Advertising campaigns are growing more and more complex, with elements ranging from TV spots to Web games–whether simple, or more complex alternate reality games–and other online elements, as well as outdoor, posters and wild postings. Agency production departments are increasingly multi-tasking–in addition to producing traditional content, producers are being called upon to shepherd content for video games, Web sites, short films, DVDs, and other elements. Furthermore, producers are learning about new forms of delivery, while at the same time working on more traditional, TV-oriented work.
“The traditional role of both a head of production and a producer is changing in many ways as we now have to add knowledge of the digital world–Internet, interactive, podcasts, wireless, VOD, et cetera,” notes John Garland, executive VP/creative director of broadcast and development at JWT, New York. “And we have to bring into play a working knowledge of how the entertainment industry in general conducts business, from development deals, production packaging, production funding, distribution and a myriad of other new knowledge of how content is produced and how content gets itself onto the right screen to reach the targeted audience.
“Additionally, we now have to consider the entire marketing spectrum to ensure that whatever is produced operates in conjunction with disciplines like PR, below the line, event marketing, promotions all the way down to the aisle,” he continues. “To achieve all of this we employ a number of different techniques we have been experimenting with for the past two years as well as ensuring that we draw upon the best of category of outside resources. However this does not mean everyone has abandoned their traditional roles; we are still producing television and radio commercials as well.
Projects like Audi’s “Art of the Heist,” out of McKinney, Raleigh, N.C., which presented a complicated alternate reality game, coupled with live events and TV, and the integrated Mini Cooper “Counterfeit” campaign, out of Crispin Porter + Bogusky (CP+B), Miami, which scored a Titanium Lion at this year’s Cannes International Advertising Festival, have greatly expanded the scope of an agency producer. Rather than just a handful of spots needing to be produced for a campaign, a producer these days needs to juggle a number of different elements–all of which is leading to great collaboration–both within and outside the agency.
“I think one has to be more resourceful than perhaps in the past,” relates Rupert Samuel, director of integrated production at CP+B, and co-producer on the Mini “Counterfeit” package. “I don’t think the process has changed because essentially we are still producing creative property–whether its for the Web, DVD, long format, pay-per-view or a standard TV spot. However the breadth and scope of projects have expanded, and so too must the knowledge and tools that a producer should be armed with.”
“I do think it makes sense that heads of production seem to be getting involved in this new media landscape,” says Steve Humble, senior VP/director of broadcast production at The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va. “The parameters of executing creative ideas are the same, it’s just the medium and technical aspects are different.” Humble is involved in a soon-to-be-announced, newly formed group within the agency that will address the topic of the changing roles and skills of produces as the media landscape evolves. “Initial meetings involve production, creative and media more than ever,” notes Humble. “It’s a very collaborative atmosphere here; we were able to get the UPS package car into the Electronic Arts Sports NASCAR 2006 videogame–all three departments [creative, media, production] worked closely to make it happen.” (UPS, a client of The Martin Agency, has long sponsored NASCAR racer Dale Earnhardt, Jr.)
Wieden+Kennedy, New York, has also been involved in several projects with highly integrated elements that in some cases have blended the lines between reality and fiction. The shop was behind the groundbreaking “Beta 7” package for ESPN/Sega that featured TV, online, print ads and other elements, as well as the Sharp Aquos “More to See” campaign, which included an online came called “The Legend of the Sacred Urns.” More recently, as part of launch campaign for the Nike Brand Jordan Lifestyle collection line of apparel, the agency produced a music video for the hip-hop artist Common and his new single, “Be,” off the same titled album. The clip, directed by Paul Hunter of HSI, featured the Grammy-award winning artist, as well as Brand Jordan endorsers/athletes Carmelo Anthony, Terrell Owens, and Quentin Richards. The video came out of a discussion of how to extend the campaign beyond print, reports Gary Krieg, head of broadcast production at W+K. Though he didn’t produce the video–Temma Shoaf of W+K did–Krieg was very involved in the project. “We looked at the budget, and we were just kicking around different ways that we would hope to reach the right people,” Krieg explains. “We knew that there wasn’t enough money for a TV buy, but we wanted to do something beyond print, and so you’re just throwing a lot of ideas out there. And one of the ideas suggested was a ‘what if?’ scenario–what if an artist was releasing a song that there was going to be a video spend around, if there was some way we could collaborate with them, and if it was in line with the print campaign.” As the print campaign evolved, Jesse Coulter, the copywriter, and Andy Ferguson, art director, put together a video treatment. “When they heard Common’s album, they were like, he’s the right artist–what he represents is consistent with Brand Jordan,” relates Kreig. The leadoff song from the album, “Be,” fit into the idea behind the campaign, and Dan Sherry, a strategic planner at W+K, made contact with Common’s manager, which led to the collaboration. Projects like the video and others are “infinitely more complicated than something you’ve done before,” says Krieg, “but it’s a great example of how literally every department is having to rethink and redefine their role, and we’re all working together.”
