Y&R New York and Campbell’s Chunky Soup Recast NFL Players as ‘Everyman All Stars’

Y&R New York launched a new campaign for Campbell’s Chunky Soup ahead of the new football season starring NFL players Drew Brees, Odell Beckham Jr., Eddie Lacy, Todd Gurley, Eric Ebron and Kyle Long, entitled “The Everyman All Star League.” 

The campaign takes a look at a sort of reverse fantasy football, where NFL stars draft everyday guys out of Brees’ basement. It’s unclear what kind of metrics the league is based around, but it seems that guys like Mitch Greenwald are in high demand. Greenwald is a welder and volunteer fireman who still finds time to make tiny doll furniture for his daughter. Beckham Jr. announces his pick, much to the chagrin of other league participants who had Greenwald in mind for their own teams.

“In this campaign, we turned the tables on traditional fantasy football and asked NFL superstars to draft everyday guys in Drew Brees’ basement,” explained Campbell’s Chunky soup brand manager Abby Elu. “In a fun and light-hearted way, the campaign celebrates the daily victories the ‘everyman’ tackles on and off the field and highlights how Chunky soup fills up all kinds of people – from a Super Bowl stars to busy parents and loyal neighbors.”

The approach builds off the brand’s past NFL efforts with a slightly new (but still plenty cheesy) spin in the “Everyman All Star League.” Interested parties can head to EverymanLeague.com to create their own player card, be placed on one of the general mangers’ teams and enter for a chance to win Super Bowl LI tickets, NFL-licensed autographed gear and other prizes.

Four additional spots will round out the campaign over the course of the NFL season, running on ESPN and the NFL Network. The ads will continue to explore “The Everyman All Star League” run out of Drew Brees’ basement. 

Y&R Imagines the Sad Wasteland of All Those Shopping Carts You've Abandoned Online

Do you ever abandon an online shopping trip mid-search, only to discover your potential purchases weeks or months later, still languishing in the cart?

Online discount code hub RetailMeNot and agency Y&R New York bring that image to life in a new ad called “Carts,” one of two new spots aimed at raising awareness of site features beyond promo codes.

Y&R says its mission was “to transform the brand’s position from a coupon aggregator to a tool that empowers more confident shoppers,” resulting in the “Carts” spot and a brick-and-mortar example called “Handbag.” In the second spot, a shopper overcomes her retail-price angst thanks to a discount from RetailMeNot’s mobile app.   

Check them both out below:

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Y&R Opens Up Shop in Memphis

Y&R officially launched its new Memphis office yesterday with a grand opening and ribbon cutting co-sponsored by the Memphis Chamber of Commerce.

Y&R Memphis was created to service the agency’s United States Navy account under The Navy Partnership, which also includes ML, Wunderman, Burson-Marsteller, MEC and Uniworld. Fifty professionals from the area were hired to work on the Navy account. The U.S. Navy named Y&R its lead agency in May of 2015, following a review. 

“We’re thrilled to be the first global advertising agency to have a presence in Memphis,” said Y&R global CEO David Sable in a statement. “Working across our partner agencies and establishing ourselves within close proximity to the Navy’s headquarters will allow us to deliver the full power, resources and marketing expertise of our global network to Memphis and the greater Mid-South region. We’re so excited to finally be here.”
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The office will be led by managing director Ken Dowling, who also serves as global client leader on Y&R’s Navy account and will lead business development at Y&R Memphis. Dowling will partner with executive creative director Ryan Blum, who recently joined the agency from Publicis Seattle.

Blum spent around a year and a half as a creative director with Publicis Seattle, following two years as a group creative direcor at TraceyLocke and three as a creative director before that. Prior to joining TraceyLocke in 2010, he spent two years as a copywriter with The Richards Group, after beginning his career by spending six years as a copywriter with TraceyLocke. Over the course of his career he has worked with brands including T-Mobile, Samsung and 7-Eleven.

