THE VAULT
Welcome to the Vault! Are you sure you want to be here? Here’s some throwback work we did in our Mad Dogs & Englishmen days, when social media was just called word of mouth, and sharing was sending photocopies. Enjoy.
The HONEST approach:
The Voice was as much defined by it’s readership as it was by those who would never read it in a million years. We did this campaign as a rally cry to New Yorkers to support their local paper, because if they don’t, nobody else will.
Thom McAn were in deep trouble as a brand. The venerable shoe maker hadn’t changed their styles in years. We were hired to announce their brand new line of shoes. We figured honesty was the best policy.
We talked famed creative Lee Clow into being a spokesperson for our client. Lee loved the idea so much he art directed it himself!
The VERY VERY HONEST approach:
More people hated the Voice than liked it. We figured by embracing this truth, we’d win the hearts of their anti establishment base, and sell a bunch of subscriptions.
There’s nothing worse than being stuck in a theater watching a boring play. We encouraged this theater company to warn people to stay away unless they like this kind of depressing fare. The show sold out. Go figure!
The CHEEKY approach:
At the time Shelter launched, the whole snowboard/skate apparel category was all about bravado and daring. We decided to have fun with that, and not take ourselves quite so seriously, resulting in a ton of press and a following.
Getting downtown New Yorkers to go see Shakespeare was a challenge. The Theater company couldn’t sell many tickets. Our suggestion was to be more mass in it’s appeal, by presenting the show as though it was a Daily News headline.
Haribo wanted to increase sales amongst millennials. When we did focus groups our creatives noticed how everyone loved playing with the candy, stretching and pulling them and biting their heads off. Aha!
A simple hard working b2b ad showing Nickelodeon as the go to place for kids.
Sometimes the tiniest things turn into huge viral opportunities. This was a postcard we sent to season ticket holders (before email was common) announcing a game time rescheduling. t got picked up by ESPN SportCenter and made their prime time show, generating huge buzz all over New York talk radio and the press. Not bad for a $500 mailing.
The Economist was misunderstood in America by media buyers, seen as a magazine probably just read by boring economists. In fact, it’s appeal was far broader, read by all kinds of smart, cutting edge people. This campaign helped redefine their reader and win it a ton of luxury advertising.
The MILDLY SHOCKING approach
Cosmetics and beauty products? Mad Dogs? We can do that!
This work ran all over NYC, playfully reminding people that we ain’t cave people anymore, so enough with the fur.
This was the first ever TV spot on US television for a gay product. To celebrate the mainstreaming of gay culture, we imagined a world where being gay was 100% ok.
The PLAYFUL approach:
One of the first posters we did trying to popularize off-off broadway. In the middle of the night we sniped these all over downtown NYC. The show sold out the entire run and built a huge mailing list along the way.
The first ever ad for Blue Moon Beer! At the time, the market was flooded with craft brews, some good, many bad. We wanted to position Blue Moon as only slightly less mainstream to drive more sampling. It must have worked!
This was part of a launch campaign for Turner Classic Movies, playfully showcasing the breadth of genres on the channel.
Oh those sassy French! Wines of France asked us to inject a bit of sexy style into the work to help invigorate sales of Bordeaux wines in the US market.
To generate buzz about the addition of Happy Days to Nick-at-Nite’s lineup we mailed the trade press limited edition Fonzie candles.
Parsons school of continuing education tasked us to create an outreach campaign for both their design and art classes. A tough challenge led to this quite sweet solution.
The EMPATHETIC approach:
To launch Kenneth Cole’s line of non-leather, vegan shoes, we used gratitude as our foil.
For Crunch fitness, to rally against the slightly judgmental culture of gyms, we created a campaign celebrating any achievement as being worthy of feeling good about oneself.
Coke? Pepsi Whatever! To the delight of Yoo-hoo’s cultish social following, we positioned Yoo-hoo as way better for a multitude of reasons.
The OUTRAGEOUSLY PASSIONATE approach:
Mikael Baryshnikov asked us to launch his new line of dance clothing, but he didn’t want to be the star. Instead, we gave him cameo roles in every poster.
To launch G4 as the go-to channel for passionate gamers, we fed gamers with absurd ideas to help support their gaming habits.
The CHEEKY LITTLE MONKEY approach:
Banners with eccentric click-through url’s positioned HotBot as the ultimate search engine.
Causing audible gasps when shown in movie theaters, this helped launch MovieFone to movie goers.
Another spot for Moviefone, where every film we made tapped into a different movie genre. These films always played just before the main film started, disguised as content.