For the first time, M&M’S spokescandy, Ms. Brown, appears in a commercial with another famous advertising character, the GEICO Gecko.
Titled “15 Minutes,” the :30 spot is the brainchild of BBDO New York, with Ms. Brown acknowledging that being made of delicious chocolate makes her a high risk for insurance. Nonetheless, she believes she deserves coverage and she’s been in the GEICO office with the Gecko for 15 minutes–and 15 minutes can save you 15 percent on insurance.
The Gecko points out that GEICO only insures humans so the two ad characters face a dilemma. The spot ends with a surprise appearance by another memorable advertising figure, GEICO’s “Hump Day” camel.
Accompanying the TV commercial–directed by the Tracker collective (of production house Traktor), with visual effects from Framestore and The Mill (for the camel)–is a robust social media campaign that lives on Facebook and Twitter which tells the entire story of Ms. Brown’s efforts to secure insurance.
The BBDO NY team includes chief creative officer, worldwide, David Lubars, sr. VPs/executive creative directors Tim Bayne and Lauren Connolly, sr. art director Eduardo Petersen, sr. copywriter Christopher Cannon, sr. producer Regina Iannuzzi, producer Sofia Doktori and executive music producer Melissa Chester. Maury Loeb of P.S. 260 edited “15 Minutes.”
Makes Move To Get Attention KBS+
Kirshenbaum bond senecal + partners (kbs+), New York, is acquiring social media marketing agency Attention, which maintains offices in NYC, L.A., Toronto and London. The move strengthens the social strategies practice of kbs+ while also giving the agency a presence on the West Coast.
Organized around today’s increasingly social purchasing journey, the expanded kbs+ services link together analytics, communications, digital creative, interactive development, content, earned media, owned media and paid media. Attention will also contribute to the kbs+ family its skills in interpreting unstructured search and social data to launch creative campaigns around purchase intent and brand consideration.
Attention will continue to be led by its founder Curtis Hougland and COO Paul Beck. Attention partners with clients including Mattel, Sports Authority, Novartis, Mead Johnson, Dunkin’ Donuts and Samsung, among others.
People In The News….
Besty Beale, L.A.-based exec producer of bicoastal editorial house jumP, has been elected president of AICE’s West Coast chapter. Beale brings to the presidency a wealth of industry experience, having spent the last decade collaborating on notable advertising campaigns on both the agency and editorial sides. After studying film at Boston University, Beale produced at TBWAChiatDay San Francisco before going on to head editorial studio Lost Planet LA as EP for the next seven years. The opportunity to post produce a TV series for Y&R took Beale to NY, before she returned to L.A. to work at chrome. Beale joined jumP as EP in 2011….Bicoastal design studio Scout has added Stephanie Balint as executive producer. Balint joins Scout’s expanding team led by former Superfad creative directors Brian Drucker and Chace Hartman. Most recently with production services company Palma Pictures, Balint worked with directorial talent including Todd Field, Errol Morris, Tim Burton and Douglas Avery…..
