In a landscape of category sameness, our client Nasalcrom had the rare benefit of preventing allergy symptoms before they started. The more we dug into the symptoms, the more we realized how personal each consumer’s experience is with their nemeses and effects. We turned some of them into the key visual element and lever of the idea and partnered with a brave client who stepped outside category norms to make an impact.

Role: Group CD/CW

Ask me about: the cat

Medical device client Hologic asked us to help them launch a public service initiative to promote women’s cervical health, and our women-owned agency jumped at the opportunity. We created the Public Cervix Announcement, leveraging the language of various platforms to put an empowering twist on the idea of being “Healthy AF”. We created a digital ecosystem to support and amplify the campaign, and tactics covered both DTC and HCP audiences.

Role: ECD/CW

Ask me about: the ideas that WEREN’T selected

In 2017, we developed a new brand positioning and tagline for Northwest Bank: “Increasing the value of you.” For several years, we brought that promise to life through a full spectrum of online and offline tactics and content with messaging designed to express Northwest’s humility and reverence for the relationships they have with their customers.

Role: ECD/CW

Ask me about: Rico

“Energy efficiency” isn’t often used in the same sentence as “branding,” but Focus on Energy tasked us with rebranding them and their work with several Wisconsin state agencies to support and market energy efficiency programs. Research told us that famously independent Wisconsinites would take individual action toward being more energy efficient, especially if it would help their collective communities. Instead of treating the brand like an impersonal list of products and services, we reimagined it as the engine behind a movement: “Wisconsin Is In”. When we called upon consumers to help themselves at the same time they could help their neighbors, they answered.

Role: ECD/CW

Ask me about: The production road trip

The foundational arm of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota asked us to develop a behavior change campaign to promote a healthier lifestyle through regular walking. We developed a lighthearted, copy-driven approach that highlighted how easy it is to incorporate a walking routine into your life, and we made creative use of available ambient media to amplify the tone and messaging. Tactics included TV, transit, outdoor, and non-traditional media.

Role: ACD/CW

Ask me about: the dance party

While the Buffalo Bills have always enjoyed the fanatical support of the “Bills Mafia,” years of disappointing play had tested the resolve of many fans, even in some of the most passionate corners of Rich Stadium. Tasked with promoting season ticket sales, we channeled the experience of being inside the stadium on game day and went head-to-head with the 60-inch flatscreens, comfortable seating, and cheap beer of home. Digital and offline efforts supported the work, and sales goals were shattered as the in-person appeal brought the Bills a much-needed W.

Role: Group CD/CW

Ask me about: Stevie Johnson’s audio

Absorbine gave our team the opportunity to turn something scientific into something human when they asked us to develop a campaign for their line of premium equine grooming products. The more we talked to horse owners and enthusiasts, heard their stories, saw their pictures, and watched them with their horses, the more it was clear that tapping into those relationships was the way to motivate them. We commissioned original photography, crafted a tone of voice, and took advantage of integrated tactics to get Absorbine onto the podium.

Role: Group CD/CW

Ask me about: The intern

The Northern California group of Ford dealers wanted their own creative to launch the new Ford Focus, and we got the opportunity to develop a campaign to run alongside the national brand creative. Produced with a shoestring budget and a skeleton crew, we built the entire campaign around the “limited” vocabulary used to express so much between friends. The spots quickly gained momentum when other dealer groups started to run it, and the work ended up replacing the original brand launch campaign in dozens of markets. Pretty cool, dude.

Role: CW

Ask me about: the dude’s coffee cup

For years, it was a professional goal of mine to work with famed illustrator Michael Schwab. Finally, after several failed attempts, AAA came calling with a request to refresh their brand in the Western NY market. We pitched an idea that took a new approach promoting a broader spectrum of services, along a recommendation to use the “contemporary nostalgia” of Schwab’s artwork for the campaign. Final output included print, direct mail, in-store posters, retail components and merchandising.