MORE COLLABORATION
Working together is key to the success of making integrated projects that encompass many different forms of media, report the agency heads of production SHOOT spoke with. Increasingly, producers, creative, media planners, and other departments are sitting down together at the inception of a project, in an effort to get things moving in the right direction. To that end, production departments no longer encompass just television, or just radio, or just print. CP+B re-structured its department, with all elements in one place–so the “whole content production engine is here under one roof,” reports Samuel. “When jobs are opened, they all come through the same door so we can essentially determine what needs to happen by looking at the big picture and not individual bits and pieces,” he continues. “We encourage the whole team to sit together at a job’s inception and figure out crossover and ways to approach the job in its entirety.”
Producers are also asked to think beyond the traditional, and find ways to deliver content that can have more than one use. “The policy in our production department is that no matter what, we have to do more than a TV commercial,” says Aaron Royer, senior VP/associate director of broadcast production at Grey Worldwide, New York. “The charge for every producer is that you have to come back with some other form of content on a shoot–and we keep that very open. … whether it’s at minimum, stills that can go on the Web site, or behind the scenes video that can go on a site.” Royer relates that the agency recently hired a new associate producer, Tyler Deangelo, who has developed Web-based games, including one for the recent release The 40-Year Old Virgin.
“Our creative department works in very close quarters with media, which is now actually fittingly called the content distribution department,” explains Samuel. “Many of the ideas that come from here start on the drawing board with the medium itself, and the creative department and content distribution department work very closely together within this dynamic.
“When the idea hits our department, it has generally been pretty well laid out,” continues Samuel. “What does tend to happen is that the projects themselves will expand and grow into something greater. All ideas at CP+B are living, breathing entities that are always evolving and we like to be in a position to be able to facilitate that and we will work with the content distribution department and the creative department to make that happen.”
Krieg of W+K notes, “Over the last two years, it’s been a real initiative internally to have all departments work closely together–creative, media, production. Everybody is brought in as early as possible, and we keep talking to one another just to make sure everyone’s ideas are getting folded in.”
PRODN. COMPANY RELATIONSHIPS
As content changes, what agency producers need from production companies is changing. W+K has collaborated with Campfire, a division of bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures that specializes in integrated projects, on Sharp and ESPN/Sega, while Royer at Grey has worked with bicoastal Anonymous Content on a Panasonic job. Knowing a vendor well can help make a large-scale, multimedia project happen more smoothly. “Getting to know your vendors all across the board and what they have to offer is essential in making rapid decisions,” says Samuel. “Schedules and budgets are more and more challenged due to the expanding landscape that we now need to provide content for, and with that a producer must be able to think on his/her feet faster and also be creative in pulling together options that encompass bigger and broader ideas.”
Samuel reports that he and his team have expanded their vendor list, while at the same time working with long-time collaborators: “[We have] found that existing production vendors are actually positioning themselves to better handle a more encompassing role,” he says. “For example, some traditional production vendors are aligning themselves with interactive folks and they then produce the raw materials necessary to fulfill the content needs. So, I think that not only are we changing but so are the vendors we work with everyday.”
Sometimes, the tried and true, even in a new environment works well, with producers praising their collaborators on previous work. Krieg relates, “If there’s something new, for the production company, they’re going to invest in it differently,” sometimes taking on wide-ranging projects for a fraction of the budget of a more traditional project.
And agency heads of production are finding that rather than vendors, production shops are becoming partners in the process. “The work we did with [Bryan] Buckley for Mini’s ‘Counterfeit’ was a total partnership,” explains Samuel. “He added much to the table in terms of expanding the idea on all fronts–Hungry Man put together a very versatile package which allowed the project to breathe and was very freestyle in its approach. This dynamic proved to be fruitful not only in the content we managed to produce for all fronts–print, Web, TV, DVD, etc., but also a very enjoyable experience all round.”
Regardless of how things may change in the media landscape, one thing is certain: producers will be at the forefront of delivering the content. “The way I look at it is everyone talks about 360 ideas, but producers have that ‘make it happen’ gene, so producers are integral to it,” says Grey’s Royer, “because producers are the people that can take the idea and actually do it.”