Most recently I was the Creative Director on Supercuts. It was an account at element 79 that was on notice. I was brought in to try to save it. (I think I was the only guy in the agency who hadn't ever worked on it.) We went into the pitch with one idea: "Rock the Cut." It was a unique take on the confidence strategy that every other affordable haircare chain uses. The folks at Supercuts liked it, kept us on, and asked us to produce it exactly as presented. These spots were unscripted little rockumentaries with up-and-coming musicians who believed in the rock star confidence the right haircut gives you. 

Other elements of this totally integrated campaign can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQZZlFIvkrg

I also talked to guys as the Creative Director on Bud Light for a year at DDB Chicago. Ironically I got that job by doing an award-winning commercial for Prell at Leo Burnett. Yes, Prell. Since it was losing share little by little among women each year, our idea was to try to sell it to men using a humorous "beer approach." It may look a little dated but it's still one of my favorite spots. 

I spent 12 years at Leo Burnett working in Beauty Care on P&G's Noxzema, Prell and Secret brands. I've spoken to women with a fashiony approach and with a humorous approach. Here's an example of each.

Plus some posters that we presented to the Noxzema brand group as a Christmas present. It was a creative gift that they hadn't asked for. The idea was to print them in reverse and hang them opposite the sinks in women's restrooms in nightclubs so they could only be read right when seen over your shoulder in the mirror. Our clients were so excited about it that we produced them immediately and placed them in New York City clubs. They definitely got noticed. We got some good press. And later that year I won the Leo Burnett Black Pencil Award for breakthrough creative. 

On a more serious note, I am proud to be one of the founders of an organization called Beauty for the Brave. It was the collective effort by group of us who had worked on Beauty Care for P&G. The idea was beautifully simple. What if every American woman donated the cost of her favorite beauty treat to benefit our returning wounded troops? Whether it's a manicure, facial, massage or new lipstick, donating its cost would be symbolic and beautiful in itself. Visit the website here:
http://www.beautyforthebrave.org/index.php

Recently at Frequency540, a digital agency, I was asked to talk to “bebe girls” using just social media to change the brand’s tarnished image. They wanted to be less trashy party girls and more strong, confident, feminine women. The “Be More You” campaign empowered women to celebrate their many different sides by not being labeled just one thing. And the brand’s new spring line would reflect that versatility.

We started with tweets addressing the negative stereotypes. Women liked them and immediately started retweeting them.

We then changed bebe’s cover photos on Facebook,
Twitter,
Instagram,
Pinterest,
YouTube
and LinkedIn
to establish our concept of wearing labels women could be proud of.

The campaign launched on New Year’s Eve when thoughts are of resolutions, changes and new beginnings.

Over the next 4 weeks, using all the brand's established social media channels, we invited women to like, share and comment on the many positive labels they would choose to define themselves.

We chose labels that would be unexpected for the typical bebe girl/woman.

We asked brand followers to tag other women who might not already be fans of bebe.

Finally, we produced a series of one-minute videos for each of the new executive “Women Behind the Brand” who were committed to redefining bebe. Scroll down to see the first one. Or got to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy90-t-Sxdg

By the end of the month, our posts and tweets had been shared by, our videos had been viewed by, and our number of followers in all social channels had increased by thousands of women. The perception of the brand had begun to change in time for the launch of the new spring collections. And the plan is for “Be More You” to live long beyond the use of the simple labels device that launched it.

Beauty Care and Beer are easy to talk to women and men about. Talking about heart health and weight control issues is a bit more delicate.

At element 79 we refreshed their time-tested campaign using real people and their cholesterol point drops for Quaker Oatmeal. We hired Academy Award winning documentarian Errol Morris to film unscripted conversations where someone is trying to convince a loved one to take the 30-day challenge. Here is just one of many that I shot over a 6-year period. And a few of the print ads.

Also at element 79 we launched Quaker Weight Control Oatmeal. We used the insight that for heavier adults their weight is always on their minds. We visualized that as a scale shackled to their ankles and used the Willie Nelson song to score the action. It won Pepsico's internal award for breakthrough creative the first year it ran. 

I've learned that the best way to talk about your kids is to sometimes just let them do the talking.

At element 79 when we were casting real people for a mom-targeted campaign for Quaker Oatmeal, we stumbled upon these two grandmothers. Our initial plan was to just use one of them with her grandson JJ, but when we saw how different they were from each other, we just had to talk to them both. You could never write this stuff! All of the dialogue was unscripted. I especially love what JJ says at the end. There's an honesty that comes out of the mouth of babes. All I wrote was the tagline "Every day should be this good."

