Interactive Movie For Range Rover Evoque, Being Henry, Emphasizes Choices.

A new branded entertainment effort from The Brooklyn Brothers for Land Rover has you, the viewer, involved in determining the outcome of a movie, which, in turn, dictates the options on a new Range Rover Evoque.



The latest marketing effort is an interactive love-fantasy-comedy movie in which you determine what the main character, Henry, does. As you make choices for Henry, you are simultaneously personalizing your version of the new Range Rover Evoque. There are several routes you can take that feature everything from kidnapping to flirtations.

At the end of the film, whose outcome you have manipulated, you are matched with a particular version of the Evoque that was determined by the choices you made for Henry:



The short interactive film was directed by Somesuch & Co.'s Nick Gordon, and is all about choices, emphasizing the options you have when designing your own vehicle from Land Rover. It's a bit of reach, but entertaining, nonetheless.

The trailer for the interactive film:

Stills from the film:

You choose the direction in which Henry walks, changing the outcome:



Interact with Being Henry here

The brand also has an online project called "The Pulse of the City" in which you can listen to various "city shapers" talk about their cities and can view their personalized Evoque. A profile accompanied by a photo and bio allows you to view that person's journey through different international cities like New York, Madrid and Istanbul, to name a few.



You can upload your own journey here

Other attempts to get people engaged with the brand include their GPS art created with an app to create a geo-location map and share it on Facebook if you wish as well as their "Presence Project"

Range Rover

Google Launches A Powerful TV Spot To Hype Their Chrome Browser.

A smart, moving and demonstrative new 90 second tv commercial achieves a dual purpose: introducing people to both Google's latest Chrome browser and Dan Savage's anti-bullying project, It Gets Better.

"It Gets Better" for Google Chrome:


The 90 second commercial is one spot in a new campaign for Google Chrome (another spot in the campaign is Dear Sophie) which premiered last Tuesday night during an episode of GLEE and shows people using Google Chrome’s toolbar and YouTube to record videos for the It Gets Better Project to empathize with and give hope to gay teenagers who fear bullying.

The ad shows some examples of videos uploaded to YouTube to support the project by people and celebrities:




According to the NY Times, The Google ad campaign, called “the Web is what you make of it,” is the biggest offline campaign ever for Google, which has typically shied away from advertising. It declined to disclose its spending plan.

The ads zero in on the computer screen, showing what people are typing, uploading and sharing, similar to the “Parisian Love” ad that aired during the Super Bowl in 2010, which told the story of an American exchange student who falls in love with a woman in Paris.



“We try to get rid of everything but the user and the tools and let you feel what is happening there, without a lot of commentary from Google itself,” said Andy Berndt, vice president of the Google Creative Lab, which created the campaign with the ad agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty.


Full Credits
Agency: Google Creative Lab
Client: Google
Executive Creative Director: Calle Sjoenell
Agency: BBH New York
Executive Creative Director: Pelle Sjoenell
Executive Creative Director: Robert Wong
Associate Creative Director: Jesse Juriga
Art Director: Steve Pack
Art Director: Caprice Yu
Copywriter: Jeff Johnson
Head of Broadcast: Lisa Setten
Project Manager: Jessica Beavers
Web Content Research: Nickerson Research
End Tag Graphic: Buck
Music Supervisor: Search Party Music
Executive Producer: Stephanie Diaz-Matos


The "It Gets Better" campaign, started in 2010 by Dan Savage, now boasts contributions from a number of high-profile names, including President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and, as seen in this video, Woody from Toy Story." (The Advocate, 5.03.11)

You can download Google Chrome here

Saucony Asks You To Find Your Strong In A New TV Spot And Ad Campaign.

The visually driven "Find Your Strong" campaign conceived by Mechanica founding partner and creative director Libby DeLana and her colleagues features print and online executions, retail and event-marketing components, and the brand's first-ever television spot, which was directed by Andre Stringer from U.S. creative production company Shilo.






