What do Troy Aikman, Hulk Hogan, Magic Johnson, Michael Phelps, Edward James Olmos, Marcia Cross, Pittsburgh Stealer Jerome “The Bus” Bettis, Miranda Cosgrove, popular Hispanic soap opera star Fernanda Romero, and even renowned TV chef Curtis Stone have in common? They have all been spokespeople in television spots, webisodes, social media, and/or print advertising campaigns directed or photographed by multi-award winner Jay Silverman, on behalf of emerging brands.
Breaking July 1st, a new TV, web, and print campaign promoting Merillat kitchen cabinets, starring Curtis Stone (NBC’s “Next Great Restaurant,” “The Biggest Loser,” “Celebrity Apprentice,” “Miss America” Pageant, TLC’s “Take Home Chef”), will make its television debut on HGTV, FoodNetwork, DIY, and the Cooking Channel. Merillat, one of the nation’s largest cabinet manufacturers, and the number one builder-preferred cabinetry brand, is seeking a higher brand profile with its target audience: women consumers age 25-49. Merillat has sought the talents of Silverman to direct, shoot and implement this new marketing campaign, in conjunction with its established agency partners.
Working directly with Merillat team members Susan Cross, Brand and Communications Manager, and Susan Dountas, Merillat Brand Marketing Director, and with Merillat’s Branding Agency of Record, Hoffman York (Milwaukee) Interactive Agency of Record, Hanson, Inc. (Toledo, OH), Silverman directed a branding spot, a print campaign, photography, webisode segments, and all of the interactive featuring Curtis Stone. Each of these elements were shot at the Jay Silverman Productions studio lot against a fully operational kitchen set, constructed specifically by Merillat for the brand campaign.
The social media elements from the new Merillat campaign will appear on Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter, and the interactive components on the Merillat website, HGTV.com, and FoodNetwork.com. Print advertising will appear later this year, in national and regional trade publications, such as Kitchen & Bath Design News, ProBuilder, Builder and Kitchen and Bath Business, and in local advertising efforts by Merillat builders and dealers.
Regarding the new campaign, Susan Cross said, “We challenged our agencies to work together with us, and help us redefine our brand from the homeowner’s perspective, in a functional and innovative way. We knew that our products appealed, primarily, to women ages 25-49, who are already successful, and now want a kitchen that works for them within the life they’ve already established. We selected Curtis Stone because we felt—who better than a well-known chef to appreciate the functionality of a Merillat kitchen? Curtis is charming, authentic, handsome, and helps us put the ‘fun’ in ‘functionality.”
Cross adds, “Jay Silverman worked closely with us and our two agencies, and was invaluable in helping us bring the celebrity chef approach to life. Like Curtis, he is also very authentic, truly understands our marketing goals, and has the ability to bring those goals to life through ‘film’, across all media. He constantly makes suggestions and kicks our vision up several notches. He’s highly consumer focused, visually, and helped us see our final work through
the eyes of our ultimate end consumer audience. Working together, Jay and our agencies challenged us to not limit ourselves to traditional thinking, and to ensure that our products always put their best face forward.”
Jay Silverman is directing, producing, and photographing, on an on-going basis, a cross-platform advertising campaign for the Rent-A-Center brand, starring Troy Aikman and Hulk Hogan. The campaign includes TV, print, web and radio. The new campaign follows on the heels of last year’s successful Rent-A-Center campaign, also directed and photographed by Silverman, that starred spokesman Magic Johnson.
To see this work, please visit:
http://www.jaysilverman.com/spotShow/index.php?spotID=77
Jay Silverman Productions worked directly with Rent-A-Center, Inc., Senior Vice President/Chief Marketing Officer Ann Davids, and Troy Minaldi, Rent-A-Center’s Senior VP, Marketing, along with Mercury-Werks Senior VP of Production John Mathis, and Launch’s Creative Director David Wilgus.
Said Davids: “Jay Silverman and his team are the ideal production partners for our campaigns — last year with Magic Johnson, and this year with Troy Aikman and Hulk Hogan. Jay has a natural flair and ability to translate creative concepts into finished productions, while delivering our message in a humorous and highly entertaining manner. Celebrities enjoy working with him, and we see him as a real collaborator for our promotional campaigns. Bottom line: Jay Silverman and his team really add value to the process.”