There's also some Quaker Oatmeal print in what we called the "Empty Bowls" campaign where we didn't even show the food. And that was kinda the point.

Here's a Happy Meal commercial and print ad that I wrote this year for McDonald's at DDB. Again I wrote very little. To sell the idea of kids loving to read, we just had them read from the books that McDonald's was putting in the Happy Meals. Then it was like a puzzle to piece it together so it rhymed and sounded like the four stories were one. It was targeting moms and we think the nutritional messages came across in a sweet believable way. 

I'm sort of like a big kid myself. And it's come in handy when marketing to children.

I had a blast working on Cap'n Crunch, Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, Pop-Tarts, Dentyne, Rascals candies, Mister Salty Pretzels, Jell-O Puddings and Pops. But those sweet treats are an easy sell with kids. Try selling them oatmeal. This spot for Quaker Oatmeal was one of about 20 real people testimonials shot by Academy Award winning director, Errol Morris. It was targeting moms but influenced kids as well. It features the kids of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy who were in a band called The Blisters. They actually did write this song about Quaker Oatmeal. It was an Adweek Ad of the Day when it first aired. 

Read more about it here:

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/tweedy-kids-rock-out-quaker-oatmeal-20213

This Rascals spot was shot by Barry Sonnenfeld who later went on to direct The Addams Family, Get Shorty, and Men in Black. It was shot on film and used real film optical effects from the 1950's to match the style of those sci-fi horror films.

When I worked on Luvs at Leo Burnett in the mid-90's, I had two kids in diapers at the time. This "Live & Learn" campaign definitely reflected our parenting style. And it helped solve one of the biggest challenges with marketing Luvs - how to do it without cannibalizing Pampers, the other P&G brand of very similar diapers. By talking to "experienced moms" vs first-time moms, we carved out a unique positioning. Within the first 6 months of the campaign, the Luvs share doubled. I'm proud to say that they are still running the campaign with my tagline now 19 years later. 

I've spent most of my career working in food and beverage categories. There was a time that everything I worked on used one of these two strategies: 

It tastes good...and it's good for you! 

or

It's good for you…and it tastes good!

Here are a few print examples to go along with all the TV spots found elsewhere on this site. From element 79: Del Monte was introducing amazingly fresh-tasting tomatoes in jars. Quaker was introducing a more indulgent line of oatmeals. Quaker Squares was much tastier than other square biscuit cold cereals. And from Y&RNY: Jose Cuervo was launching the first tequila meant for sipping not mixing. Cheers to that! 

At element 79 in 2012 I pitched and won Specialty Brands largest brand - Bear Creek Country Kitchens. It was the largest brand of hearty dry soup mixes in the U.S. Our first assignment was to launch a new line of pasta mixes. Who better to introduce it than a family of hungry bears? It has "The heartiest taste, bear none."

(No animals were harmed in the making of this commercial.)

TMI?

It's true. This spot is autobiographical. It's the story of me and my tireless art director partner at Leo Burnett, Jennifer Johnson. We created this spot as a sort of inside joke. People who knew us knew that I usually did most of the talking in presentations while she was always quietly, confidently, in control. God bless Jennifer!

The pace of retail can be a challenge. Keeping the integrity of a creative idea while allowing the work to be modular is like a juggling act.

For CricKet Wireless we had to react to constantly changing competitive prices of phones and calling plans.

For Safeway we had to update the work every week for featured specials.

For LasikPlus the work had to be regionalized for individual doctors.

And for Supercuts…well...all of the above had to be done. 

I've creative directed several integrated campaigns over the years. From fun brands like Cap'n Crunch to more serious brands like LasikPlus.

The "Rock the Cut" campaign for Supercuts is probably the best example of what I can do. This 10-minute video outlines how the campaign was activated in TV, radio, print, and in-store. Online it worked on supercuts.com and in innovative live banner ads that allowed viewers to "Rock the Box" and make our featured bands perform within the cramped confines of the ads. We also collaborated with GMR Marketing in Milwaukee, and the Zocalo Group/Chicago to create  an ”Artist Ambassador” program — an online community of over 1000 emerging bands and their fans who helped spread the “Rock the Cut” message.

Read more about it here: 
http://reelchicago.com/article/element-79-s-supercuts-rockin-integrated-campaign