 2011 with writer/filmmaker José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço and production began in February 2012. Now that it’s live, the creative team intends to grow the story, add new characters and create related content that can live on other sites, such as YouTube. Secret Location has already rolled out several real world elements connected to The Sevens. In tandem with the site launch, cryptic posters featuring characters from the film and chalk stencils of the mysterious symbols and the URL have begun appearing in select cities across North America, including Toronto, New York and Los Angeles. “We’d love to keep adding elements to this narrative,” says Gagliano. “That’s why we created an open invitation at the end of the experience for the user to contribute ideas.” “This is really not the end,” adds Milward. “It’s just the beginning of a growing story eco-system and mythology that we’re creating around The Sevens.”
About Secret Location: Secret Location is an Emmy® Award-winning interactive agency that launches products and solves problems through storytelling for brands, broadcasters and producers. Just four years old, the company is a three-time Webby Awards honoree, was shortlisted for a 2011 Cannes Lion and is a Gemini, AToMiC, Creativity International, CASSIES and Marketing Awards winner. Secret Location is based in Toronto, Canada, and is led by President/Executive Producer James Milward. http://www.thesecretlocation.com/
Credits: Created by Secret Location Executive Producer: James Milward Creative Director & Lead Designer: Pietro Gagliano Technical Director: Ryan Andal Project Manager: Ashlee Lougheed Art Director: Stefan Grambart Graphic Designer: Kai Salminen Editing & Motion Graphics: Steve Miller Assistant Editor: Michael Kazanowski Web Developers: Gino Fazari, Michael Phan, Paul Stodolak Music & Sound Design: Lodewijk Vos & Joseph Murray Cast– In Order of Appearance Dad: David Straus Julie: Elle McFeeters Dog: Pearl Mom: Jennifer Fullerton Written By: José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço & Secret Location Directed By: José Avelino Gilles Corbett Lourenço Director of Photography: Henry Less Assistant Director: Billy Shand Line Producer: Luke Bryant Assistant Camera: Nick Giordano Gaffer: Dave Lewis Art Director: Michael Leach Set DResser: Dylan Jackson Sound Recordist: Edward Senkowski Hair & Makeup: Margot Keith Wardrobe Stylist: Sarah Millman Production Assistant: Derek Modesto Contributors: Adam Drake Adam Park Ann Marie Donnelly CJ Hervey Graham Budd Jenn Hartnoll Jory Krüspe Josh Manricks Kathryn Rawson Noora Abu Eitah Sabrina Saccoccio
Diesel TimeFrames is launching a global campaign, by Crispin Porter & Bogusky, that inspires people to make the most of the time they are alive. A TV ad is supported by an online survey that calculates the number of days users have to live....Great another thing to stress about. If you really must know you, find out how many days you have left to live, so that you may waste them more bravely. Go to Diesels Facebook survey and answer all the questions truthfully for an accurate calculation. www.diesel.com/daystolive
Credits: Creative Agency: Crispin, Porter & Bogusky Client: Diesel Executive creative director: Matt Gooden Creative director: Henrik Delehag Art directors: Martin Jon Adolfsson, Philip Sinclair Writer: Emma Penz Planner: Wojtek Szumowski, Ruth Chadwick Media agency: Mindshare Director: Anthony Dickenson TV production company: Pulse Digital production company: Storythings Exposure: TV, digital, out-of-home retail, social media.
Rainy, snowy weather is here, and you'd better be ready if you're stepping out to face the elements. Nice Shoes comes prepared for the conditions in a new spot for Under Armour shot and edited by Producers Rip Lambert and Dave Hudson, respectively. The studio, led by Creative Director Aron Baxter and Colorist Lenny Mastrandrea, deftly captures the vagaries of menacing nature during the freezing season in promoting Under Armour's line of cold-weather gear available at Dick's Sporting Goods. The spot opens with a school bus pulling up to a snowy stadium and a determined high-school football team solemnly filing out, uniforms in hand. A hard-barking narrator punctuates the visuals with motivational outbursts: "Tonight, we take respect!" The pulsating montage that follows weaves through the amped-up rituals of the pregame locker room and the swaggering, almost ferocious swaying of several teams collectively flexing on-field, ready to explode, oblivious to the rain and snow dumping over them.
