_WHAT IFS
Here are a few of my favorite campaign ideas that, for one regrettable reason or another, came oh-so-close but never quite made it to market (in this dimension).
EGGO_ WAFFLEMARK
THE PROBLEM:
Eggo was concerned their waffles were being ghettoized as one-trick breakfast ponies that paired only with drizzly, partially hydrogenated toppings.
THE NOT-SO-SIMPLE BRIEF:
Showcase Eggo’s ability to play well with multitudinous toppings, whilst also fully hammering home the waffles’ covetability; i.e., L’Eggo My Eggo.
THE KNELL:
The fate of this wonderfully simple campaign (explained below) came down to: 1) client restlessness, after sitting on the approved idea for more than three months; and 2) a focus group moderator with a speech impediment and a thick German accent, trying to deliver our comedy to mirthless piranhas being paid to strip an idea of its soul in seconds.
TD AMERITRADE_ FINANCIAL SOCIAL NETWORK
This here's the idea that won us the pitch for TD Ameritrade. It would have changed investing as we know it. The client proved willing to try, but the premise on which the idea hinged—sharing our investment portfolios with like-minded people—got mired in legal tar pits and proved too unwieldy to implement. Super bummer. I loved this idea.
financial social network idea video.
financial social network overview.
_CONFIDENCE BY BIO SPOT
To a pet, confidence means never having to worry about fleas or ticks. So we positioned Bio Spot Active Care as the product that gives pets their alpha swagger back. These took the form of high-end, dramatic cologne/fashion-type ads for dogs, in which we made the benefits of Bio Spot Active Care sexy and showed what a confident dog would do.
print + posters.
banners.
in-store
end cap hero display.
WHOLE FOODS MARKET_ RETAKE OUR PLATES
The national launch for Whole Foods Market was perhaps the biggest disappointment of my advertising career. Huge idea. Huge opportunity. Righteous call to action. A client with the societal currency to pull off a legitimate, grassroots social movement (which is what we were tasked with). All the pieces fit perfectly, until right before production there was a communication meltdown of biblical proportions. Seven months of intensely hard work, gone. Replaced by a shiny, happy in-store poster for Earth Day (I shit you not).
poster + manifesto.
MANIFESTO COPY:
Plates are more than matching dinnerware. They're an agent of change, a reusable canvas, a ballot cast with every meal. Plates are a personal declaration of our values—of how we believe our bodies, our economy and our planet ought to be treated.
What we put on our plates matters, and right now we're losing. The food supply system is broken. And we're the only ones who can fix it. Because eating is activism, and we're crusaders with plates. It's time to join the fight.
It's time to retake our plates.
print.
HEADLINE:
Without fish, oceans are boring.
BODY COPY:
Support sustainable fishing practices, and keep our oceans from going extinct.
RetakeOurPlates.com / Join the fight.
HEADLINE:
Mass production. Great for cars, godawful for cows.
BODY COPY:
Feedlot cattle are subject to appalling living conditions. / Support healthy, human and hormone-free treatment of livestock.
RetakeOurPlates.com / Join the fight.
HEADLINE:
When technology meddles with agriculture, nature pays the price.
BODY COPY:
Toxic runoff from pesticides and fertilizers decimate our oceans. Support organic farming.
RetakeOurPlates.com / Join the fight.
guerrilla + wild postings
paper plates.
guerrilla
manhole cover stencils.
in-store signage.
COPY:
NO SHIRT. NO SHOES. NO SACCHARIN.*
*One of over 80 ingredients not allowed in our stores.
RetakeOurPlates.com / Join the fight.
guerrilla
parking lot signage (non-WFM lots, of course).
swag
bumper stickers.
grassroots social movement initiative
Retake Our Plates Project. (my most cherished idea)
in-store distribution of blank plate canvases
invite consumers to create real and virtual plate designs, to be showcased across digital and traditional media.
user-generated plate print + ooh + online banners, with all credit given to creators.