Last year, Silverman, in conjunction with the digital content company No Soap Radio, conceived, produced and directed 10 episodes of the highly successful Internet game show, “Starlicious,” a microsite hosted by www.dailyfill.com. This branded entertainment project – the first ever of its kind — is an online game show that features contestants in a battle of wits over celebrity trivia questions — rewards viewers for their command of celebrity knowledge. (Viewers can also play the “Starlicious” game at home). “Starlicious” not only earns 4-million hits per month, but is also backed by Proctor and Gamble,
Progressive Insurance, and Rent-A-Center.
Paul Vraciu, North American Brand Manager for the detergent product Gain, a P&G brand, said, “Our consumer is someone who is very experimental, enjoys living in the moment, and would enjoy taking a two-minute break to play a videogame online.”
Another emerging brand that has recently sought Silverman’s expertise is Safeway Insurance. Working in conjunction with Glyphix Advertising (Woodland Hills, CA), Silverman directed a TV campaign, in both English and Spanish, and also photographed a print campaign, that encourages both the general as well as Hispanic market to consider buying Safeway insurance products. The campaign featured the talents of the Chicago Fire’s popular Hispanic soccer player Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Hispanic soap opera star Fernanda Romero.
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In addition to the three campaigns cited above, some of Jay Silverman’s other recent, celebrity-driven projects, have included:
> Photographing Michael Phelps for a national Subway cross-promotion tie-in with NBC;
> Photographing Pittsburgh Stealer Jerome “The Bus” Bettis for a national campaign on behalf of Kraft’s DiGiorno pizza brand;
> And shooting teen star Miranda Cosgrove (Nickelodeon’s “iCarly”) for a print campaign promoting Quaker Oats Chewy Bars Afterschool Jam Promotion;
> Directing a television PSA series promoting the environment for The Sierra Club, starring such notables as Edward James Olmos, Marcia Cross, and Amber
Thiessen.
In related news, for the past four years running, Jay Silverman Productions has directed and photographed the national search contest for the new “St. Pauli Girl,” working with client Tom Willett, National Retail Promotion Manager for Crown Imports, LLC, and with John Nichols, Brand Manager, St. Pauli Girl.
Silverman is also currently working with The Integer Group, Denver, in search of “Miss Coors Lite,” to represent Coors Lite at upcoming NASCAR events. Silverman will shoot the new “Miss Coors Lite” NASCAR girl for a national print and Internet campaign.
ABOUT JAY SILVERMAN PRODUCTIONS
One of the preeminent commercial directors of advertising campaigns across the television, interactive, and print media in Hollywood today, Jay Silverman, founder of Jay Silverman Productions, is currently celebrating his 30th Anniversary Year in the ad/marketing industry. The year 2010 also marks the 10th Anniversary of Jay’s 40,000 square foot production studio lot, located in the heart of Hollywood.
Originally making a name for himself as a still photographer by shooting renowned lifestyle and celebrity endorsements on behalf of numerous national and international ad campaigns, Jay evolved his client base to later include directing multi-media advertising projects for such Fortune 500 clients as McDonalds, Intel, Disney, Coors, Budweiser, GM, Coke, Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Visa, and Gatorade, among many others.
During the span of his award winning career, Jay became a noted celebrity photographer, specifically requested by high profile actors, sports personalities, recording artists, industry leaders, and supermodels. Over the years, Jay’s work has been honored with numerous Belding, Telly, Promax, and Lucy Awards. In addition, he has also been recognized for his achievements in creating and producing many national PSA campaigns for such worthy causes as the American Cancer Society, the Foundation for the Junior Blind, the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, the ACLU, and the Sierra Club.
Jay became a commercial director in 1995, and has since successfully balanced a dual career in both still photography and live action direction. His repertoire of national campaigns across multi-media includes those for such clients as Greyhound, Petco, Fifth Third Bank, Carnation, A&W, Pepsi, 24-Hour
Fitness, and Rent-A-Center. He’s also directed countless on-air promotional spots for all of the major broadcast networks, as well as for many cable channel, including the original launches of the smash hit TV series “American Idol,” and “Desperate Housewives,” and his own series, “The Cleaner.”
Jay Silverman Productions is located at 1541 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90028. The phone is 323/466-6030, and the web is www.jaysilverman.com