Under Armour and Lambert challenged Nice Shoes to take scenes shot on an 80-degree day and transform them into menacing snapshots of winter fury. "Everyone did a great job setting us up, blowing fake snow over the live-action scene and creating small drifts for effect," stated Baxter. "Then we took over in compositing and CG, creating a full-blast winter landscape in the background and foreground, adding or blocking snow as necessary, all against an edgy color palette true to Under Armour's brand. We added to the tension of athletes in the midst of intense preparation by creating the breath streaming from them with a mixture of live action elements and created particle systems."
The hero shot is a dramatic composited close-up of beading water shot at 120 frames and a CG liquid water drop (at 500 frames a second), portraying the droplet landing and then trickling down, completely repelled by Under Armour's Charged Cotton material. "We mocked this shot up two or three times, then referenced live shots and similar shots from our liquid CG simulation arsenal to create the final," added Baxter.
Producers and Nice Shoes have collaborated on the Under Armour account for years. "I was thrilled to team up with them once again," noted Mastrandrea. "We didn't have a ton of time to work on this — just a few days — and both Producers and Under Armour wanted the spot to really shine. That's where our years working together and our familiarity with the brand ethos came together to turn out an awesome spot."
Credits: Client: Under Armour Spot Title: PREPARE Production Company: Producers Director: Rip Lambert Producers: Ross Jones, Karen Phillips Editor: David Hudson Sound Design: Tim St. Clair Mix: Robert Bragg Motion Graphics: Chris Abolt Visual Effects: Nice Shoes Creative Director: Aron Baxter CG Artists: Jim Collins, Boaz Livny VFX Artists: Jason Farber, Vin Roma Producer: Jen Cadic Color Grading: Nice Shoes Colorist: Lenny Mastrandrea
Attribution: Written content created by TRUST: http://www.trustcollective.com Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Share Alike
When MJZ Director Rupert Sanders and Grey New York needed high-end VFX to bring a World War II epic, a medieval fantasy battle, and a bit of science fiction together in a new spot for DIRECTV, they turned to the team at MPC. The spot is a showcase of MPC’s impressive skillset and resources. The LA office led a team that included artists across MPC’s global family of studios, taking the project from rough concept design to photo-real rendering to flawless compositing.
“This was one of those projects that only comes along once in a while,” noted MPC LA Managing Director Andrew Bell. “To help create three disparate and fantastic environments with such an incredible director and agency is a VFX team’s dream come true.”
Acclaimed production designer Dominic Watkins (National Treasure: Book of Secrets, The Bourne Supremacy) and his art department helped MJZ transform a quiet canyon two hours north of Los Angeles into the otherworldly scenes. Working with MJZ’s footage of a battle scene populated with 50 extras in authentic military garb, Jeeps, a burnt-out half-track, derelict troop carriers, and a Sherman tank, MPC joined forces with the physical special effects experts at Full Scale Effects to help provide in-camera explosions and balloon lights to illuminate the vast canyon. MPC enhanced these elements in VFX as well as adding the parachute flare in CG.
They also collaborated to create the computer-generated dragon and a spectacular live-action fireball of dragon’s breath. Watkins worked closely with Sanders to recreate the backdrop with several imaginative twists, including a matte painting, a gnarled tree reaching toward the moon from a built-up hill, and a valley rippling with trees, scorched earth, and the skeletons of fallen combatants. The spot’s samurai warrior was shot onsite with a high-speed Phantom camera and lit by glimmering heatwaves to match the CGI dragon.
“One of our greatest challenges in this sequence was to have the dragon’s fireball interact with, but not touch, the warrior and his stallion,” said Mike Wynd MPC LA’s VFX Supervisor. “We solved this problem by digitally rearranging the scene to provide more distance between the two opponents with some of the live-action trees moved and foreground scrub added.”
To create the UFO scene, a small second-unit MJZ team shot the car traveling down a darkened country road. MPC then added the computer-generated spaceship and digitally added light to the ground, the car, its shadows, and the surrounding scenery. The studio also added additional atmosphere and jolted the power poles and cables with an alien-induced shake.
