There are 43 million dog-owning households in the U.S. Most of them own cars. Many of them buy cars with their dog’s comfort in mind. And some of them visit a website, DogCars.com, that named the Honda Element “DogCar of the Year” in December 2007.
This was inspiration for RPA, the agency that created the “Element and Friends” campaign in 2006 that started with the popular “Pinch” crab spot, to extend the effort with “Pointer,” which includes a :30 for TV and a :15 that is running online. The spot was produced by WILDBRAIN/San Francisco.
The spot began playing March 10, with the agency placing a buy on the Google content network that plays the spot at 95 dog centric sites, such as Pamperedpuppy.com, Dogbreedz.com and Pugvillage.com. It’s also playing at YouTube, where the agency bought overlays on dog-related video content.
“We wanted to creatively tell people about the award and we can cater directly to dog lovers because they love the car,” said Edmund Purcell, RPA’s VP/management supervisor. “The goal is to reach 18 to 49-year-old males with an active, outdoor mind set.”
RPA is trying YouTube overlays, which were introduced in August 2007, for the first time for the Element. Fifteen seconds after a dog-related video clip starts playing, the overlay appears on the bottom of the screen, which can be clicked to play “Pointer.” When it plays, a companion unit runs next to it that can be clicked to go to www.elementandfriends.com. “The beauty of the unit is you get a branding message whether you click on it or not,” Purcell said. “If you click on it, great, but if you don’t you still get the branding message so it produces different levels of engagement. We don’t want to interrupt the fun they’re having but if they’re interested, they can self select our message.”
In the spot, the dog has a humorous conversation with a voice inside the car, then enters the car and comments on features like the waterproof seat fabric before lying down in back. “Hey, what’s goin’ on back there?” the voice responds.
Gordon Clark, the WILDBRAIN director, said the animation was created from photos of dogs it found and the car, which RPA provided. “We cut them out in Photoshop and put them in After Effects, we puppeted them,” he said.
He added that the spot “moves to a place you don’t expect, so it doesn’t feel cartoony or standard. It’s all about the timing.”
WILDBRAIN has produced 23 animations for “Element and Friends” and “Pointer“ differs from the others because it features scenes inside the car with specific features mentioned. “Usually it’s about name recognition and a fairly subtle play on what it has to offer, which isn’t as specific as what we did here,” Clark said.
“Pointer” will run at the Google sites and YouTube through the end of March. The spot doesn’t currently play at elementandfriends.com, but will be added at a later date.
Denzel Washington, Michael J. Fox and Bono Among Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients
In the East Room of the White House on a particularly frigid Saturday afternoon, President Joe Biden bestowed the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 of the most famous names in politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, LGBTQ+ advocacy and science.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aroused a standing ovation from the crowd as she received her medal. Clinton was accompanied to the event by her husband former President Bill Clinton, daughter Chelsea Clinton and grandchildren. Democratic philanthropist George Soros and actor-director Denzel Washington were also awarded the nation's highest civilian honor in a White House ceremony.
"For the final time as president I have the honor bestowing the Medal of Freedom, our nation's highest civilian honor, on a group of extraordinary, truly extraordinary people, who gave their sacred effort, their sacred effort, to shape the culture and the cause of America," Biden said in his opening remarks.
"Let me just say to each of you, thank you, thank you, thank you for all you've done to help this country," Biden said Saturday.
Four medals were awarded posthumously. They went to George W. Romney, who served as both a Michigan governor and secretary of housing and urban development; former Attorney General and Sen. Robert F. Kennedy; Ash Carter, a former secretary of defense; and Fannie Lou Hamer, who founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and laid the groundwork for the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Kennedy is father to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for health and human services secretary. Biden said, "Bobby is one of my true political heroes. I love and I miss him dearly."
Romney is the father of former Utah Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, one of... Read More