Innovation Meets the Ocean: Innocean USA

Every once in a while you stumble across some information that creates an epiphany, or an "aha" moment if you will - sometimes it sticks with you and you can't let it go, like my own "aha" moment last week.

While traveling to Los Angeles last Thursday I surfed around agency sites located in Southern California to pass the time. A lot of brilliant agencies plant roots in LA including TBWA\Chiat\Day, Wong, Doody, Crandall, Wiener and 180LA, to name a few. I stumbled across a gem located just an hour south, practically on the beautiful Huntington Beach: Innocean USA.

Tell me the office morale isn't high.

Innocean USA is situated in a stunning office equipped with arguably the most beautiful view of any ad agency on the West Coast. Don't believe me? Check out their five-page office spread featured in Interior Design Magazine. Believe it or not it wasn't the sleek office that attracted me as much as it was the work produced.

Since focusing my efforts on advertising I have repeatedly looked to one company that I believe truly represents what the power of branding can achieve. Hyundai is a car company that I didn't give the time of day to in recent years, they were irrelevant to me. Over the past couple years I have watched Hyundai completely transform themselves into a relevant, consumer oriented and innovative automobile company. The cars look great, their customers are more than satisfied and the advertising transcends traditional thinking. Check out my previous post New Thinking New Possibilities: A Tribute to Hyundai for a more in-depth look at their branding efforts.

My epiphany moment came when I discovered that Innocean USA was the driving force behind this branding, which catapulted Hyundai to #1in brand loyalty. They were even behind the Equus Owner's Experience App - a new take on that traditional owner's manual that utilized the iPad found in every Equus's glove compartment. What's the best way to introduce a brand new car into the luxury market for the first time? Be progressive, think differently - Innocean USA: check and check.

After last Thursday I knew I had to make contact with them - thanks to Twitter and the Innocean team's engaging social media presence, I was able to do so. Working with that team on the Hyundai account would be a spectacular experience. Even if it was just sweeping up the creative scraps like an apprentice in a barbershop - I'd be obliged. Regardless of the outcome of my inquiry I am stoked to have found Innocean USA and cannot wait to see what is next for Hyundai.

Virgin America: A Disruptive Force To Be Reckoned With

I have had flight anxiety for nearly the last two years. Not sure where it came from or how it manifested so quickly, but it did. During the take-off and landing stages of flight, my mind races as I envision the landing gear malfunctioning or an engine suddenly failing. However, during a cross-country flight from San Francisco to Boston last week, it all changed. I hadn't been that comfortable and carefree on an airline in years - no I didn't take any mellow pills, I flew Virgin America.

It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Everything - from the mannerisms of the staff to plane itself - stood a head above the rest of any competing airline. The cabin emitted a soothing blue glow complimented by modern orange call buttons and purple crown lighting. Each seat was equipped with a touch-screen, fully interactive monitor that hosted music and movie libraries, DIRECTV television, food and drink orders, and hey why not - shopping catalogs. If I wanted a drink, I didn't have to wait for the cart - I could simply order it via my touchscreen and have it within seconds. If an order called for payment I looked no further than that same screen to swipe my debit or credit card - it was the most simplistic consumer experience I have been involved in.

Not your typical cabin.

Something for everyone on the touchscreen.

Even the introductory safety video that seems standard to every airline was flipped. It was a brilliantly drawn caricature that used a humorous voice to convey the safety messages required by FAA. The seat-belt portion featured an animated matador, confused by the seat-belt process, sitting next to his bull counter-part who was already strapped in. The voice-over joked around about the ".0001% of you who have never put on a seat-belt in your life" while the procedure was demonstrated. The on-flight crew didn't regurgitate a monotone "seat-backs and tray-tables upright and locked" type speech. They spoke to you, not at you. It felt like a conversation engaged in by both parties.

It boils down to the fact that Virgin, as a brand, really understands its consumers. They recognize that in order to stand out and remain relevant they must be progressive. I think the same holds true in any market for any brand. Virgin took what has been regarded as industry standard, and flipped the script. They still were well within compliance of the FAA, but they did it tastefully. In a market flooded by similar practices by Delta, United and other various airlines, Virgin went above and beyond to create an entirely new flight experience - just shy of being able to smoke again on-board. It was fun, comfortable and my guess is - extremely capable of repeat customers. If I never had to fly another airline again I wouldn't.

Any company can (and should) use Virgin as a case study in order to build a better brand experience, no matter how seemingly stagnant the market is.

