Navigating Our Multi-Screen Culture

There is no question that juggling attention between multiple screens is here to stay. In fact, according to a Google blog post, nearly 77% of television viewers also have another device in hand, many of whom are inspired to search by what they see on the television.

I am the 77%. As I sit here pounding the keyboard on my Macbook, I'm also watching an episode of Hell's Kitchen on my Roku device, while checking my iPad for email and social communications. It is second nature for me to do so, and truly helps me multitask. With that said, the juggling of it all can, and often does, decrease the attention paid to each platform. I missed Ramsay screaming at his underlings due to raw scallops, shoot! It raises the following question:

How can we make the simultaneous usage experience beneficial to the viewer and encourage increased attention through interactivity?

Take the television and iPad for example. If I'm a network and I know a good portion of our audience uses an iPad while viewing one of our episodes, I'd explore opportunities to engage them through both screens at the same time.

The History Channel has a show called the Ultimate Soldier Challenge where they pit elite military units against each other in grueling challenges. It's no different than typical reality shows chalked full of manipulated drama through timely cuts, however it is completely entertaining to watch these soldiers go head to head. As I sat there watching the show, I thought about how cool it would be to witness a point-of-view camera shot as the soldiers tore through a town gunning "bad guys" down from an ATV.

Now, on the television screen it just isn't practical to show one angle through the entirety of the show. That's where the iPad comes in. Imagine equipping the soldiers with GoPro cameras and providing different feeds for the viewer to choose from on the History Channel iPad app. Not only could I view the show as broadcasted, but also get a deeper look into it at the same time. Maybe there's a map of the town that I can follow the ATV through in real-time, who knows.

Sporting events provide another platform that lends itself well to multiple screen viewing. Take a baseball game for instance. Sometimes I want to see the game from the pitcher's perspective, other times from the batter's. It shouldn't be left to a cameraman or producer to decide which angle is right for the situation — I'm the consumer, aren't I always right? Probably not, but in this case I wouldn't mind choosing how I got to view a game.

It all boils down to the idea of starting with what people like, and working backward from there. The fact of the matter is that people are using multiple devices, we need to embrace it and search for interactive ways to take advantage of it.

Planners: The Jedi of Advertising

I've always held a firm belief that account planning cannot be taught in a textbook, but if someone were to author that textbook, it would probably be Mark Lewis, the Group Brand Strategy Director at SF-based Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. Mark visited the University of Oregon last week to inject a bit of knowledge about strategy and planning to the ad program. He opened himself up to a gamut of questions about the craft — from working with creatives to pitching bold business ideas to clients  — all of which he responded to with insightful answers.

The following points were takeaways that any planner or strategist can benefit from:

1. The briefing is more important than the brief. When it comes to writing a creative brief, there is little in the way of parameters. While there are a few key items that need to be included in every brief — the problem, the audience and the insight for creatives to use as a springboard — it's the last one that opens the door for possibilities; how do we educate and inspire through insight via the brief? It may be presented in writing form or take an entirely new approach altogether. Mark Lewis compared this to a script and a play; the script is damn important but nothing is more important than the play. He referred back to the day he briefed his team about Kingston Charcoal. His mission was to evoke the feelings of the backyard BBQ experience in his creatives. Instead of trying to do this with pen and paper, he threw some meat on the grill, cracked a few cold ones and at the end of the day told them that this was the environment and feeling they needed to recreate in their communications. Backyard brief...doesn't sound too bad does it?



2. Gone are the days of baton-passing, in are the days of synergy. The creative process used to be a series of handoffs up the agency hierarchy with little to no collaboration between departments. It was basically a track meet; once your leg was finished you just sat back and watched the rest of your team finish it up. Today's setting is much different, it requires collaboration between all facets of the agency. When asked about the planner's involvement throughout the creative process, Lewis responded that "you aren't doing your job as a planner if you aren't providing your creative team with a nugget of information everyday." Jeff Goodby related the planners role to that of a "fishing guide." To be successful, a planner must not only appreciate the creative process, but also open to being a part of it. 



