Microsoft Advertising’s Branded Entertainment and Experiences Team (BEET) has dovetailed with ad agencies Walton Isaacson, bicoastal and Chicago (creative), and Team One, El Segundo, Calif. (media), to shepherd Fresh Perspectives, a new web series directed by The Sniper Twins of BRW USA for client the Lexus CT Hybrid. The series debuted on MSN.com last week.
The webisodes focus on six young artists in different mediums, tasked to create original pieces of art within 24 hours around the themes of “escape,” “challenge” and “empower.” The artisans are chef Craig Thornton, painter/collagist Augustine Kofie, fashion designer Robert James, paper sculptor Jeff Nishinaka, singer-songwriter V and photographer Tod Seelie.
Fashion designer James, for example, sets out to create a jacket in 24 hours to meet the “challenge” theme. Chef Thornton embodies “escape” with the welcomed distraction of creating “forest flavors on a plate.” Painter Kofie translates “empower” into an orange colored creation. Seelie “escapes” by lensing on location in “the far end” of Brooklyn and Queens. Songwriter/vocalist V pens and performs a song designed to “empower” young girls.
The Sniper Twins collaborated with Team One, Walton Isaacson and Lexus. UTAOnline packaged the show and brought the opportunity to the Sniper Twins to direct and BRW to produce. They also brought on Yosi Sergent’s Taskforce to help cast the artists who would best tie in with the Lexus brand and the CT Hybrid. The series was shot over eight days–five in Los Angeles and three days in New York–on the Canon 7D. The DP was Aaron Platt The webisodes follow the artists as they complete their works of art and examine how art is defined in a different “fresh” perspective.
The original series, BRW USA’s first venture into branded entertainment, is an example of the growing trend toward programs with more subtle branding. Director Barry Flanagan–who along with Dax Martinez-Vargas comprise the Sniper Twins–observed, “There are exciting opportunities now for branded content where companies and agencies can get behind the projects as sponsorship and come up with really creative content.” The Fresh Perspectives campaign focuses less on the Lexus name and more on what the Lexus brand, and more specifically, the new Lexus CT Hybrid, represents. As all brands are becoming more social, this method is an ideal way for Lexus to take a more content-driven approach to connecting with consumers.
Altogether, 45 different videos were produced for the project, including artist bios and time-lapsed imagery of each art project in process. The Fresh Perspectives hub page will also feature written profiles on the artists and features of 30 additional artists.
Fresh Perspectives is part of a multifaceted marketing campaign for the CT Hybrid, “Darker Side of Green,” which launched on March 1 and features unconventional creative and media executions.
The Microsoft BEET contingent included brand strategists Sara Clark and Eric Day, brand solutions manager Jessica Lowe, managing editor Steven Wiens, editor Monica Fischer, creative director Jeremy Grubaugh, sr. user experience lead Kris Bergen and user experience designer Richard Worsfold.
The BRW USA ensemble included managing director/sr. executive producer Andy Traines, exec producer Gianfilippo Pedrotti, production supervisor Robert Gustafson and line producer Ari Weiner.
Click 3X also figured in the mix, with VFX creative director Ders Hallgren, VFX managing director David Edelstein, exec producer Rob Meyers, producer Maddy Yasner, animator Dave Rogers, and editors Rob James, Emily Sheskin, Sam Goetz and Nicole Turney.
The audio post team from YouTooCanWoo consisted of David Perlick-Molani, Deidre Muro and Paul Hammer.
Here’s a taste of Fresh Perspectives:
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More