"This new campaign continues to amplify our brand mission to inspire runners every day," said Chris Lindner, chief marketing officer for Saucony. "As we confidently emerge as a global athletic brand, we too are finding our 'strong.' Our first national television spot marks a pivotal point for Saucony, signaling a continued expansion of our marketing efforts to further drive brand awareness. Together with our partners at Mechanica, we had extremely high ambitions for every aspect of this significant spot, and the passion and craftsmanship of Andre Stringer and everyone at Shilo has truly exceeded our expectations."


The spot appears as a :60, a :30, and two different :15 versions (complete credits and behind the scenes stills for the spot can be found later of the post).


above: Director Andre Stringer
Along with the other elements appearing through targeted media placements, the :60 TV spot debuted two nights ago tonight on ESPN, and it will continue airing on CBS College, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports, NBC Sports and Versus over the next five weeks.

The following print ads for the campaign were shot by the very talented photographer John Huet:







LEXINGTON, MA (April 25, 2011) – Signaling a continued expansion of its marketing efforts, Saucony, Inc., a leading global supplier of performance athletic footwear and apparel, today announced its new multi-media global brand campaign entitled Find Your Strong. The campaign, the brand’s largest marketing effort to date, inspires consumers to find their personal "strong" through running. The new platform encompasses multiple touch points, including an immersive digital and social media experience and the brand's first-ever national television commercial. The TV spot breaks nationally on Wednesday night, April 27th on ESPN.


above: a still from the spot

"As runners, we know that people run for intensely personal reasons," said Chris Lindner, chief marketing officer for Saucony. “Whether in honor of a relative, for a charity or medal, or for ourselves, running inspires the human spirit, making us stronger. At the core, this campaign is about just that; it's where and how we train and the people and moments that strengthen us. Ultimately, we're tapping into this emotional connection to create a dialog that we hope will inspire even more people to run."


above: a still from the spot

"The new campaign continues to amplify our brand mission to inspire runners every day. As we confidently emerge as a global athletic brand, we too are finding our 'strong'. Our first national television spot marks a pivotal point for Saucony, signaling a continued expansion of our marketing efforts to further drive brand awareness. The timing couldn't be better as the Kinvara 2, the campaign's featured product, was recently named Best Buy by Runner's World in their annual Summer Shoe Guide," added Lindner.


above: a still from the spot

The new campaign, developed by Mechanica of Newburyport, Massachusetts, includes the following elements:

Television
The campaign's new TV spot entitled "What is Strong?" was produced by the Emmy Award-winning creative production company Shilo, and directed by Andre Stringer. Filmed at various locations in California's Marin Headlands, the spot depicts a composition of runners finding their "strong" as they run on roads, trails, tracks and playing fields. The diversity of runners featured conveys the premise that finding one's "strong" is an intensely personal experience.


above: a still from the spot

Stringer once again teamed up with director of photography Max Goldman for this project. On various locations in California's Marin Headlands, the Saucony, Mechanica and Shilo executives and production crew filmed many of the same premier athletes who appear in the agency's campaign print ads.



above: shooting the commercial

Footage was captured on Kodak 35mm and 16mm color negative films using two ARRI 235 and one Aaton A Minima camera packages, the Revolution Steadicam and a custom camera car. Footage was transferred and color-graded by Tom Poole of Company 3 in New York. Editorial credit goes to Cassidy Gearhart, and the spot was finished in HD at Shilo's New York studio.

The 30 second spot breaks nationally on April 27th with an ad flight of 5 weeks, and will be seen nationwide on ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports, CBS College, Versus and NBC Sports.


Digital
Because runners are both personally motivated and passionately united, "What Is Strong?" the campaign's online destination, allows runners to honor the people and moments that inspire them while drawing inspiration from the "strong" of others.



The innovative digital application creates a visual depiction of user-generated "strongs," highlighting those most shared by the community. Additionally, users can share their personal "strongs" through social media channels and personalized tee shirts. To coincide with the launch of the TV spot, saucony.com/strong will go live on Wednesday, April 27th. Boston-based Beam Interactive developed the campaign's digital platform.


above: the tv ads were shot in the Marin Headlands and San Mateo

Print
The national and regional print campaign, shot by famed sports photographer John Huet, was launched this month in vertical running and consumer fitness magazines, including Runner's World, Running Times, Men's Health, Women's Health, Fitness, ESPN Rise and the Running Network's regional publications.