3. Just because we are in advertising, doesn't mean advertising is always the answer. The new agency model has to think bigger than advertising. An agency is exposed to a slew of research, data, consumer insight and marketing best practices. With all of this equipped, agencies should set out to solve business issues without being afraid to approach the client with new strategy. As Mark put it, we shouldn't "unmarry marketing tactics and business decisions," together they can achieve a lot. 

In three years of the ad program at the UO, I felt Mark's visit was one of the more insightful looks into planning and strategy I have experienced. It's agencies like GSP, and programs like the University of Oregon, that are helping to change the perception of what advertising is. 

Brand Bowl 47: The Millionth Recap

As if there aren't enough of these, I figured I'd recap of a handful of Super Bowl 47's commercials. I believe a handful of spots put the "Brand Bowl" on its back and made it worthy to the viewer, some below are not a part of those handful.


A-B InBev "Budweiser Black Crown" [Anomaly] - I don't mind the idea of launching a new product during the most watched sporting event in the country however the product better be good. A-B InBev should have saved the money from the spots and produced a good beer with it. On a side note, Anomaly's work on "Brotherhood" for Budweiser was outstanding.

Audi "Prom" [Venables, Bell & Partners] - Awesome. It managed to squeeze an excellent narrative into a minute piece that left you thinking what you should have done at prom back in the day. If Audi makes a limousine, there are going to be a lot of black eyes.

Even Nissan used it to build on.

Best Buy "Ask Amy" [CP+B Boulder] - The crew at CP+B used Ms. Poehler well in this spot. Light-hearted, fun and a great use of character. A good look for big box stores, which is hard to find — like the Cloud.

Blackberry - Next.

Cars.com "Wolf" [McGarryBowen] - There's always a humorous animal component to Super Bowl ads and this one definitely outdid Skechers' cheetah. Great way to bring the simple "no drama" message to life.

Coca-Cola "Security Camera" [Landia] - Completely refreshing, more so than the drink itself. Coke may not be great, but people can be. Thumbs up.

GoDaddy "Perfect Match" [Deutsch] - I was asked for my thoughts about this spot more so than any other ad in SB47. I'm not really for it or against it. It took a loosely-related "match" theme and brought it to life in a "what-the-f*ck" kind of way. I think the real winner here is Jesse Heiman.

Hyundai "Team" [Innocean USA] - More excellent work coming out of Innocean on behalf of Hyundai. The "Team" spot was memorable, well-casted and overall pretty badass for 10 year olds.

I wonder if this guy really laughed his ass off?

NFL Network "Leon Sandcastle" [Grey] - One of my favorite spots of the day. Deion Sanders played himself only as Deion could and the writing is superb. "You attracted to him? Obviously." Not sure if it will make a dent in NFL Network revenue but I'm sure the name Leon Sandcastle has already been cast on a newborn.

Oreo "Whisper Fight" [W+K Portland] - Big risk to whisper to 108 million Americans jabbering around their televisions but Oreo and W+K pulled it off. The Instagram call-to-action was fresh and executed extremely well. Outside of the spot is where Oreo really shined. Their timely content caused as much (if not more) of a stir than the whisper match — what a strong client/agency relationship.

Ram Trucks "Farmer" [Richards Group] - It shut the room up and made people pay attention. I thought it was a brilliant use of photography to support exceptional writing. "Farmer's" praise is best sung in the following tweet.

Samsung "The Big Pitch" [72andSunny] - Using celebrities might not be the most original strategy in the world but 72andSunny did it right by teaming Rudd, Rogen and Director Jon Favreau together to create this spot. The clips that didn't make it to the Super Bowl are just as solid and telling of a fun production. This is just a cherry on top of the great work produced for Samsung by 72andSunny, however I suspect most of the 72'ers still rock an iPhone.