“This is such a proud day for Y&R,” Dowling said. “We’re extremely excited to officially open our doors in Memphis, a thriving city. With Ryan on board, and with the help of our partner companies, we know we will do great things here as we build on the revitalization already taking place, and hope to become a part of the long-term success of the Memphis community.”
YR Memphis Opening

Y&R New York Boosts Creative, Digital Departments

Y&R New York added to its creative and digital departments with three new hires: executive creative director Ryan Blum, director of interactive and activation Catherine Patterson and digital experience director Eric Ackley

“These hires will help us to be led more by creative and digital, to move into areas like user experience and experiential,” said Y&R New York CCO Leslie Sims.

Blum will be leading the Y&R’s Navy partnership while helping launch the Memphis office that finally opened after nearly a year of legal back-and-forth involving the client’s previous agency, Campbell Ewald.

He joins the agency from Publicis Seattle, where he has served as creative director since January of 2015, focusing on the T-Mobile. Prior to that he spent two years with TraceyLocke as a group creative director working on brands including Samsung, Texas Lottery and 7-Eleven. He spent an earlier stint with TraceyLocke as a copywriter, beginning in March of 2002 and leaving in February of 2008 to join The Martin Agency. During his original run with TL, he worked on the Kwik-E-Mart 7-Eleven cross-promotional campaign with The Simpsons Movie.

(Another creative who worked on that campaign, Kyle Jones, recently joined Kansas City-based agency Barkley.)
image-2Patterson comes to Y&R after serving as a founding partner for “creative and strategic SWAT team” TakeTheKing since September of 2015. Before that she spent a year as senior vice president, executive producer/creative technology and emerging media group at McCann New York, following six years with he agency as SVP of its experience group. She worked with Sims while at McCann, led the Nature Valley Trail View project, designed the digital and social media launches for the Phoenix Mars Lander program and launched a margarita into space for Jose Cuervo last year’s National Margarita Day.

Ackley joins Y&R from sister agency Geometery Global, where he served as experience director for a little over two years. That followed more than five years with Havas, first as associate director, creative technology and then director of creative technology. Over the course of his career, he’s worked with brands including Dos Equis, Ritz, Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, Volvo, American Express, Nikon and Charles Schwab.

Y&R New York and Xerox Work Better Together

Y&R Italia Teams Up with Amélie Director for Lavazza

Y&R N.Y. Expands Its Creative Department with Three Hires

RKCR/Y&R Brings Colorful Volvic Mural to Life

RKCR/Y&R launched a new ad for water brand Volvic’s flavored Touch of Fruit line and new sparkling variety, the brand’s first broadcast spot since 2013.

For the spot, entitled “Clearly More To It,” the agency teamed up with London-based animation studio Nomint to bring to life a mural by Brighton-based illustrator Jamie Cullen. He approaches a blank wall, which comes to life as the a paint he applies continually transforms. Near the end of the spot he takes a step back to admire his work, temporarily stationary, and watches as it continues to transform in front of him as the tagline appears onscreen. It’s a simple approach, but works well enough as pleasing eye candy. The spot made its debut yesterday on broadcast and Video On Demand, and will be supported by digital and in-store activations.

“We set out to make a huge splash for Volvic Touch of Fruit,” said RKCR/Y&R creative director Paul Angus. “Thanks to creative collaborations with Jamie Cullen and Eric Lerner, we’ve created a large scale street mural which not only looks cool but delivers a clear product story.”

