What’s the use of an umbrella missing its middle during a rainstorm? Or beach-tennis paddle without a middle? How about a piano with no middle keys? They’re all part of a world without middles, brought to life for State Street Global Advisors in the latest campaign for its mid cap ETF (exchange-traded fund), MDY. In the stock market, mid caps, as their name implies, comprise companies with market value in the middle of the spectrum, the sweet spot between large caps and small caps. Investors often assume that if they own both large and small caps, they have broad exposure to the market–meaning they have covered the entire scale of the market. But without mid caps in their portfolio, they don’t.
Created by McCann NY, the campaign opens with this spot titled “Rainy Day,” directed by Bjorn Ruhmann of SMUGGLER. The commercial shows us a world lacking middles, underscoring the campaign refrain, “The middle can make all the difference.”
Mid caps like MDY really can make all the difference—portfolios containing mid caps have a track record of outperforming portfolios without them. The campaign, spanning TV, social and digital, drives to a website experience where investors can use an online tool to find out how increasing a mid cap allocation can make all the difference in their own portfolios.
Credits
Client State Street Global Advisors Agency McCann New York, Gene Campanelli, Peter Powell, Daniele Ferdinand, SVPs, group creative directors; Stephanie Cajucom, VP, creative director; Donna McCracken, SVP, executive producer; Anna Andreis, SVP, group strategy director; Daniel Lammon, VP, strategy director. Production Craft NY Fermin Fernandez, sr. designer; Daniel Farinella, digital advertisement development; Puneet Oberoi, quality assurance engineer; Gabrielle Wilson, digital production coordinator. Production Company SMUGGLER Björn Rühmann, director; Patrick Milling Smith, Brian Carmody, Allison Kunzman, exec producer; Nick Sutherland-Dodd, producer; Justin Brown, DP. Production Services Company Migrate Films Libbi Ball, exec producer. Editorial Work Editorial NY Rich Orrick, editor; Fatos Marishta, assistant editor; Chris Delarenal, producer; Alejandra Alarcon, exec producer. VFX Preymaker Angus Kneale, chief creative; Verity Grantham, exec producer; Edward Lopez, Jongmoon Woo, Jamie Scott, Simon Holden, Tim Bird, Wynand de Wet, creatives; Jubulani Simelane, Joaqui Lopez, Kendall Rotar, production; Melanie Wickham, exec producer. Audio Post Sonic Union Paul Weiss, mix engineer; Alex Thiel, assistant engineer; Patrick Sullivan, head of production.
Director Marc André Debruyne--who’s handled by production house Open Swim for U.S. representation--brings Coca-Cola’s legacy of celebrating holiday traditions to life in this campaign spotlighting Filipino Balikbayan boxes. The spot--out of Toronto agencies Taxi and VML--features Tita Rosita, owner of the oldest Filipino-Canadian grocery store in Toronto, whose much-adored shop was wrapped like a massive Coca-Cola-themed Balikbayan box as she prepared hundreds of boxes for customers to send their loved ones, with Coca-Cola paying for the boxes and the cost of shipping them to the Philippines. The spot is a testament to the brand’s prevailing facilitation of cultural and generational connectivity, especially during the holiday season.
The collaborative project--produced by Toronto production company MOWAD--was particularly special for Debruyne, who’s Filipino, because of the large presence of Filipino crew members on set. “It’s a totally surreal feeling when a work project crosses over into your personal life. It’s not too often that happens,” shares Debruyne. “The number of Balikbayan boxes I’ve sent home since I was a child, being surrounded by so many Filipinos on set – both crew and cast, and even being served pancit by Tita Rosita for lunch (and getting yelled at after because I didn’t have seconds) brought back so many wonderful memories of my mom. It was such a fun vibe on set. This wasn’t even a job, it was truly something special.”