Taco Bell "Viva Young" [Deutsch] - I won't beat a dead horse; despite the tagline, it was a home run for such an expensive ad buy. I was hoping to see some of the teaser footage of the old man ripping up a football field on his scooter would make it, but that's what YouTube is for.

Tide "Miracle Stain" [Saatchi & Saatchi] - My favorite spot of the entire Brand Bowl. The relevancy of it was crucial and production itself was damn funny. I would definitely try a "Stain-on-a-Stick!"

Volkswagen "Get Happy" [Deutsch] - Another good piece from the folks at VW and Deutsch. To all those criticizing it for the Jamaican theme, give it a rest.

And the best post-SB spot was Jell-O's "Surprise Pudding" - Take it or leave it San Fran!

To Miller 64!

I recently had my first experience of creating work for a big brand. It might not have been the most orthodox way in the ad world, but it is an experience that opened new doors and has me itching for more.

It came by way of an open assignment for Miller 64, the low-calorie beer from Miller-Coors. Their creative agency, Saatchi&Saatchi, turned to Poptent for a :30 spot promoting Miller 64 with a New Year's Resolution theme. 

Poptent is a crowdsource community that connects big brands with a network of indie film/commercial makers. The brands range in size and shape. Recent clients include Lays, 5 Hour Energy, Allstate, Trident and American express, to name a few.

The brand provides a brief and a creative toolkit (style guides, logos etc.) to the Poptent network. We were equipped with the Miller creative brief, toolkit and just enough time to brainstorm a concept, shoot, edit and submit it to the brand.

For a week straight we sat around the writers table, crafting the concept which led to rewriting the original song used by Miller, given to us for inspiration. We went into pre-production (casting, location scouting, etc.) which came down to the eleventh hour; a trend which seemed to continue throughout the entirety of the project.

On-set at St. Nicks Tree Farm (Oregon City, Or)

Finally it was time to shoot, for the sake of brevity let's say it was fun albeit stressful. We got it done and headed right into editing the following day. 48 hours and a couple of stiff backs later, we had it edited and ready to submit. Click the link below to view (can't be uploaded to a sharing site).

Miller 64: Resolutions

We had finally created our first work for a big brand — work we were proud of. It was on par with strategy, included the mandatory elements and was original yet reminiscent of previous campaign work. 309 creators accepted the brand, 21 actually submitted a spot and 1 was to be purchased for $7,500 — a pretty damn good deal for the brand considering average production costs for a national spot.

Assignment Details

Out of the 21 submissions, ours was selected as 1 of 5 finalists by the brand. While we didn't end up winning the big purchase, we were granted an Editor's Choice and invited to work on a private assignment for Black and Decker (complete) and Allstate (in post-production).

Finalist and Editor's Choice!

It wasn't about the possibility of money and awards. It was the experience of it all that I value second to none. I was able to live the dream for a few days and create work for both a national brand and an excellent advertising agency, all before graduating this March.

I guess the moral of the story is to create opportunities for yourself, you don't have to wait for a degree to gain valuable experience. And drink Miller 64!



Director: Jourdain May
Producer: Dan Drullinger
Writers: Reed Nelson, Dan Drullinger and Jourdain May

Bold and Cold: A Unique Approach to Air Conditioning

It has been a while, shoot - more than a while. I've been wanting to write again and found an advert that prompted me to do so. For those who can only accept a piece if it has social or digital components, this isn't not for you. It's no augmented reality campaign, it has no scannable-codes or automatic social check-ins.

What it does have is outstanding writing, exceptional production value and the keen ability to give its respective brand a voice - you know, that old traditional stuff. It takes a bold approach in an industry where the word "bold" probably isn't tossed around much: air conditioning.

It's titled "Summer Hater" and was produced by Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi for BGH, apparently a South American electronic company with an air conditioning division. I say apparently because it was difficult to find anything besides blog articles highlighting this ballsy advertising (whoops, someone missed the boat).

It's an oddly beautiful compilation of society on a hot day with a bitter old SOB muttering his hatred toward their ways. Basically, the Grinch meets those who probably used to drink Zima. The framing is brilliant - slightly reminiscent of a Wes Anderson film. The concept is unique and well-executed.