Credits:

Creative Agency: Y&R
Creative Directors: Paul Angus/Ted Heath
Art Director: Jamie Woodington
Copywriter: Richard Fox
Account Director: Lateef Joseph-Maynard
Agency Producer: Danielle Sandler
Director/ Production Co: Eric Lerner/Nomint
Producer: Christos Lefakis/Rupert Greaves/Marilena Vatseri
Editor: Andy@ hop House
Post Production: Nomint
Sound Design: Jungle
DoP: Toby Howell
Illustrator:  Jamie Cullen
Track – ‘Cut The Kid’ by Madeon
Music Supervision – Native Music

Y&R NZ Provides ‘Living Memories’ for Brake

For whatever reason, a wealth of intriguing driver safety PSAs seem to come out of New Zealand (including this recent spot from Clemenger BBDO), and Y&R New Zealand’s latest effort for road-safety charity Brake provides yet another example.

For “Living Memories” the agency teamed up with forensic age-progression specialist Kevin Darch, who used family photos of five childhood crash victims to create artistic renderings of what the children would look like today which were then sent to Weta Digital to create 3-D models. The approach was designed to illustrate the lives lost in road accidents in a visual and visceral way. Viewers come to face to face with a life wiped out by a road accident. The effect is very emotional and Brake hopes this will lead people to carefully consider the consequences of their actions on the road.

“Road crashes have devastating consequences for families and the effects last a lifetime,” Caroline Perry, development director at Brake, told Adweek. “The aim with this campaign is to look not only at lost lives, but also lost potential and lost futures. Living Memories has given these five families an opportunity to see what their child might have looked like, and demonstrates to the rest of us the lasting impact that crashes have.”

Credits:

Client: Brake
Development Director: Caroline Perry

Agency: Y&R NZ
CCO / CEO: Josh Moore
Creative Director: Scott Henderson, Seymour Pope
Senior Art Director: Lisa Dupre
Head Producer: Christina Hazard
Account Director: Claire Dooney
Account Manager: Chelsea Dowling
Senior Media Planner: Kylee Davidson-Corrin
Designers: James Wendelborn, Kate Whitley
Executive Digital Producer: Bruce Murray
Digital Producer: Pat Co
Head of Motion Graphics: Michael Frogley
National Ideas Director: Jason Wells
General Manager: Grant Maxwell
Managing Director – Wgtn Tim Ellis

Production
Digital production company: Weta Digital
Editor: James (Squid) Kelly, Pat O’Sullivan
DOP: Will Moore

Partners
Forensic specialist: Kevin Darch
TVNZ: Joanne Mitchell, Briar McCormack
Researcher: Alison Horwood
Freelance reporter: Amanda Miller

Leslie Sims Named CCO of Y&R New York

Leslie SimsY&R followed up on last week’s changes in its Chicago team by adding a new name to the top of its Manhattan-based creative department: Leslie Sims will be CCO at Y&R New York beginning next month.

Sims joins Y&R from the McCann organization, where she spent more than 15 years.

This marks the latest executive move for the Young & Rubicam organization, which promoted former EVP/Global Creative Director Jim Radosevic to president of Y&R New York and named General Manager Sean Howard as leader of its North American operations back in May. Last week brought news that Chicago CCO Bill Cimino would be leaving the agency and that CDs  Jeremy Smallwood and Pam Mufson would share the ECD role moving forward. That move also saw the promotion of Global Talent Coordinator Alexis Gianoulis; she replaces outgoing Director of Creative Talent Michele Daly, who is now with Saatchi & Saatchi New York.

The agency made recent changes outside its creative department as well, hiring media planner Dick de Lange — who previously ran Nike at R/GA — in September.

(more…)

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Y&R Launches ‘Long Live New York’ for New York Organ Donor Network

Y&R has a new campaign encouraging New Yorkers to become organ donors on behalf of the New York Organ Donor Network.

In an animated 90-second spot, parts of buildings begin to fall off as the city is portrayed in dire health. A group collects the pieces, however, and assembles them into a heart which powers the city back up, as the Statue of Liberty breathes a sigh of relief, followed by the tagline “Keep New York Alive” and a message urging New Yorkers to become organ donors. The campaign is needed because as a state New York is well behind the curve in terms of registered organ donors.