MJZ shot the plates of the back-seat observer with a green screen outside the windows and MPC composited the outside environments in afterward. MPC sealed the effort with interactive lighting in both the live-action and digitally enhanced segments.
View the: 60 version below the credits.
Credits: Client: DIRECTV Spot: “Road Trip” Air Date: May 2013 Agency: Grey New York President/CCO: Tor Myhren Executive Creative Director: Todd Tilford Executive Creative Director: Perry Fair SVP Creative Director/AD: Denise O’Bleness Executive Producer: Andrew Chinich Associate Producer: Lindsay Myers VP Account Director: Tamar Arslanian VP Account Director: Beth Culley Production Company: MJZ Director: Rupert Sanders DOP: Greig Fraser Producer: Laurie Boccaccio Editorial Company: Work/Spotwelders Editor: Neil Smith VFX: MPC LA Managing Director: Andrew Bell VFX Supervisors: Franck Lambertz, Mike Wynd VFX Team: Ben Persons, Brendan Smith, Sharon Marcussen, Brinton Jaecks, Ryan Knowles, Mike Wynd, Ross Denner, Daniel Marsh, Fred Durand, Ian Wilson, Danny Wynne, John Cherniack
Last year Google started a program to partner with advertisers and agencies to re-imagine how brands tell stories in a connected world. Project Re: Brief set out to recreate some of the advertising industry’s most iconic, classic campaigns using the latest technology tools. This year Google is expanding that program to work with some of today’s most iconic brands and innovative marketers, in it's newest project: Art, Copy & Code.
Art, Copy & Code is a series of projects and experiments to show how creativity and technology can work hand in hand. Some of these will include familiar brands like Volkswagen, Burberry and adidas—projects developed in partnership with their creative teams and agencies. Others will be creative experiments with innovative filmmakers, creative directors and technologists to explore how brands can connect with consumers through a whole range of digital tools—including ads, mobile apps and social experiences. Google's first partner project is a new social driving experience, The Volkswagen Smileage.
Building off VW's 2012 campaign, "It’s not the miles, it’s how you live them," (video clip below if you have yet to see it) Volkswagen Smileage is a mobile app and web service that aims to add a little bit of fun to every drive, from your daily commutes to holiday road trips. The app measures the fun factor of each trip using a metric called “smileage,” based on signals like weather, traffic, location, time and social interactions (e.g., a long drive on a sunny Saturday afternoon might accumulate more smileage than a morning commute in the snow). You can use it with any car, not just Volkswagens.
Powered by the new Google+ sign-in, you can choose to share Smileage experience with friends and family. For example, during a road trip, photos and videos taken by you and your co-passengers can be automatically added to a live interactive map. The inspiration for the service came from a recent study showing that every day, 144 million Americans on average spend 52 minutes in a car—76 percent of them alone; making that time a more shareable experience. Volkswagen Smileage will be available soon in beta.
Last night in a world first Cadbury exclusively unveiled their brand new Dairy Milk Bubbly Mint live on a Google+ Hangout with lucky Cadbury fans.
The fans were sent the product and instructed not to open it until the event, hosted by two magical Joyville workers, where everyone opened their chocolate bars and tasted the new flavour for the first time together. The unveiling caused such a stir on the channel that it was featured for the day on Google's 'What's Hot' section, which encouraged viewers and Cadbury's 2.5 million strong community to watch the event live on-air. Dairy Milk Bubbly Mint has an exclusive play of their parchute-tastic advert below.
Twofifteenmccann unleashes “An Endangered Species," new live action trailer for Xbox’s Forza Motorsport 4 Electrifying skills of award-winning stunt driver Martin Ivanov and the voice of Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson deliver an adrenaline-pumping film This week, twofifteenmccann debuted "An Endangered Species," a short live-action film to introduce Forza Motorsport 4 for Xbox 360. Developed by Turn 10 and published by Microsoft Studios exclusively for Xbox 360, Forza Motorsports 4 launches worldwide on October 11. “An Endangered Species” is a rallying cry for car lovers worldwide and a visceral illustration of something many have come to realize — the real world has become an unfriendly place for those who truly love automobiles. Economic concerns, environmental regulations, clogged motorways and a myriad of other restrictions all appear to threaten the very existence of the car enthusiast. Though the opportunities to have heart-racing experiences in the real world are becoming fewer and fewer, Forza Motorsport 4 offers a place to explore car passion freely without fear of speed traps or other impediments. twofifteenmccann brought together an elite team of automotive talent to create “An Endangered Species.” Widely acknowledged as one of the best stunt drivers in the world, Martin Ivanov stars as lead actor and stunt driver. Ivanov’s work in such feature films as Quantum of Solace, The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum contain some of the most exciting driving sequences ever put to film. Jeremy Clarkson, host of the hit BBC TV series Top Gear, provides the voiceover.