Missing the Big Picture

I have noticed a big push for billboard advertising around the Portland metro area lately. Many vacant boards are trying to sell businesses on the idea that using this medium is the key to creating a "giant ad." I even saw one last week that simply said "Giant Ad." Let me be the first to say that I am not knocking billboard advertising; when done right I think it is a beautiful art. What I cannot stand behind is the idea that displaying your company name and tagline on a board for an entire freeway to see means you have created a "giant ad."

Downtown Portland 

An advertisement shouldn't be giant because of it's size; it should be giant because of the message it conveys, or the story it tells, no matter what medium is used. Some of the best spots are those that aren't thrown in your face. Remember the Sprint advertisement on the back of the Rolling Stones cover shortly after the death of Steve Jobs? It barely had any copy on top of plenty of white space. How about the Apple "1984" commercial? It only aired one time! Both are giant ads, regardless of the size or frequency. If your business literally wants a large advertisement, a billboard is a great way to go. All I am saying is to not get caught up in the actual size more so than the message that accompanies it.

Sprint Ad after death of Steve Jobs

[18] Brand Thinking: Visual Representation

 I was recently tasked with scribing my philosophy of brand thinking into a paper for my Creative Strategist class. After plenty coverage on the subject, including a lecture from Scott Bedbury (author of The New Brand World), I was able to decipher my philosophy into three ideals; a brand should be sought out, multidimensional, and dynamic. Within the paper I used three different brands that I felt represented each of these aspects: Toms Shoes, The Republican Party, and Amazon.

I created the above illustration to visually represent my philosophy. To learn more about my brand thinking and how these brands support it, leave a comment with your contact information and I'd be happy to send you the paper.

[7]. brand confusion: Netflix

Netflix, it used to be so simple. Sign up, add a DVD to your queue, receive it in about a day via mail, enjoy it, return, repeat. January 2008 rolls around and Netflix introduces unlimited instant streaming alongside DVD rental to adapt to the changing ways of media consumption. It revolutionized the film distribution industry for good. No complaint there. Then July 12, 2011 happened.

The hundreds of thousands of Netflix faithfuls receive notification that the company will be splitting the DVD rental and Instant Streaming feature into separate packages with separate prices. What? You mean to tell me that that I now have to choose between two platforms that are actually complimentary to each other? For the thousands of films or television shows that I cannot view instantly, I need to get them by DVD. That is what Netflix is all about right, allowing me to get them quickly and efficiently all under one price. Netflix got a very quick reminder that they are in the midst of the consumer control era. The general people did not sit idol. They blew up Facebook with negative comments and even got "Dear Netflix" to trend on Twitter followed by nasty remarks about the decision to split the services.

If that didn't piss everyone off enough, CEO Reed Hastings had to take it one step further on September 18, 2011 by announcing that DVD rental would now no longer be a part of Netflix, but an entirely new service known as Qwikster. The announcement came by way of a blog post distributed via e-mail from Hastings himself but sounded more like a sob story Hastings pounded into text after a few too many glasses of wine. 23 short days later, Hastings renounced the Qwikster move and retained the DVD rental service to Netflix.



Congratulations Hastings, in less than 4 months you managed to confuse your brand not once but twice. You upset a huge amount of faithful subscribers and to top it all off you retreated your actions, further demonstrating the soft backbone that attempts to keep Netflix standing upright. The impressions have been made and with consumers having more and more influence than ever before, you really picked a bad time to do this.

[4] just do it or just did it?

The Ducks are about to don a new look this Thursday night when they take the field against the Cal Bears, a look that some are calling retro. But is it? Or did Nike create a clash between two eras?

I first saw the new jerseys and apparel [for copyright purposes check 'em out here] on the always insightful Nike Blog. Upon first gaze, the shade of green accented by the golden numbers made me think throwback. It reminded me of the nostalgic combination's of solid green and yellow the Ducks formerly sported in the previous decades. The "Fighting Ducks" text on the front pays tribute to a mentality of teams from earlier years. It doesn't scream retro, but it says it.

Then I saw the shoulders. Sewn upon them is the face of our beloved Duck mascot. But wait, that's not the same face we see doing an unfathomable amount of push-ups each time the Ducks chalk the scoreboard. This is a strikingly sleek version of an older Puddles mascot with a look of determination through gleaming eyes. The writing with historic context is conversely represented through Oregon's highly exclusive and sought-after font.

Nothing depicts this mesh of two eras more so than the hat. Puddle's fresh new face on a tri-colored snap-back hat. That style was once popular in the 80's and is currently in the midst of a comeback. Microcosm? I think so.

One thing we do know about Nike is they sure know how to establish a brand; be it an individual, team or an entire sport. This advanced design process coupled with a superior creative process helped propel Duck athletics into a recognizable brand itself.

Will this new look dropping Thursday be here in the future? Or is it going to be history? I guess that has been the question the whole time.

Exactly.