“Next-to-last place—we are ranked 49th in terms of the percentage of state residents registered as organ donors—is not good enough for New York,”Glen Jacobs, executive creative director at Y&R, told Adweek. “We need to move the needle, so organ donors can save lives. Period.”

For the spot, Y&R teamed up with Laurent Witz, the director behind Oscar-winning animated short Mr. Hublot. Witz and company employed lifelike 3D animation to deliver the message in a way that can grab people’s attention. While it’s not immediately apparent why the city is falling apart, the message is clear by the end of the 90 seconds, and the initial mystery serves to draw in the viewer.

Still, Jacobs says that Y&R’s work for the cause is far from over. “If this campaign helps raise awareness for the cause, that’s great,” he told Adweek. “But we have a long way to go. So, our aim is to keep finding bigger and better ways to get the message out.” (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Y&R Hires Top Planner from R/GA

delange2In quick staffing news, Dick de Lange has left R/GA after working in its planning department for more than three years to assume the top role at Y&R.

de Lange joined R/GA in August 2011 after spending just over a year as head of group planning at JWT New York. Prior to that stint, he spent five years with Saatchi & Saatchi, splitting that time between the agency’s Sydney and New York offices. He also spent most of a decade with DDB in Amsterdam, Sydney and Chicago.

While de Lange joined R/GA to run the Nike account, he most recently worked on Samsung global — and Adweek tells us that his hire serves to replace outgoing planner Hope Cowan.

Since de Lange will lead the department, he will work on all of the agency’s existing accounts.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

RKCR/Y&R Casts Real Families for Vodafone

RKCR/Y&R cast real British families in their latest campaign for Vodafone.

The series of 60-second spots promotes Vodafone’s new Red+ plan allowing multiple people to share one simple data allowance and aims to show how this helps bring families closer together. Casting for the campaign was done “through a combination of focus groups, postings on Mumsnet and street castings.” While the approach might come across a little dry at times, the real-life families lend it an air of authenticity.

“We know that mobile technology plays a big role in family life, but we also know that families worry about keeping data usage under control,” explains Daryl Fielding, Vodafone director of brand marketing. “Red+…allows families to share their data allowance and data caps under one shared and simple bill so they can share freely without worrying.”

You can check out the first spot, “Sunday Lunch” above, and stick around for credits after the jump.  (more…)

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Y&R NY Celebrates ’5 Second Filmmaker’ for Dell

For the latest in the brand’s “Learning Meets Doing,” Y&R New York teamed up with Über Content and director Adam Gunser to create a mockumentary celebrating “5 Second Filmmaker” Marty Goldberg.

Goldberg is the (fictional) king of the the 5-second film, taking home the “Cinco” award year after year and employing “The Goldberg Method” while grooming his assistant and protege. Seemingly targeting the growing popularity of the short-format Vine, the mockumentary mostly seems to be trying too hard and its humor never really hits it mark and struggles to find a cohesive tone. Most of the time, the spot seems to be mocking Goldberg, but elsewhere seems to celebrate his working methods showcasing Dell technology. Also worth noting is that the brevity-mocking video feels long at 2:15. Goldberg could have done it in five seconds. Stick around for credits after the jump. (more…)

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Three Agencies Remain in Hilton’s Hampton Review

Hilton is in the final stages of a creative review for its Hampton properties, Adweek reports

Cramer-Krasselt, David&Goliath and GSD&M are preparing for a final presentation, according to Dan Pearlman, CEO of Bob Wolf Partners/TPG, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based consultancy managing the search. The winning agency will handle creative duties for Hampton Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites and Hampton by Hilton for markets “including the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.”

