Chief Creative Officer
Publicis Seattle
1) Content, digital, social, engagement, disruption, CRM, DDR, OOH, TV. Enough to give anyone A.D.D.
Watching trends in advertising is like watching little kids play soccer. Everyone chases the latest buzzword with hopes of telling clients “we got this.” But really, the most significant trends in 2015 were the same for the last 30 years. The agencies that understand and translate their brands’ “tone of voice” or “essence” into meaningful communications are winning, regardless of the platform.
2) Speed. Pure Speed. Our biggest client – T-Mobile – moves in real time. Telecom is ferociously competitive and having the right talent is imperative. We look for people who actually enjoy the heat and can deliver from brief to air in 4-6 days – And still smile about. Same with our production partners. We’ve had times where we’ve cut for six hours and presented to client that evening. We adapt both internal and external resources and use different mediums to react to market forces. Sometimes it’s purely a social play, sometimes it is big TV. The beauty of adapting our team to the one we have now is that there is no client we can’t think smartly for. Our more traditional timelines are a luxury for us.
3) A trick question, for sure. (Insert gasp face emoticon here). It has been a wild year for Publicis Seattle, from making our first episodic and branded TV show for Visit Seattle or the total rebranding of American Girl. I would like to say I love all my children equally, but we all know that’s not true. Any parent who says that is a liar. I think the more honest response is that we love all our children differently.
For me this year, it’s the Binge On work for T-Mobile. It was conceived, sold, shot and on-air in 10 days. We secured Aaron Paul to play our lead, director Matt Aselton to shoot it – And it was done by two juniors who were in their first week of work. I feel the spots turned out great because there was no room, at any stage, for it to be overthought. That shooting from the hip approach is also extremely fun in this psychotic business.
4) Shooting film. Actual 35-millimeter film. (And watching Stephan trying to pull out the Ursa’s in the garage would be hilarious.)
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More