Twofifteenmccann partnered with production company MJZ and acclaimed director Nicolai Fuglsig on the project which was shot on location in Uruguay. The "An Endangered Species" trailer debuted on Monday October 3 on TopGear.com and will be seen on Xbox.com and other digital properties as well. Other campaign elements including TV, online videos, and print will support the launch of the game as well. twofifteenmccann is a creative and strategic agency specializing in media agnostic ideas for brands. Based in San Francisco and part of Interpublic, twofifteenmccann’s work is rooted in a philosophy of purposeful creativity. Clients include: The Coca-Cola Company, HP and Microsoft Xbox, among others. twofifteenmccann’s partnership with McCann Erickson enables the company to deliver creativity at scale Credits: Spot Client: Xbox Product: Forza Motorsport 4 Spot Title: Endangered Species Agency: twofifteenmccann Chief Creative Officer: Scott Duchon Associate Creative Director/Writer: Joe Rose Art Director: Rey Andrade Director of Integrated Production: Tom Wright Senior Agency Producer: Kate Morrison Business Director: Peter Goldstein Management Supervisor: Luke Lamson Account Executive: Stephanie Scott Business Affairs Director: MaryBeth Barney Production Company: MJZ Director: Nicolai Fuglsig DP: Ben Serensin Executive Producer: Emma Wilcockson Producer: Suza Horvat Editorial Company: Final Cut Editor: Rick Russell Executive Producer: Saima Awan Producer: Suzy Ramirez Editorial Assistant: Jacob Keuhl Visual Effects: The Mill 3D Lead Artist: Chris Bayol 2D artists: Tara DeMarco, Andy Bate, Elad Offer Executive Producer: Sue Troyan Producer: Sabrina Elizondo End Titles and Animation: Imaginary Forces Telecine: The Mill Colorist: Adam Scott Original Music: Human Producer: Jonathan Sanford Sound Designers: Rohan Young @ Lime Studios Rick Russell @ Final Cut Mix: Lime Studios Mixer: Rohan Young Audio Producer: Jessica Locke via:scaryideas.com
The Italian beer brand Birra Moretti prepares for it's Italy Live event on July 26, 2013 with a print and outdoor ad campaign. This one entitled "Italy's Coming To London" depicts Michelangelo's David replacing Horatio Nelson on his column in Trafalgar Square and renaming it "Piazza Trafalgar". More print ads and the official teaser ad from the campaign below.
As part of a wider integrated campaign, Italy Live will include Londoners dining out with Italians via a live satellite link that will take place in Soho on August 26th. Just image, Italians and the English mingling together...has the world gone mad? (yes, that was sarcasm).
Italy's coming to London this Summer. On Friday 26th July, Soho will be transformed into the Italian piazza of San Gimignano, Tuscany and we're giving you the chance to be there to have an authentic Italian dining experience.
Credits: Copywriter: Tom Edwards Art director: Stephen Lynch Planner: Ed Woodcock Media agency: MediaVest Production company: Drive Productions Producer: Rik Haines Retouching company: Aesop Brands
Great new work from the creative agency Cheil for the new Samsung "What's Your Tabitat?" campaign. Three ads make up the campaign for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 line up: "Wanderus" (above) — known for their constant motion; totally at home even when they aren't, below "Relaxicus" — the unapologetic home dweller; a kick back couch-snuggler, and "Connecticus" — Who is tribal by nature; incredibly connected and inherently social.
