By every measuring stick – from the level of creatively challenging work they produced, to solid corporate growth, to the more ephemeral ‘industry buzz’ — 2014 will be remembered as the best year ever in full service creative studio Hiccup Media’s eight year history. For company founders, Rob Simone and Michael Cruz, this is a direct result of staying true to the ‘from script to screen’ ethos they pioneered.
“Our reputation has spread and today more and more brands want to work with us because of the results we’re able to generate,” Simone says. “They like our nimbleness and ability to work quickly and go from basic concept to finished product without ever having to leave our offices.”
Some of Hiccup’s 2014 creative highlights include:
► Babbel launch: Hiccup launched the German-based language learning app Babbel in the U.S. market with visually arresting TV advertisement directed by Michael Cruz entitled “Educate Anywhere” that featured a simple static shot from the POV of the Babbel user in the foreground, while behind them backgrounds shift quickly from kitchen to office to living room and bedroom.
“We wanted to create something that was both clear and visually dynamic,” Cruz says. “The concept we came up with features deconstructed backgrounds that transition us from scene to scene falling in line with the idea of mobility.”
► Branded Content/Native Advertising: For the publishing industry, native advertising/branded content is proving a powerful means of connecting readers and advertisers. Hiccup is leading the way in this emerging medium with recent work for business information provider, Dow Jones & Company.
► Music Video/Content: Branded content for the music industry is about helping fans stay connected to the artists that matter most to them. 2014 found Hiccup collaborating with numerous record labels such as RCA and EPIC to craft engaging, conceptually driven video content, graphics packages and more for music’s biggest stars. Hiccup’s work this year included a 30-minute documentary about the making of Michael Jackson’s latest posthumous release “Xscape” that aired on BET; a behind the scenes look at guitarist Santana’s World Cup 2014 music video; and an array of promotional pieces for Ray Lamontagne, Daughtry, Gavin DeGraw, Cage The Elephant and Sleeper Agent, to name a few.
► 3MS Online Ad Campaign – Looking to raise awareness of the key issues surrounding online advertising and how to make it a more valuable medium for brands, PR firm Fleishman Hillard looked to Hiccup to create a two-spot online ad campaign to help get the word out. The resulting campaign was honored (Hiccup won with two Silver W3 Awards, which honors creative excellence on the web, and the creative and marketing professionals behind award winning sites, videos and marketing programs).
“For 3MS, we’re targeting creative professionals, which means we can take more risks and build the drama slowly toward the payoff,” Cruz notes. “That kind of creative freedom and willingness to take a more artistic approach with these is why I think they work so well.”
Rob Simone adds, “2014 was a truly great year for us in every way — quality of work, quality of clients, revenue growth. Looking to 2015 we see a lot of hope for optimism given clients’ ever increasing need to communicate their message to content hungry consumers in as many ways, and on as many screens, as possible.”
About Hiccup Media
In 2006, we believed that brands were developing a need for a different type of agency. With the growing demands for video, mobile and content in general, a secondary more nimble firm was becoming more of a necessity. Hiccup Media was founded to meet that demand. We believe that broadcast work and non-broadcast work are equally important and dually essential pieces of a brand’s strategy. Therefore, we develop creative timing and cost solutions that make sense in today’s industry and we never sacrifice quality. For more info go to http://www.hiccupmedia.com or visit https://www.facebook.com/Hiccup.Media.