This isn't the first bit of audacity to come out of the agency-client corner. A previous ad featured dads of all ages (and shapes) stripped to their tidies while an in-store campaign once measured shoppers noses to determine if they qualified for a discount. I could only imagine the strategy sessions these ideas were born from.

It takes a strong client/agency relationship to consistently produce bold communications like these.

Enough blabbing, check out "Summer Hater" at AdAge or Creativity Online.

Brand Eulogy: Kodak

Been a while since I've last dropped a Dinger so I figured I'd include the brand eulogy I recently wrote for Kodak as an exercise in strategic curiosity. While I don't believe Kodak has officially died as a brand yet, its lackluster efforts to shift towards the digital landscape has rendered them a part of history. The eulogy is as follows:

Brand Eulogy: Kodak

Today marks a tragic loss in the world of photography as a pioneer of the industry has finally laid to rest. After 123 years, the Eastman Kodak brand (commonly referred to as simply Kodak) has snapped its last picture, and shuttered its last actuation. The death marks an inevitable shift towards all media into the new digital age. Kodak fought a valiant fight but just couldn’t execute the strategy to remain relevant among consumers throughout the shifting media landscape. To appreciate the life of the brand we must take a brief look at the long, often arduous road traveled by the pioneering company.

The brand, founded in 1889 by George Eastman, was a staple in the traditional film photograph world. From its early beginnings as a dry plate company in Rochester, NY, Kodak evolved into the leader of the film and camera sales market. By selling inexpensive cameras Kodak made its big money by selling consumables – film and paper. They even introduced mass-market photography with the unveiling of the Kodak Brownie. A Harvard report shows Kodak’s market share in both film and camera sales were upwards of 85% as late as the mid-1970s. As a cry for a more efficient means of photography erupted among the public, Kodak watched its share of the market drop as competitors like Fuji, Sony, Canon and Nikon made a much swifter transition into the digital age. Though the capabilities were there, the Kodak executives couldn’t imagine a world without traditional film and their poor foresight forced the iconic brand into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early 2011.

Many will miss the Kodak name, as the nostalgia of the brand will remain with the purists of the film world. It is survived by competitors whom took an early grasp on a shift in consumerism and digital prevalence. Rest in Peace Kodak – you are gone but not forgotten. 

Work to Be Proud Of: Combating Child Hunger

I have a strong belief that being a student doesn't mean you just should just make student work. When any of our team sits down to do a project (be it a print ad, television spot or digital campaign) we go into with the mindset of making work that transcends the classroom - and when it does it feels great.

In a multimedia class we were presented with a list of topics to produce a multimedia public service announcement about. We initially chose amateur athletics on campus but ended jumping ship to a more compelling piece about child hunger in Oregon. What started as a class project quickly evolved into something more.

Our research led us to realizations that none of us could comprehend at the time: 29.2% of children in Oregon are faced with food insecurity. Many students here at the University of Oregon have younger siblings but it was a safe bet that very few knew of this staggering number.

We produced a 1-minute spot that highlighted a young twenty-something and his difficulties with hunger as a child, and expanded it to his fear for his brother having to endure the same issues. It remained a simplistic, straight-forward piece that utilized a strong monologue and spotlighting. Our goal was to generate awareness about the issue at hand and call for people to donate time and resources - and it worked.

Our story reached a local member of the community who just couldn't believe the numbers either - and she decided to do something about it. She is currently in the midst of organizing a coalition against child hunger here in Lane County, and is actively working to execute it soon. We couldn't be happier that what started as a classroom project struck a chord with members outside of it and look forward to assisting in future campaign executions.

I can't thank our team members enough, Lindsey Tucker and Jane O'Neil - you rocked it. It couldn't have been possible without the expertise that Jourdain May from Eugenius Media brought to the table. I really believe we have something here and thanks to you guys we are seeing it unfold.