The spots were produced by Toronto based production company six01, a relatively new studio that has grown from a foundation in visual effects and motion graphics work to take on full, large scale, live-action productions. "Produced in three weeks for Cheil Canada, this marks an important step for us towards larger scale, live-action productions", says six01 on it's blog. "We're excited to add this capacity to our services while maintaining a strong visual effects and motion graphics portfolio".
Credits: Campaign Title: "What's Your Tabitat?" Client: Samsung Canada Creative Agency: Cheil, Canada Executive Creative Director: Jason Partridge Senior Art Director: Helene Larochelle Copywriter: Brook Johnston Account Director: Lindsay Wagter Producers: Jordan Foster & Kyle Griblin Production Company: six01 Directors: Jordan Foster & Kyle Griblin 1st Assistant Director: Sarah Blais Production Manager: Damon Foster Editorial & Post-production: six01
Just in time for the Olympics Old Spice come out with their own athletic championship themed TV ad. The Old Spice guy will make it and win all the first place medals, he will cure all the worlds problems, he will die a hero and live forever through his line of table crackers, "Champs", result...another champion of an spot by Wieden+Kennedy.
Credits:
Ad Agency: Wieden + Kennedy, Portland Client: Old Spice Director: Tim Godsall Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks Editorial: Arcade Edit VFX Company: The Mission Studio Music: Tonefarmer Mix Company: Lime Creative Director: Jason Bagley Creative Director: Craig Allen Copywriter: Jason Kreher Art Director: Max Stinson Producer: Jeff Selis ECD: Mark Fitzloff ECD: Susan Hoffman Agency Executive Producer: Ben Grylewicz Director: Tim Godsall EP: Holly Vega
One of the world’s most elite (and expensive) cars recently became a canvas for the creative whims of the techie minds at The Media Merchants, a technology-driven production agency based in Vancouver.
In November, the agency gathered influencers in the city’s creative, technology, design, advertising and automotive sectors for The Lamborghini Project, an exclusive audio-visual event centered around projection mapping onto a Lamborghini Reventon.
At $1.5 million, the Reventon is the luxury automaker’s priciest road car. Only 20 have been produced and sold to the public. Using its raw, understated and angular exterior as inspiration, creative technical director Anthony Diehl and animator Stuart Langfield projection mapped a series of real-time visuals on to the vehicle’s dark grey, semi-matte finish.
Initially, Media Merchants conceived The Lamborghini Project exclusively as a projection mapping experience but once they began the meticulous process of mapping animated images onto the car, they realized they had a one-of-a-kind opportunity to do something even more ‘live.’
“One of the surprising and fun elements of the project was getting everything aligned perfectly and then discovering that we had a pretty awesome VJ setup sitting in front of us,” says Anthony Diehl, creative technical director on the project. “Although it wasn’t part of the original plan, we couldn’t help ourselves and took the opportunity to run a live VJ set with visuals created in real-time.”
Diehl and Langfield developed the animated visuals using hybrid 3D and 2D techniques developed specifically for the purpose of projection mapping onto 3D objects. Working from the idea of ‘contrast,’ they sought to highlight the Reventon’s dark, moody and clean lines through a combination of predefined op-art imagery and improvised, real-time effects.
“It’s a scalable technique, allowing us to add or remove projectors for the final execution depending on technical or budget considerations, even after the animated content has been produced,” explains Diehl. “We really tested out the extent of this process on the Lamborghini project and it worked beautifully.”
The video content was created using MadMapper and Modul8 VJ software run off two Macbook Pro laptops networked together for playback sync and then plugged into three 7000 Lumen Panasonic projectors and one 6000 Lumen Christie Projector.
For the music, Media Merchants turned to Mitch Lee of Redemption Audio for a soundtrack that contrasted pure and crisp strings, pianos and snyths with distorted percussion, dissonant noise and an ominous silence. The end result perfectly underscored The Lamborghini Project’s gorgeously subtle symmetry.
Credits: Projection Mapping: The Media Merchants Creative Technical Director: Anthony Diehl Animation Director: Stuart Langfield Sound Design: Mitch Lee for Redemption Audio Post Production: JUMP Studios Videography: Perfect Pictures, Van Media Director of Photography: Dan Dumouchel Lamborghini Reventon: SR Auto Group via: GlossyInc.