Young & Rubicam have been Hampton’s lead agency since 2011, when they took over for Draftfcb. They were defending in the review, which initially included over a dozen agencies, but failed to reach the final stages. Media, digital and public relations will remain with “OMD in Los Angeles, iCrossing in New York and Dallas and Emanate in New York, respectively.” Hilton expects to select their new lead creative agency for their Hampton properties by the end August.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Leo Burnett Alum Bayley Heads to Y&R

Though we mentioned this brieflyyesterday, we figured it perhaps merited some larger notice considering we now have the details. Anyhow, news from our neighbors up north as Y&R Canada has welcomed Gavin Bayley as SVP/global client leader for its BMO North American biz. Bayley who will handle said account out of Y&R’s Toronto office, joins the agency from Leo Burnett, where he spent the last right years as account management group head for clients including Kellogg’s, Invesco, Blackberry and Visa. In his new role at Y&R, the new SVP will oversee the BMO business across Canada and the United States, working alongside the agency’s Midwest account team in Chicago in the process.

Regarding the new Y&R hire, who’s held executive positions on both client and agency side for over a decade, Y&R North America president/CEO Matt Anthony says, “Finding the right person for this role has been a top priority, as it takes a unique talent to passionately and successfully navigate the complex financial services marketing landscape. Gavin will be a real asset to the Y&R team not just in Toronto, but across North America.”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Impressionist Classics Finally Come Into Focus in Clever Eyewear Ads

Tell the art history majors to leave the room, because here’s a campaign that will make creative types jealous and will make purists’ eyes bleed.

In a campaign that’s new to us but appears to have been running for a while now, Y&R Paris has created a series of ads for eyewear retailer KelOptic showing Impressionist paintings brought into focus.

The tagline is “turning impressionism into hyperrealism.” Another case of advertising sullying some of mankind’s greatest artistry? Sure. But also pretty awesome. 

The work received a merit award in this year’s One Show.

Via Ads of the World.



Vacation in Paris Now or You Will Die Alone and Full of Regrets, Says Expedia

Don’t skip your trip to Paris. The love of your life is waiting there, says Expedia.

In this new ad from Expedia Mexico, the online travel agency tells a simple story about buying plane tickets and having a meaningful life, from the perspective of an old woman looking back on the roots and fruits of her international romance.

In the end, alas, regret prevails.

It’s something of a bold move for any brand, especially a tech-driven brand, to tackle themes of Parisian love, given Google’s masterpiece on the subject. But Expedia’s ad is pleasant enough, if in an ominous and convoluted sort of way.

Because nothing sells vacations like telling consumers they will die alone if they make the wrong choice.

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How One Simple Bracelet Boosted an Entire Country's Blood Donations by 335%

Every marketer in the world dreams of creating something useful, accomplishing a noble goal and scoring huge results. Here’s a project that nailed all three.

Y&R Moscow recently partnered with Azerbaijani cellular network Nar Mobile to create a wearable device called Donor Cable, which lets one smartphone owner easily donate power to another. Worn as a bracelet, the charging device is clever enough, but it’s also inscribed with the message, “Donate energy to save a phone, and donate blood to save a life.”

Why encourage blood donation specifically? As you can see in the case study below, Azerbaijan has the world’s highest number of children born with the blood disorder thalassemia, a hereditary disease primarily found among Mediterranean cultures. The illness requires extensive blood transfusions for babies, and hospitals often lack the needed amount of donated blood.

The Donor Cable bracelets were given away with Android smartphone purchases at Nar stores around the country, and mobile blood donation centers were parked nearby to catch phone buyers while the issue was on their mind.

The campaign increased the nation’s blood donation rate an astounding 335 percent, earning widespread attention and goodwill along the way. 



It’s a Four-Shop Race to Fill Honda’s Digital Needs

American Honda Motor Company works hard to keep up with the competition but hasn’t been quite so successful in the hybrid space. Honda’s Prius equivalent may have been called The Insight, but the company recently pitted all three major holding companies against one another in the search for a bit more of that key noun.
Other campaigns have gone viral (shout out to Michael Bolton) and, according to AdWeek, Honda spends approximately $50 million on digital advertising each year.
Now who’s competing for that money?
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