VP, Creative Director
22squared
1) Remember when everything went clear? Clear Pepsi, clear deodorant, Zima for God’s sake? Then we green washed everything because Generation Y and those darn Millennials actually cared about the planet? Never mind if we actually made changes or not, just tell ‘em you care!
Now suddenly brands *really* care about the ladies. Brands are falling all over themselves wanting Millennial moms to know that our widgets not only have “values” but we think ladies rock too. Oh, not far enough you say? Ok, sure pay women the same, I guess… though we aren’t demanding our agencies pay women the same or making any pay leveling moves at home. But look how powerful our print, TVC and our statues are. Doesn’t that qualify as big change? We’re not showing you in scantily clad clothing while cleaning the X anymore. What? You’re still not happy? Oh because a bunch of fellas approved the ads, in some cases made the ads?
Hey look, we appreciate that you discovered men can clean, raise children and care about a skin care routine and that women actually have huge senses of humor (thanks Lucile Ball, Carol Burnett, Lily Tomlin, Tina Fey, Kate Mckinnon), but don’t pander. Even if you spend a million on the production, we still know that you’re not hiring us, paying us or being real with us. Do better because we will find out the truth. Advertising is already rated lower in trust than banks. Let’s all work on that.
2) I can’t think of a better example of meshing advertising and entertainment this year than recent work from 22squared for our client Baskin Robbins. Grabbing on to such a big moment, Baskin Robbins went for it with the transformation of several stores to become Ship’s Ahoy, the ice cream parlor heavily featured in season three of Stranger Things. To date about 40 million people tuned in to binge the whole season in a matter of days.
The campaign didn’t stop there. Next came the cryptic, 1985 technology treasure hunt game Scoop Snoop. It’s an ARG game that had very intentionally subtle brand tie ins and ran parallel to the launch of the show. Suddenly a Reddit thread blew up and weird theories about needing to check out actual nuclear facilities for codes. What a wild ride!
3) N/A unfortunately. Not this year. But OMG next year you better invest in proper lip care for all your wow faces. I just landed at 22SQ in January but the ideas I’m seeing in development for next award season are truly going to make me more proud than I’ve ever been in my career. And I’ve worked on some pretty stellar projects. Matt O’Rourke (new CCO) has been such an inspiration down here.
4) Before coming on board at 22squared, I had the pleasure of being Global Brand Creative Director at TOMS in Los Angeles and creative consultant at Spanx here in Atlanta. Client side was an eye-opening experience in many ways. My favorite was simply learning the business in such a deep way. Additionally so many of my advertising peers would block me in at parties to discuss what it’s like to go client side. Creatives are wildly interested in the proposition because the trend is definitely heading to a place where large companies and even smaller ones are adding traditional advertising creatives to their roster. Some are even building entire ad agencies inside their walls successfully. (See Spotify)
I don’t see this trend dying out. However, there are plenty of watch outs: Corporations don’t truly understand what ad creatives do. Be prepared to explain the differences between marketing and advertising, retail design and communication design, and simply what a copywriter does for a living. On top of that, be prepared to educate a few coworkers on what good advertising/branding/content looks like. They’re most often sales folks that think a big logo and a price point will motivate a movement. Also many aren’t understanding that you’re not saving money by hiring a couple of FTEs versus hiring an ad agency.
5) “Meaningful” is always king but “surprise” is still a big winner. Play on the heart strings in a surprising way and you’re titanium.
6) This question is ever more important down South where I must admit, things are a bit lagging.
After eight years in New York and another seven in Los Angeles, I certainly had moments where I was legit the only lady creative in the department. That doesn’t mean I represent all women. Nor does it mean I’m the moral barometer of the effing department. Somehow I was pushed into a kind of school marm role which shocked me as I have a foul mouth, scratch inappropriately and drink beer too. Fact is, I was raised by a man. I know very little about stereotypical lady stuff. The older I’ve gotten the more women I’ve met who feel the same.
I encourage women to be themselves, fully and without apology. Currently I’m approaching my third trimester of my first child while wearing Dickies overalls, not a lick a cosmetics and would rather work on anything except women’s products. But then again, we need women like me to work on women’s products so the bullshit can stop rolling out into the minds of our nation. Periods aren’t gross. Body hair isn’t gross. WOMEN ARE EFFING FUNNY.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More