Engine Room Creates New NASCAR On Air Graphics/Branding Package For Fox Sports; Photo-Real CG Show Open Establishes An Exciting New Look for NASCAR ON FOX
Hollywood, CA — Engine Room’s latest NASCAR project for Fox Sports revved into high gear during the Daytona 500 broadcast. The expansive, high-energy package will air throughout the NASCAR ON FOX fourteen-week season and involved the creative development, design and production of the Show Open (Daytime and Night versions) as well as two new NASCAR ON FOX branding icons to be rolled out in the coming weeks.
For the last two seasons, Fox Sports has tapped Engine Room for custom animation pieces involving intensive and rapidly produced, animated comic-style CG recaps of each weekly NASCAR race. This year’s the collaboration went into overdrive, with Engine Room delivering an entire broadcast sports package that showcases the thrills, spills and upsets intrinsic to NASCAR, all with a beautiful new hyper-real look. As part of the Open’s signature design, are animated race cars that reflect the evolution of new 2013 custom body styles from the big three automakers in a wild race to the finish line. Engine Room was also tasked with designing two new branding icons for FOX SPORTS to be used throughout the racing season. The new chrome, energy infused Fox X-Car and its high-tech robot driver Speedus, a powerful 3D animated cousin to FOX Football robot Cleatus, is a lightning-fast racing mascot on wheels.
VFX Supervisor Dave Piedra, Creative Director Dan Schmit and EP Michael Caplan led the Engine Room design and animation team throughout the intensive process that spanned nine months, from the design phase to the execution of each deliverable in the campaign, which included two complete packages, the first for day races and a second to air during the season’s night competitions.
“Our work with Fox Sports is always incredibly rewarding thanks to the vision and passion of EVP/Creative Director Gary Hartley and his team,” says Engine Room’s Dan Schmit. “We are proud of how our ongoing collaboration with Fox Sports has evolved for more than a decade from a relationship based on our live action skills, to now providing large scale creative branding projects where we have been invited to do it all, from developing original concept, through feature-level visual effects CG execution. Gary saw our potential early on and we look forward to many more years of exciting collaboration and visionary work in support of Fox Sports.”
About Engine Room: Engine Room is a global creative arts studio specializing in visual effects, live action and design for television, commercials, feature film and new media.
In Belgium, about 5.000 disabled people are on a waiting list for a disabled-friendly house. To make the public aware of that acute housing shortage, 6 disabled people decided to squat an old mansion in Brussels. Their motto? You can’t live on a waiting list. Inclusie Invest, a non-profit cooperative society, organizes such housing projects. To make people aware of Inclusie Invest and the housing shortage, 6 disabled squatters also recorded their own version of Madness’ well-known hit Our House. The breath-taking video clip, performed by 1 blind, 3 people with Down syndrome and 2 wheelchair patients, was directed by Guy Goossens. The street of the squatted house was also recreated online on kraakmee.be . People who like the campaign can squat along virtually, letting the house grow and grow.
A big thanks to: Joyce, Leen, Dimitri, Peter, Gert, Sammy, (the actors), Guy Goossens (director), Theater Stap, Thomas Buelens, A-sound, Spots, Lucky Cameras, Base Camp Jules Logistics, Chiro Koekelberg, Jan Torsin (the pigeons), Hussein en Nathalie (the interns), Tiny, Gloriant, Michaël en Ruben, Sander Jansens (for the fire)
Our House used courtesy of Union Square Music Ltd under exclusive licence from Stirling Holdings Ltd. Publishing Music Rights: Emi Music Publishing Services Belgium NV.
Credits: Advertised brand: Inclusie Invest Advert title: You can't live on a waiting list Category: Non-profit Advertising Agency: TBWA, Brussels, Belgium Agency website: http://www.tbwa.be Creative Director: Jan Macken, Gert Pauwels Creative team: Bout Holtof, Geert Feytons Account team: Katrien Crabbe, Mieke Michels, Geert Potargent Strategy: Vicky Willems
Here's a funny spoof commercial created by The Jimmy Kimmel Live show for American Airlines starring Guillermo.
Shot just outside of LA's famed El Capitan Theatre, Guillermo is seated comfortably in a business class seat from an AA plane on the sidewalk and in typical Kimmel style has some fun with the passers by.
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