By Kristin Wilcha

For production companies, the advertising agency is normally the conduit to a client. However, as marketers search for new ways to communicate to consumers, they at times go directly to a production company. That scenario might happen for any number of reasons–because of a client/director relationship, the nature of a project, or an agency recommendation. This week, SHOOT looks at two projects to get a sense of how production companies work with clients, and how those relationships have developed.

 

SEGA

San Francisco-headquartered production company Mekanism recently produced a a Web-based series called The True Adventures of Chad, The Guy Who Was So Into Super Monkey Ball Deluxe That He Decided To Live In A Ball. The project, for Sega’s release of the Xbox and PlayStation version of the game Super Monkey Ball Deluxe, includes Web episodes that will break each Wednesday, leading up to the game’s March 15 release. The episodes can be seen at www.mybigball.com. Tommy Means, executive producer at Mekanism, and the director of the Sega project, relates that the gamemaker was looking to reach the 18-25 year-old audience, a group notorious for not watching much television. To that end, it was decided that Sega would use the Web to reach its target. Mekanism became involved with the project because of Scott Steinberg, the VP of marketing for Sega, who had worked with the production company on a client-direct project while he was the VP of marketing at Napster. “Like a lot of clients that we deal with, when they go after the 18-25 niche, they don’t even consider TV,” says Means. “But this audience really does respond to story-driven advertising that doesn’t necessarily feel like advertising. We knew we wanted to something that was underground and viral, and didn’t punch the audience in the face with a hardcore advertising message.”

Each episode follows Chad, a college student who so enjoys Super Monkey Ball Deluxe , that he’s opted to live inside a large, plastic ball–this presents many challenges. For instance, in “Wake Up,” Chad wakes up in his dorm room, gets out of bed–knocking a few things over, and bumping into his roommate’s bed. As he makes his way to the communal bathroom, he knocks into a fellow student en route. Once in the rest room, he attempts to brush his teeth; once it’s time to spit out his toothpaste, Chad runs into a problem–since he’s inside the plastic ball, he can’t get to the sink, and winds up with toothpaste all over the sides of the ball. “Soccer Tryouts” see Chad attempting to do some basic soccer moves and being hindered by the ball, while “Class” illustrates the difficulty of navigating a lecture hall while inside a ball.

Means notes that there’s a key parallel between the way Mekanism works with agencies and the manner in which it collaborates directly with clients. “[Sega] had a creative brief, so that got us involved really early on in the project just as they were developing the strategy,” he explains. “… We [also] tend to get involved early on with the agencies that we work with, so we’re accustomed to really helping out the overall strategy of the project. It was a pretty comfortable place for us when we were working directly with the client.” 

Mekanism has done some client-direct work in the past, including the aforementioned Napster, as well as Yahoo! and Rock The Vote, but has no plans to focus exclusively on getting work directly from advertisers “We’re really respectful of the relationship that ad agencies have with clients, and honestly, we see our ad agency clients as our bread and butter,” says Means. “…[Just as with clients] when we work with agencies, they see us an internal team as well….We work with them on ideas on how to extend their storyboards beyond thirty seconds.”

(See SHOOT‘s Brand Stand this week for more on the SEGA Webisodes.)

 

PUMA

Shoe and apparel maker Puma recently launched a trio of spots to support its various sneakers. The spots, part of the ongoing “New Stuff” campaign, feature various animals coming upon sneakers, and taking them away. For instance, in “Bees,” a single bee buzzes around a dangling Puma sneaker. The bug attaches itself to the heel–which resembles a honeycomb–and flies away. Suddenly, the shoe is surrounded by bees; the original bee returns, and lands on the lace, causing the shoe to drop out of sight.

In “Deer,” the animal comes upon a sneaker, sniffs at it, then walks off screen with the shoe. In “Bird,” a bird lands on a Puma–liking what it sees, it flies off with its prey. And in “Mice,” two rodents are attracted to the heel of a Puma sneaker, which resembles a block of cheese. One mouse pushes the shoe along, while the other stays inside for the ride. Each spot ends with the Puma logo and Web site, Puma.com.

Andrew Zuckerman, of bicoastal/international @radical.media, helmed the spots directly for Puma. Zuckerman is represented by Michael Ash, who heads up @radical.media’s photography division; Zuckerman, who had directed a previous broadcast effort for Puma, signed with the production arm of the shop last year. The “New Stuff” represents his first spot work through the production roost.

Deborah Sullivan, an executive producer with @radical.media, notes that Zuckerman shot several print campaigns for Puma, which was how the production company got involved with the client.  “He had been shooting print with Puma, and he had such a great relationship with them, that they started collaborating with him, because they don’t have any agency,” she explains.

The concepts behind “New Stuff” were originally print executions. Sullivan relates that Zuckerman works with the brand and marketing team, as well as the chairman of Puma, to come up with creative. “These spots are an evolution,” she says. “He’s evolved the campaign from the sneaker to the apparel side– The television is relatively new.” More TV work for Puma from Zuckerman is in the offing, this time for Puma’s apparel line; that work will feature athletes.

Sullivan notes that while @radical.media produced the spot work, the client-direct relationship is with Zuckerman, not the shop. “Our relationship with Puma is a peripheral one at this stage,” she says. “They’re great people, and we try to support Andrew as he does the work.”

She notes that with a project like Puma, the director is as much a client as the advertiser.  “He’s at once our client and our director, because he’s the creative,” she explains. “He’s the person who created it, and he’s the person who shoots it, so he’s our client and director. We do our best to support everything he’s trying to achieve. It’s cost effective for the client at this stage. We are really a facilitator for him to get the work done.”

While @radical.media is involved in client-direct work, including projects for Nike, among others, Sullivan notes that the shop does not actively seek it out. “Our client base is agencies,” she relates.

 

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