Role: GCD/CW

Ask me about: Mike’s studio basement

We worked with the foundational arm of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota to promote behavioral change when it came to healthier eating habits for Minnesota families. We learned that parents were much more likely to act when exposed to messaging highlighting the long-term risks for kids who don’t have enough fruits and vegetables in their diets. We developed a “time travel” visual lever that delivered the message with tremendous impact in print and video, and we developed a distinct campaign tone of voice to carry other tactics. The integrated campaign included TV, print, transit, ambient, outdoor, and a program website.

Role: ACD/CW

Ask me about: the Tooth Fairy

My partner and I were tasked with creating a B2B print campaign for MasterCard RPPS, which offers faster, more reliable payment services between companies and financial institutions. This idea started out in the “no way they’ll ever go for it, but we should show it to them” pile, but once we worked out how to execute it, it quickly became the agency recommendation and approved concept. We may have bent a law or two scanning the currency to get the detail we wanted, but the payoff was worth it. Selected for 2009 Graphis Design Annual.

Role: ACD/CW

Ask me about: the first internal review

When a large financial client wanted to test the reverse mortgage waters, we urged them to take a different route than the “aging celebrity endorsement” approach so often seen in the category. We believed our older consumers were capable of getting a visual joke, and it allowed us to humanize a product that was in dire need of a perception facelift.

Role: GCD/CW

Ask me about: The focus group

Efficiency Vermont, an energy efficiency services implementer, needed to refresh their brand awareness and perception, even in a progressive state like Vermont. We found a way for them to take their story beyond their products and services and into the homes of the fiercely independent Vermonters who benefit most from them. We also found a way to develop original, ownable assets within their extremely limited budget. Using a child’s voice for the launch creative was a disruptive way to express the long-term impact of working with Efficiency Vermont without pandering to a future state that often fails to motivate consumers.

Ask me about: the VO talent

New client MassMutual asked us to create a DRTV campaign to support the launch of a new life insurance product for seniors. We advocated breaking a few DRTV “rules” by engaging consumers with human-centric creative and a dose of storytelling before unleashing an onslaught of selling points and calls to action. We found the right balance between the two, and supported by ongoing analysis and optimization, were able to make the spot even more effective.

Role: GCD/CW

Ask me about: Talent hookups

Our clients at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York asked us to create an integrated campaign to launch their new Consumer Driven Health Plan for both consumers and business plan administrators. We named the product, did the visual branding, and launched it with TV, print, and digital tactics, including a new website. Winner of the Best of Blue “Best of Show” award, the Aqua launch was the most successful product launch in BCBS/NY history.

Role: CD/CW

Ask me about: Our shoot location

Working at a McCann subsidiary agency, we were asked to collaborate with the brand team to develop ideas to support the new “Dream Up” campaign at both a regional and national level. We ended up producing print work and several spots at the brand level, and several more retail TV templates for distribution nationwide.

Role: GCD/CW

Ask me about: Hugh Jackman’s VO session

Who says automotive retail has to be boring? Or deafening? When GMC asked us to develop creative for a sales event campaign, we put a humorous spin on people getting ready in unique ways to become proud owners of a new truck or SUV. The client loved the idea, and consumers did, too. Turns out, pride of ownership is just as compelling and motivating as financial incentives.

Role: GCD/CW

Ask me about: the lawnmower

Top Flite golf balls are made for one thing: to be hit hard by people that swing hard. So when our clients asked us to develop and produce a spot for an unexpected media opportunity, we gripped it and ripped it. Instead of featuring forgettable information about aerodynamics, dimples and flight performance, we served up what every big hitter wants: to outdo their big hitting friends. After all, you don’t see Top Flites on the PGA tour; you see them at scrambles, company events, and weekend foursomes. One day to concept and write, three days to shoot and edit, and a client that came out on top.

Role: Group CD/CW

Ask me about: High-risk driving