In-Store
In-store elements at key national retailers include window displays, point-of-purchase, product displays and consumer brochures. A mobile video resource will reinforce the brand's new marketing platform and feature its product collection.

Event sponsorships, a national tour and a new expo booth will also support the brand's marketing platform.

The Find Your Strong campaign is planned to run throughout 2011, with several new executions for the fall. Saucony will continue to integrate the theme into upcoming marketing initiatives throughout the year.

Complete Project Credits: Saucony "What is Strong?" TV Spots

Project Title: Saucony "What is Strong?"
Project Lengths: :60, :30, 2 x :15s
Debut Date: 4/27/11
Film Location: Marin County & San Mateo, CA
Client: Saucony, Inc.
Chief Marketing Officer: Chris Lindner
Advertising Agency: Mechanica
Partner/Creative Director: Libby DeLana
Creative Director, Copywriter: Ted Jendrysik
Brand Director: Arabella Plum
Producer: Mary D. Hanifin
Director: Andre Stringer
Production Company: Shilo
Director of Photography: Max Goldman
Editor: Cassidy Gearhart
Assistant Editor: Hedia Maron
Rotoscopers: Paul Daniel, Djeison Canuto
Associate Producer: Sheina Dao
Line Producer: Jeremy Yaches
Head of Production: Julie Shevach
Executive Producer: Tracy Chandler
Telecine: Company 3
Colorist: Tom Poole
Music Composer: Darrin Weiner
Sound Design and Final Mix: Penny Lane
Sound Designer/Mixer: Joseph Miuccio

Drill Inc. Creates Xylophone, A Commercial For The Touch Wood Mobile Phone

A lovely and inventive three minute commercial, Xylophone, for a new wooden encased phone, the Touch Wood SH 08C from Docomo of Japan.




Japanese agency Drill Inc. (the same agency responsible for the website design of the Epos 100 artist Visa credit cards) and creative director Morihiro Harano hand crafted a giant wooden xylophone in the woods of Kyushu, Japan. As one little wooden ball rolls down the giant microphone, it plays Bach’s Cantata 147. The agency claims that no artificial music was used.



A joint project with Sharp, Olympus and Docomo, the phone is beautifully designed, as is the packaging

as well as the wooden charging unit by More Trees:


Be sure to see "the making of' the commercial here.

Here's a dedicated microsite for owners, the phone and accessories.

You can shop for the Touch wood Phone and the More trees charger here

Modernista & Shilo Ask You To Answer An SOS With A Touching & Clever Short Film

The filmmakers from U.S. creative production company Shilo are very proud to detail their latest project. Working in association with advertising agency Modernista, Shilo engaged Cassidy Gearhart to direct "SOS: Save Our Supplies," a visually poetic, live-action, 1:52 short film that is a central piece in the agency's cross-media campaign for the Brooklyn-based non-profit Doc to Dock, Inc. The film recently went live earlier on the new website created by Modernista at www.doc2dock.org.



"Doc to Dock was started in 2005 by Dr. Bruce Charash as a commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative," said Gary Koepke, Modernista's co-founder and executive creative director. "Essentially, the organization collects unused medical supplies through its network of medical professionals and volunteers, then they sort, ship and redistribute the supplies and equipment -- enough to fill over 25 40-foot shipping containers so far -- to meet the specific needs of hospitals in the developing world. So far, this organization has brought hope and care to more than two million people while simultaneously reducing waste in the U.S., and we have crafted our new campaign to raise awareness and advance their cause. For this important short film, we turned to Shilo, which is well known for producing deep and incredibly thoughtful visual messages that leverage and unite all cinematic crafts. To say the least, we are all incredibly proud of the finished film."

To respond to the ideas presented by Koepke, Modernista's creative directors Will Uronis and Davi Liu, copywriter Lorelei Bandrovschi, and director of production Liz Shook, Shilo called upon Gearhart, whose first collaboration with Shilo's co-founder, creative director and director Andre Stringer was the hip hop documentary "Open Transport" released in 2000. The two worked very closely together at B.E.T., and over the years, Gearhart has contributed his talents to many major Shilo projects as a director, editor and artist.






"The Doc to Dock project's script called for very graphic live-action shots, and great art direction," said Shilo's executive producer Tracy Chandler. "We knew that Cass was the right director for this job because of his strong graphic, live-action sensibility, and also because he really knows type design well."

In the agency's original "SOS" script, powerful words are written on supply boxes, where those boxes fill up a shipping container using stop-motion animation, and in the process, tell Doc to Dock's story and convey its call-to-action. "After reading that great script," Gearhart explained, "I fell in love with the idea of interpreting the film as a visual voice-over, where we could use live-action cinematography of the boxes to present a unique type-treatment and storytelling approach."

To heighten viewers' emotional connections to the story, Gearhart proposed showing some human hands at work moving the boxes, and also, visually setting apart the script's two separate sections. "As our ideas for the production took form, those changes allowed us to set all the action for 'the problem' section in a warehouse, then set 'the solution' section inside the actual shipping container."

Throughout the development phase, the designs on the boxes became another key focus. Together, everyone decided those designs should be consistent with real-world shipping graphics. "The style of packing labels, stickers, marker writing, and the type of printing you normally see on boxes made us immediately think of the work of Mike Cina, an accomplished typeface designer well-versed in grid-based graphic design," said Gearhart. To the group's delight, Cina signed on to provide art direction for all the shipping box graphics.

The project's detailed prep-work also involved a full two weeks of pre-production, where Gearhart first produced a "word-o-matic" (an edit of the script's messaging timed to music), and from there, storyboards and a detailed previs. To dial-in the timing and message composition for the time-lapse sequences showing the walls of boxes being built, Gearhart, Julian King, and Shilo producer Jeremy Yaches rehearsed and captured numerous takes in Shilo's studio.

When production day finally arrived, the crew assembled on a set built inside a Brooklyn warehouse. Gathered together along with 120 custom-made boxes, another 100 "extra" boxes, a 40-foot Doc to Dock shipping container sent in from New Jersey, and their on-camera talent while an intense blizzard raged outside, Shilo's crew captured their principal photography using the RED MX camera system. Time-lapse footage was shot using a Canon 5D.

"One of the shots that came out of all our pre-production testing was the container door closing shot," Gearhart added. "We came up with the idea of rigging the camera to the door so that the camera tracks with the door as it slams shut. In the end, we felt it was perfect for bringing our message home with a bang."



Credits:
Client: Doc to Dock, Inc.
Advertising Agency: Modernista
Executive Creative Director: Gary Koepke
Creative Director: Will Uronis
Creative Director: Davi Liu
Copywriter: Lorelei Bandrovschi
Director of Production: Liz Shook

Production Company: Shilo
Director: Cassidy Gearhart
Co-Director: Julian King
Director of Photography: Tristan Sheridan
Production Designer: Jeff Everett
Box Art Direction and Design: Mike Cina
Editor: Julian King & Cassidy Gearhart
Color Correction: Julian King
Executive Producer: Tracy Chandler
Producer: Jeremy Yaches
Music: Zoe Keating "Optimist"
Sound Design/Mix: Mike Secher, Soundtrack


About Shilo
Shilo is an Emmy Award-winning creative production company representing a group of filmmakers led by directors Jose Gomez and Andre Stringer. Internationally known for creating original and commissioned work that is powerful, provocative and visually extraordinary, Shilo's deeply held passions for design-infused storytelling and their innovative applications of live-action, design, and animation techniques deliver breakthrough experiences for screens large and small. From its studios in New York and California, where recent projects have spanned short films, commercials and music videos, Shilo has the capacity and experience to originate ideas and handle all aspects of production. Shilo published its first book, We Make It Good, in 2007, and also also curates and produces content for the blog www.WeMakeItGood.com. Their sibling company WMIG is a creative think tank offering services in ideation, writing, and art direction. For more information, or to request a reel, please contact Tracy Chandler at +1.212.219.4700, or visit Shilo online at www.shilo.tv.